52 (comic book)

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52
Cover to 52: Week One
Publisher DC Comics Schedule Weekly Publication dates May 2006 - May 2007 Number of issues 52 Main character(s) Black Adam Booster Gold Elongated Man Renee Montoya The Question Steel Adam Strange Animal Man Starfire Will Magnus Creative team Writer(s) Geoff Johns Grant Morrison Greg Rucka Mark Waid Keith Giffen Artist(s) Joe Bennett Chis Batista Keith Giffen Ruy Jose Jad Jackson Covers: J.G. Jones

52 is the title of a comic book limited series published by DC Comics, which debuted on May 10, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. The series is written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen. Each issue of the series costs $2.50 USD.

52 consists of 52 issues, published weekly for one year, chronicling the events that take place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis. The comic focuses on every character in the DC Universe through characters whose stories are told exclusively in the book and occasionally cross over with each other.

Contents 1 Format 2 Back-up stories 3 Story as of Week 32 4 References to the number "52" 5 Rip Hunter's lab 6 Action figures 7 References 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Format

The use of a weekly publication format is unusual in the North American comics industry, a model based upon monthly (or less frequent) publication. This has been done at least twice before by DC Comics. In 1988, the eight-issue Millennium limited series was published weekly as an "event" in DC continuity, with each issue tying into various ongoing monthly publications. Shortly thereafter, for less than one year in 1988 and 1989, the long-running series Action Comics was retitled as Action Comics Weekly, and published weekly from issue #601 to issue #642 until changing back to a conventional monthly format.

[edit] Back-up stories

A back-up story titled "History of the DC Universe", similar to the history DC Comics published in a 1985 limited series after Crisis on Infinite Earths, appears in Weeks 2 through 11, with Dan Jurgens and Art Thibert as the creative team.^[1] In the story, Donna Troy explores the history of the DC Universe with the help of the dead Harbinger's recording device. In the final chapter, both the recording device and a Monitor inform Donna Troy that she was supposed to have died instead of Jade. Weeks 12 through 52 feature a back-up feature, Secret Origins, the majority written by Mark Waid.^[2]

[edit] Story as of Week 32

In the aftermath of the Infinite Crisis, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have temporarily retired their costumed identities, and the remaining heroes attend a memorial for Superboy in Metropolis. Time traveler Booster Gold attends the memorial, but when Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman do not arrive as he expects, the change in history makes his robot sidekick Skeets malfunction. Skeets reports other incorrect historical data. Booster and Skeets search time traveler Rip Hunter's desert bunker for answers, but find it littered with scrawled notes (See "Rip Hunter's lab" below). Booster finds photos of himself and Skeets surrounded by the words "his fault" with arrows pointing at both of them. While Booster disperses a mob, an actor he hired for a staged battle reveals the truth to the press, ruining his reputation. Booster is angered when a mysterious superhero named Supernova appears in Metropolis. Booster tries to regain the spotlight by containing an explosion, but he is killed in the attempt.

Skeets finds Booster's ancestor and uses him to regain access to Hunter's lab. When Skeets sees the arrows Rip Hunter drew on photos of him, he traps Carter in a time loop and leaves. After first trying to 'draw out' his opponent by launching an attack on Metropolis (in which many civilians and superheroes are killed), Skeets locates and tortures Waverider in a clock shop in order to gain Rip Hunter's location. He implies that Waverider's body will be melted down and used to construct him in the future.

Ralph Dibny, the retired Elongated Man, learns that his late wife Sue's tombstone has been vandalized. He confronts Cassandra Sandsmark, accusing her of leaving a message on the tombstone: an inverted version of Superman's S-symbol, a Kryptonian symbol for resurrection. Sandsmark tells Dibny that the Kryptonian-inspired resurrection cult she belongs to believes Superboy can be resurrected, but that they would like to try it first with his dead wife. Despite his initial agreement, Dibny and his friends disrupt the ceremony. A straw doll dressed in Sue's clothing crawls to Dibny and calls out to him while it burns. After briefly suffering a breakdown over this event, Dibny later receives a visit from Detective Chimp, who brings with him the newly recovered helm of Doctor Fate. The sorceror Nabu speaks through the helm to Dibny, promising to fulfill his desires if Dibny makes the sacrifices Nabu asks for. Dibny journeys with the helm through the afterlives of several cultures, where he is cautioned about the use of magic. After this journey, the Spectre promises to resurrect Sue in exchange for Dibny's taking vengeance on Jean Loring, the woman who had murdered her, but Dibny is unable to do so. He leaves with the helm for Nanda Parbat. Cassie Sandsmark meets Ralph at Superboy's memorial and reveals that Devem was a known conman.

Sandsmark, again working as Wonder Girl, meets Supernova, who she thinks is the dead Superboy Kon-El, but he becomes uncomfortable with her advances and leaves abruptly. Supernova later examines the Batcave, particularly a gauntlet from Lex Luthor's battlesuit, which has several varieties of kryptonite embedded in it. Ralph then meets Supernova on the roof of the Daily Planet and reveals that he has deduced Supernova's identity.

Finally arriving at Nanda Parbat, he is saved by the Accomplished Perfect Physician of the Great Ten from a rampaging monster. Helping him to restore Hu Wei, in fact a reserve member of the Great Ten able to turn himself into a Yeti creature, to his former self gains the right to see Rama Kushna (and the cryptic advices of the Physician about a crisis brewing in the Middle East). The goddess warns him about the impermanence of death, and leave him with the cryptic utterance "The end is already written".

Black Adam, the metahuman leader of Kahndaq, forges a coalition with several other countries against the United States' metahuman supremacy under the Freedom of Power Treaty. Adrianna Tomaz, a former slave, shows Adam how he can use his abilities to help his country instead. Adam convinces Captain Marvel to give Tomaz the power of Isis, and Adam and Isis free enslaved children across Africa.

The Question and Renee Montoya uncover futuristic weapons in Gotham City. The Question and Montoya invetigate Intergang, who the Question believes is preparing to invade Gotham. The two fly to Kahndaq to investigate further but are arrested by Kahndaqi police when they are found near a number of dead bodies. After Montoya and the Question escape, they prevent a girl from exploding a bomb at Black Adam and Isis' wedding, and Adam bestows them with Kahndaq's the highest honor for foreigners. Isis, Black Adam, Montoya and the Question find Intergang, which is forcing children to become Intergang operatives. Seeing that Isis' brother Amon Tomaz is crippled, Black Adam shares his power, and Amon is reborn as Osiris.

The Black Marvel Family inform the Freedom of Power Treaty member nations that Kahndaq is no longer interested in consolidating power or in executing metahumans. They later dine with Dr. Sivana's wife and children, who request help in finding the missing scientist. Checkmate is re-certified as a United Nations agency. Amanda Waller orders Atom Smasher to form a team of fellow metahuman convicts to fight Black Adam.

The Question takes Renee to Nanda Parbat to train with Richard Dragon. Montoya discovers that the Question is dying from cancer and wants her to replace him. They return to Gotham and join Batwoman's fight against Intergang after discovering a prophecy in Intergang's Crime Bible about her death. The Question's medical condition worsens, and he and Renee stay with Kate.

Will Magnus, creator of the Metal Men robots, is abducted to a tropical island where Intergang is forcing kidnapped mad scientists to develop new super-weapons for them. Magnus's anti-depressants are confiscated, and he is ordered to build a Plutonium Man robot.

During John Henry Irons' autopsy of what appears to be Lex Luthor's dead body, Luthor storms in with reporters and declares the body to be that of an impostor whom he blames for his crimes. Luthor pats Irons on the back, and Irons later discovers that his skin is becoming stainless steel. Irons deactivates his niece Natasha's armor after an argument about responsibility, but when she finds out about his new powers, Natasha accuses him of hypocrisy. She goes to LexCorp to be part of the Everyman Project and receive metagene therapy. Irons learns of a trigger in the Everyman Project gene therapy that allows Luthor to rescind the powers. He tries to convince Natasha to come home, but she refuses and begins a career with Luthor's metahuman team; the new Infinity, Inc.. During a battle, Luthor negates Trajectory's powers, leaving her powerless and disoriented, and she is killed. When Irons' metallic skin peels off, he realizes that the Everyman powers have a limited timespan.

The Teen Titans are drafting new members, on Steel's suggestion opening membership at the heroes spawned by Everyman Project. Osiris and Sobek, a humanoid talking crocodile who once was a Sivana test-subject, ask the Titans for acceptance, and frienship. Captain Marvel Jr., pointing the past villany of Adam, promise to vouch for him only if he could "convince the rest of the world" of his pure intentions. Osiris, filled with hope, accepts.

Six injured heroes return to Earth after the fight at the center of the universe during the Infinite Crisis. During a medical crisis, a message plays from a part of the Red Tornado embedded in Mal Duncan: "It's coming! 52! 52!". A badly damaged Red Tornado utters the number 52 twice to Aborigines in the Australian outback. A mechanic rebuilds him with scavenged materials and sets him against Intergang enforcers evicting the Aborigines from their shanty town. The poorly rebuilt "Tornado Man" is defeated and left as junk.

Animal Man, Starfire, and Adam Strange are marooned on an alien planet. Strange, blind from the loss of his eyes, repairs their damaged spaceship. The New God Devilance the Pursuer captures the three, whom he was sent after for having seen something that humans are thought unfit to see. The heroes use Devilance's lance to power their ship, and they escape the planet. Lobo, who claims he has found religion and has turned his back on violence, saves the travelers by tearing Devilance apart. He takes the three to his church for refugees and reveals the Emerald Eye of Ekron, which Starfire uses to fend off a swarm of creatures attacking the planet. The planet Vartu ^[3] is invaded by Lady Styx's army of animated corpses and defended by Captain Comet and two Green Lanterns. Captain Comet is captured and killed along with the two Lanterns. Lobo, Animal Man, Starfire, Adam Strange and Ekron watch Vartu's destruction from afar, plotting their next move.

Adam and Buddy still discuss their line of action: Adam wants to call for help from every available hero and wait,whilst Buddy wants to fight on the first line. Starfire calms them down, and along with Lobo and the Emerald Head they decide for fighting.

[edit] References to the number "52"

Reinforcing the title, the number 52 appears in the background of panels within the 52 series. As the series continues, however, the number 52 features more prominently, appearing in the foreground or in dialogue. Additionally, the 52 logo is shaped like the Greek symbol Omega.

Week One

• The fireman talking to Steel has the number 52 on his jacket.
• Renee Montoya drinks at "52 Pick Up.", whose name is a reference to the number of cards in a deck; the bar has a playing card motif.

Week Two

• The flight numbers of both the flight Booster saves (2824) and the flight he means to save (2428): 28 + 24 = 52.
• The address of the building The Question hires Renee Montoya to investigate is 520 Kane St.
• One of Dr. Morrow's news clippings states Dr. Tyme has stolen 52 seconds.
• The Red Tornado's last words are "It's coming! 52! 52!"

Week Three

• Steel mentioned "The NX-520" during his phone conversation with a member of S.T.A.R. Labs.

Week Six

• In Rip Hunter's bunker:

• The atomic time lock is set to open on midnight, 1 January, 52 B.C.
• A list of numbered papers 51.53.54.56, with the conspicuously missing 52.
• A sheet with 520 Kane St., the address the Question meets Renee Montoya.
• The chalkboard is headlined with "Time is Broken" and peppered randomly with "52."
• Te versus (Au + Pb) - Te is the symbol for Tellurium, element 52
• All the clocks are set at 12:52 am, or 00:52(52)

Week Eight

• Steel watches WLII, a news channel. In Roman numerals, LII means 52.
• Day three of Week Eight is considered the 52nd day of this 365-day timetable, which marks the first known sighting of Supernova.

Week Nine

• Devilance refers to the "two score and twelve walls of heaven" - two score and twelve being 52.

Week Ten

• When Renee is looking at the baseball game between the Gotham Knights and the Stars from Star City, the Stars are winning 5-2.

Week Eleven

• In Day 6, the first panel shows Renee's pack of cigarretes, clearly showing 5 to the left, then the one she is holding, and then 2 to the right; a 52 made out of cigarettes.

Week Twelve

• A Gotham City billboard with "52" is visible in the background as Renee walks home in the rain.

Week Fifteen

• Sanjay's computer has a stickie that reads "Khandaq Embassy 555-2222".

Week Seventeen

• The damaged upper body of Red Tornado utters "52...52" to Aborigines in the Australian outback.

Week Nineteen

• The Cover of this issue sports the year 5252. ^[4] It also sports the year 85,271. The second date is from the DC One Million crossover event.
• The past-due bills on Daniel Carter's coffee table, shown on page 1, reveal that his address is 1834 Hoyle Street. 18+34 = 52. Also, Edmond Hoyle is best known for providing detailed descriptions for games, such as poker, a game that uses 52 cards in a standard deck.
• The flashbacks to his football injury, as well as the picture on the wall of his home, reveal that Daniel Carter's jersey number was 52.

Week Twenty

• The clock at Wayne Manor reads 12:52 when Supernova is in the Batcave.
• When he begins his hunt for the space heroes in possession of his Eye, Ekron swears, in an "alien" font, "I will kill you in 52 ways."

Week Twenty-Two

• On Page 15, When Jon kicks the guy out the bus window, they're near "Highway 52" when the road sign is seen near Metropolis (note that Highway 52 is actually located at northwest-southeast which is between Portal, North Dakota and Charleston, South Carolina).
• Jon Standing Bear stops at Metropolis when his bus arrives at "Gate 52" on Page 16.

Week Twenty-Four

• Ambush Bug says 52 several times, although these are likely due to Ambush Bug's comic awareness. A panel later, Firestorm says he doesn't know anything about 52 during his phone call with Green Arrow.

Week Twenty-Seven

• Skeets manages to find Waverider at 05:25:20 a.m. on the second day of the week.

One Year Later And Beyond

• Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #17: After Supergirl's arrival 1,001 years in the future with the Legion, the Dominators say "fiffdetuuu" as they discuss their bio-weapon being delivered to Earth.
• Robin #153: Robin and Captain Boomerang defuse a bomb, and the number left on the timer is 52.
• Green Lantern #13: During a meeting of the Guardians of the Universe regarding Superboy-Prime, Ganthet says, "So we have all come to the same conclusion. The need for the Green Lantern Corps has become quite clear," and all of them reply, "52."
• Green Lantern #15: One of the Guardians of the Universe retrieves the head of Hank Henshaw stating, "You will tell us everything you have learned within Space Sector 3601. And what you know about the 52."
• Justice Society of America #1: During a fight between Damage and Rebel, a billboard in the background advertises a sale at 52% off. When members of the JSA gather for orientation, Starman says, "There's a star on Thanagar. I dreamt about it. Ha! 52!"
• Week 1 was released on May 10, 2006. In the United States, new issues of comic books are released every Wednesday. The Wednesday 52 weeks after the initial release date falls on May 2, 2007. Hence, the series will end on 5/2/07 (in American date formatting).

[edit] Rip Hunter's lab

When Booster enters Rip Hunter's bunker in Week 6, he finds it in disarray. Among the details of Hunter's lab, a giant globe is marked with red X's and the words "World War III Why? How?" A time machine sits broken. Notes scrawled everywhere indicate that there is a problem with the time stream, and as noted above, the number 52 figures prominently in these writings. Many of the writings foreshadow and refer to DC Universe events and characters, some of which are not yet introduced by the time of Booster's discovery.^[5] A multitude of clocks are all stopped at 12:52 (00:52). Monitors show images of Rosa Parks, Abraham Lincoln, a sailing ship with the flag of the Knights Templar, Elvis Presley, the Boston Tea Party, and a dinosaur.

Papers on the floor bear the titles of canceled DC series, including superhero comic Infinity, Inc., 1940s humor title Casey the Cop, and Silverblade, a 1980s maxi-series about an actor-turned-vigilante. Also on the floor is a book titled Who's Who, using the logo for the DC series of the same name, and two notes: "FIND THE SUN DEVILS" and "What is spanner's galaxy?". Sun Devils and Spanner's Galaxy are the titles of two 1980s maxi-series.

A set of blackboards is covered with more clues:

• "TIME IS BROKEN"
• The number 52 in a circle litters the boards, the circles sometimes overlapping. The symbol of overlapping circles has been used in the past by DC Comics to represent alternate Earths, or alternate Earths fusing (such as in Infinite Crisis).
• "Dead by lead?" - In the DC Universe, the Daxamite race is especially vulnerable to lead poisoning. The pre-Crisis Daxamite Mon-El is a 20th century hero whom Superman preserves for 1,000 years in the Phantom Zone when the former contracts lead poisoning. Mon-El re-appears post-Infinite Crisis in Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #23 (December 2006). Lead is also the name of one of the Metal Men.
• "Further time is different" - A new version of the DC Comics character Father Time appears in the limited series Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Blüdhaven and Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters.
• "The four horsemen will end her rain?" - Egg Fu mentions "four horsemen", and Isis creates rainstorms to express sadness.^[6] Furthermore, the cover of Week 29 includes a comment: "39 days to the Rain", putting the hypothetical 'Rain' sometime around December 31.
• "He won't smell it." - Main character Ralph Dibny's nose is reputed to be able to "smell a mystery". According to '52' editor Michael Siglain, this is the next clue which will be revealed [1].
• "Find the last 'El'" - "El" is the family name of both Superman (Kal-El) and Supergirl (Kara Zor-El). After the fight in space, Supergirl was sent to the 31st century, when she joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. It is also the name pre-Crisis Superboy gives to Mon-El, another hero who joins the Legion one thousand years into his own future. In addition, for a period of time, Conner Kent (Superboy) uses the name "Kon-El" and also serves with the Legion.
• "MAN OF STEEL" - This was the title given to John Henry Irons in promotional material for the Reign of the Superman storyline that DC published following the Death of Superman storyline. In 52, Irons' skin becomes stainless steel. It is also one of the aliases given to Superman.
• "Sonic disruptors --> Time Masters --> Time Servants" - In DC Comics, Rip Hunter was given the title "Time Master". The Sonic Disruptors series, was cancelled by DC Comics before being completed, apparently because the creators working on the project could not complete it on time.^{[citation needed]} Additionally, Rip Hunter offered various time-travelling supervillains the chance to redeem themselves as Time Masters and fight with him to stop Skeets' plans.
• "The reach. The reach. The reach." - In the current Blue Beetle title, the insane villain Bottom Feeder raves of an 'army' he sees in his dreams, raving that "The Reach are coming! And they bring doomsday!".
• "Tornado is in pieces" - Red Tornado was shattered in the fight in space.
• "I'm not kryptonite"
• "It hurts to breathe"
• Circled: "The Scarab is eternal?" - The new Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes, is the new host of the blue scarab owned by Dan Garrett, the original Blue Beetle.
• "2,000 years from now"
• "Where is the Curry Heir?" In the "One Year Later" stories, a character named Arthur Curry, who looks exactly like Aquaman, appears. A character known as the Dweller in the Depths is heavily implied, in the Aquaman series, to be the original Aquaman.
• "Who is Supernova?" - Supernova is a new character who first appears in 52 Week Eight.
• "Σ What happened to the son of Superman?" - The question of Superman's offspring is the subject of a large number of "imaginary stories" and Elseworlds comics, including Son of Superman, a 2000 Elseworlds graphic novel, and The Kingdom limited series, which featured the debut of the time/reality concept "Hypertime". This clue may also refer to Geoff Johns' run on Action Comics which features a boy from Kryton.
• "Σ Where is the Batman?" - A month after the Infinite Crisis, Batman, Robin and Nightwing travel the world and are absent during the year in which 52 takes place.
• "Σ Who is the Batwoman?" - Batwoman is a new character who debuts in 52 Week Eleven.
• "Σ Te versus (Au+Pb)" - As noted above, the atomic number of Tellurium (Te) is 52. The other elements mentioned are Gold (Au) and Lead (Pb). Gold and Lead are names of Metal Men, and alchemists attempted to transmute lead into gold. Additionally, "Tellurium"'s root word is "tellus" (which is Latin for "earth"). Tellus is a member of the pre-Zero Hour Legion of Super-Heroes. Booster Gold and Mon-El, who has a weakness to lead, are also characters based in the future.
• Circled: "Σ Who is Diana Prince?" - In the "One Year Later" Wonder Woman series, Wonder Woman appears as Diana Prince, a secret agent.
• "SECRET FIVE!" - The Secret Six, following the events of Infinite Crisis Special: Villains United, are down one member. In the Secret Six limited series by Gail Simone, they recruit the Mad Hatter.
• "Σ Who is Supernova?" - See above.
• "Σ Don't ask the Question. It lies." - The Question is one of the main characters of 52.
• "Σ World War III? Why? HOW?"
• "IMMORTAL SAVAGE" - Vandal Savage spends the year depicted in 52 in space, and when he returns, he has lost his immortality.
• "Σ Someone is monitoring. They see us. They see me." - The Monitor returns in DCU: Brave New World. Additionally, series writer Grant Morrison previously has broken the fourth wall in his stories, having comic book characters realize their true, fictional nature. In the Animal Man series, the main character also steals a time machine from Rip Hunter.
• "The Lazarus Pit RISES".
• "KHIMAERA LIVES AGAIN" - In the initial "One Year Later" storyline in Hawkgirl, Khimaera appears as a new antagonist.
• "Σ The old Gods are DEAD, the new Gods want what's left." - The "New Gods" refers to the protagonists of Jack Kirby's "Fourth World" comic book stories whose worlds were created from the remains of two of the Old Gods.
• "I'm supposed to be DEAD?" - Donna Troy, Dick Grayson and Kyle Rayner each receive visits from Monitors who tell them they were not supposed to have survived Infinite Crisis.
• "WHEN AM I?".
• Circled: "OTHERS?".

[edit] Action figures

In September 2006, DC Direct premiered a line of action figures based on 52. The first wave, featuring figures based on Batwoman, Isis, Booster Gold, Animal Man and Supernova, is scheduled for retail in May 2007.[2]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Significant events of the DC Universe lost year
• Timeline of the DC Universe

[edit] External links

• DC's official website devoted to 52.
• Dan Didio spills on DC's "52" (newsarama.com)
• Crisis Counselling Supplemental Interview with Dan Didio on 52
• Issues #1-5 online
• The Superman Database - Full list of every issue of “52” ever published w/ Cover Art and more.