52—Volume 2

Comic Info

52 #20

Reprints 52 #14-26 (August 9, 2006-November 1, 2006).  Black Adam realizes he might have finally found happiness and his purpose in Isis.  Animal Man, Adam Strange, and Starfire try to make their way back to Earth but run into a roadblock called Lobo.  Doctor Magnus finds himself sucked into the strange scientific events occurring on Oolong Island.  Lex Luthor has a new Infinity, Inc. team, but John Henry worries that Lex’s control over the team could be dangerous…especially since his niece Natasha is a member.  The Question and Montoya try to keep one step ahead of Intergang as their plans unfold.  The disgraced Booster Gold might be forced to make the ultimate sacrifice while a strange new hero named Supernova patrols the city.

Written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid, 52—Volume 2 is a DC Comics superhero comic book collection.  Following 52—Volume 1, the trade paperback features art by Eddy Barrows, Chris Batista, Joe Bennett, Dale Eaglesham, Phil Jimenez, Drew Johnson, Shown Moll, and Patrick Olliffe.  Not included in the collection of the weekly series are the backup origin stories, and issues in this collection were also included in the larger 52—Volume 1 collection.

52 was an interesting experiment.  The weekly series brought together a great team of artists and a great team of writers.  The format was different and the story was kind of important…I like what it tried, but I didn’t like what it led to.

The story has a lot of threads which is necessary for a series like this.  Essentially, it amplifies the soap opera aspect of comics by having a bunch of little events occur each week to a bigger pictures.  It is written in a way that if you happen to miss a week, you generally won’t be lost, but it encourages readers to keep reading weekly…which is really smart in the bigger comic book picture.

52 #24

The problem is the same problem that soap operas have.  You have multiple characters and not all the storylines are as interesting…and that isn’t necessarily the writer’s fault.  If you are a big Booster Gold fan, you might not care about Steel.  If you are an Animal Man fan, the Black Adam storyline might be skippable.  The series does a good job finding a balance and at least crossing over at the right times.

What is interesting about the collections (and the series in general) is that artists and creators are pretty open about it.  The idea of a creative process involving so many creators makes your mind kind of questions who is really in charge of the product.  After each issue, there is generally a little “here’s how this issue came to be” story by one of the creators…it is a nice insight to how the process work.

52 is an ambitious project.  The creators can’t get behind or it becomes a book that is pointless…it is meant to be read in “real time” and it needs to keep the reader going.  52 works in this sense…but it also created a precedent that DC couldn’t live up to.  Other series like Batman Eternal (and Batman and Robin Eternal), Brightest Day, and Countdown tried to match 52, and floundered…which was a waste of talent and writers.  52—Volume 2 was followed by 52—Volume 3.

Related Links:

52—Volume 1