gc8's 52 #1 - Golden Lads & Lasses Must... review

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    Not the Entry Point It Wants To Be

    52 Starts as a big messy event.
    52 Starts as a big messy event.

    I finally got around to reading the first issue of DC's big event series 52 which was supposed to be the kickoff for a 'New 52' DC titles. I have to say it really didn't feel either epic or particularly new and innovative. And definitely not very new reader friendly.

    The story begins after a massive cataclysm of some sort (presumably the events of Flashpoint?) where the villains of the DC universe united and pretty much ran roughshod over everything. Shazam!'s villains, in particular The Monster Society of Evil, seem to have played an important role in this. Dr. Sivana is one of only a few villains that appears in this issue, and Black Adam gets at least as many pages as any other character in this book (except Booster Gold who seems to be the closest thing to a protagonist here), so if you're not particularly attached to Shazam!, it's already a little rough going.

    What follows is a disjointed narrative of characters, skipping time and place every few panels - sometimes every panel - as humanity and superhumanity pick up the pieces. Notably absent from the proceedings are the Trinity (Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman), though several other big names like The Flash are also missing. Well not exactly, there is a guy in a Jay Garrick vintage Flash costume, but he's in a conversation with some other characters referring to Jay Garrick in third person as if he was not present, so maybe it's someone else?

    And that's the big problem with 52, it's written and drawn by a whole stable of writers and artists, and it suffers from the too-many-cooks situation. Like watching TV while holding the channel change button down, it jumps from story to story and character to character with no time for character development. By the end of the issue we're left with little more than we had at the start, except seeing a bunch of superhero cameos.

    Other reviews for 52 #1 - Golden Lads & Lasses Must...

      I've earned this 0

      For a 52 part series, this issue gets going just about how you would expect.  With so much time for plot development, there is no need to crowd the issue here, and instead this series looks to pick up from where Infinity Crisis left off while shooting off in a few new directions.  The main characters of the series are mostly all introduced - Booster, Renee, Black Adam, Elongated man and Steel.  the plot involving them is more introductory than anything, though a few interesting developments do o...

      4 out of 5 found this review helpful.

      DC Action: 52 Week 1 0

      After Reading 52 in full I realized that the first issue is one of my favorites. Right in the opening we get to see some quality Booster Gold. I liked the character before reading this but reading 52 in full make me like him even more. They really take his narcissism to another level in this comic. It kind of exposes a flaw in the character. He never seems to care to much about what's going on until it's too late.He's always so worried about promoting himself and people knowing who he is. I foun...

      1 out of 2 found this review helpful.

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