'Meister's Musings: 52: The First Week

Well, Infinite Crisis is finally over. And we all know what that means: MEGA-EVENT #458908634698693.3 is here! This time ‘round, it’s 52, the weekly comic filling in the gaps left by the One Year Later jump. Here’s a quick roundup of what’s happening in the first issue. I’ve got some general comments first, and then an actual summary for those who just want to know what’s happening but don’t want to spend $2.50 every week for a year. I could do that mental math, but I really don’t wanna. Don’t worry, though, I’ll put a clear warning of when the summary starts for those who don’t want it to be spoiled for them.

If you don’t know what 52 is, I have to wonder what rock you’ve been living under the past, oh, 6 months or so. DC’s claiming it’s one of their most ambitious projects ever; if they pull it off, I think it could actually be pretty cool. Assuming they can avoid delays, as that would cripple the whole idea of 52, I really think a ‘real-time’ comic is a pretty good idea. So, in a world without Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, we get to see the stories of the other people in the DCU, and see their stories unfold. Should be quite a ride.

*****ISSUE #1 SUMMARY—SPOILERS ABOUND!*****

Here we go. I’ll try to do this as chronologically as I can. Since the issue is broken into days, I’ll go for that too. Sounds decent enough to me.

Week 1

Day 1

Ralph Dibny (The Elongated Man, whose wife Sue died in Identity Crisis) is standing in the wreckage of his house, which has literally been cut in half. It’s a mess. He’s clearly on the edge of a nervous breakdown, and it talking to someone on the phone who’s worried he was hurt in the Monster Society’s tear through Opal City, which presumably caused his housing woes.

Renee Montoya of the GCPD is in a bar, getting drunk like mad. Seems to be a common occurrence lately.

Steel is helping out at a rescue effort in Paris, cleaning up the damage from IC.

Day 2

Ralph’s looking at a picture of his wife, listening to the person on the phone talk about rumors about who’s still alive and who’s dead after IC.

Montoya’s still drinking.

Steel’s still helping out, looking for Green Arrow, who apparently saved some people.

Day 3

There’s going to be a memorial service for all of the dead heroes in Metropolis. Ralph plans on going.

Montoya’s still drinking, but now she’s depressed about lots o’ people dying.

Day 4

Steel’s hanging around, talking to a St. Louis fireman about how the good guys won.

Day 5

Since Superman is gone, Booster Gold is the new hero in town. Since he has knowledge of the future (being from the future and all), he’s able to stop crimes right when they start, so he’s become mega-popular since he’s mega-successful. Corporate sponsorships abound, as does product placement. Good ol’ Booster’s making a killing taking advantage of the future’s history. His flying robotic companion, Skeets, provides all of the info for him, and also tells him when he needs to look sad about all of the death and destruction. Pretty amusing stuff, actually. Furthermore, according to the future records, it turns out that Superman gave some historic speech at the planned memorial service that became legendary for its message of hope, and it also ushered in a new era for the Justice League. Booster hopes to be a part of it, since it will bring him even more sponsorships.

Ralph Dibny is staying at a hotel, and he has a voice mail message telling him someone left a note on his wife’s grave. Good thing he listened to the message when he did, since he had a gun in his mouth and was ready to end it all. But now he has a crime to solve, and he has a purpose. Or something.

Steel and his daughter Natasha argue over her priorities, as she wants to be with the Teen Titans rather than help her father with the rescue efforts. He gives her a lecture, she runs away, he disables and dismantles her armor. She has to put it back together and presumably spend some time in time out.

Over in Kahndaq (which, unfortunately, I know nothing about), Black Adam is going to lead his people as an example to the world of justice, ‘spreading our new gospel.’ Doesn’t sound like it bodes well for humanity. Some guy at the huge meeting in Kahndaq tries to be a suicide bomber, but in classic Black Adam badassery, he disables the bomb and rips off his arm, telling him ‘You have three more chances to tell me who sent you.’ A truly great moment.

Day 6

Unfortunately, I have no clue what’s going on for a whole page. Some little scientist is complaining about Captain Marvel being gone and rants about how science beats magic. He is then abducted by a lizardy guy and a hairy guy. Sorry, but I have no clue what that was all about. If you do know, please fill me in.

It’s the day of the memorial in Metropolis. People whom I recognize that show up:

Green Arrow
Black Canary
The Ray
GeoForce
Dr. Light
Power Girl
Black Lightning
Speedy (Arsenal, maybe? You kids and your name changes these days…)
Jay Garrick
Wildcat
Martian Manhunter
Booster
Shadowpact (all of ‘em, I think)
Bart Allen (not costumed)
Huntress
Metamorpho
Nightwing
Wonder Girl
Beast Boy
John Stewart
Guy Gardner
Hal (I think; no gray hair, but it looks like his costume)

There are a few more, but that’s all I recognized. Again, please feel free to fill in some gaps.

Anyway, they have their little soiree, and Booster is freaking out when the speech doesn’t start when it should. Clark Kent comes up to Booster and explains that the Big Three aren’t coming.

Day 7

The Question rips off the bat on the Bat Signal and spray-paints a question mark on it. Montoya has a little monologue about how she’s tired of losing partners, including a woman named Daria whom she drove away. I think we’re to assume Montoya and Daria were lovers, but no more. Then the Question shines the new signal on her window and says ‘Are you ready?’

And that’s the end of Week 1.

*****END SPOILERS*****

Sorry that was so long, but I think that’s a pretty decent summary of all that happened. I sure hope I don’t have to write these every week, but I will if nobody else steps in, just ‘cause I love you guys. All, y’know, 3 people who read this…

Anyway, feel free to add things I missed, and please leave a comment or two. It’s always nice to get feedback from people. You can also email me at aswindle@gmail.com if you’d like. And, as always, all previous posts are archived at meistersmusings.blogspot.com. Until next week, then. Tally-ho!

--The Almeister

Originally posted on waitingforwednesday.blogspot.com 5/10/06

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The End of the Crisis

Well, Infinite Crisis finally ended today. I figured some exit comments would be appropriate. It’s not a long rant, but I figured I should speak my mind, and I’d also like to invite others to do the same. So if ever you were to leave a comment on a post, let it be this one, and let’s have ourselves some discussion!

Some minor spoilers for #7 are discussed, but there's a clear warning before and after. So you have absolutely no reason not to contribute your thoughts. I WILL find out where you live...

For over 2 years now, DC has made one of the best attempts at creating a cohesive universe that I have ever seen, and likely ever will see: the DC Universe has meshed incredibly well since Identity Crisis, and I’m now a DC fan because of it. I enjoy reading DC and Marvel because they essentially are their own mythologies, with entire universes and decades of history backing them up. I think that’s truly amazing for a company to be able to do that. And DC, I would say, has pulled it off marvelously in recent years.

Everything about DC lately has impressed me; this is due, in large part, to their editorial staff, as they have made a universe out of a collection of different titles operating in the same world. When something happens over in Superman, Batman knows about it; if Batman’s having a bad day, Supes knows about it. It’s been great. While Marvel used to have Thor fly overhead and tell you to read Thor’s book (although that’s much more effort than their editorial staff has put into inter-book continuity in years), DC doesn’t have to do that. It’s much more subtle, and it fits together so much better. I’ve loved every minute of it.

As for Infinite Crisis itself, I would have to say I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit. Despite my lack of knowledge of all of the B-, C-, D-, etc. tier characters, I realized that the entire universe was there, and all of the heroes were at their best. Just like the original Crisis 20 years ago, we got to see the heroes of the DC Universe be just that: true heroes, who are willing to put everything on the line to save innocents. Furthermore, all of the plot points that have been building up for years now in DC have finally come to a head, and I thought it was truly enjoyable seeing a series truly mindful of its history and roots. I liked it. Heroes were heroes, some major stuff happened that will undoubtedly have ramifications for months or years to come, and we got to see that DC’s heroes are icons, even if they have been a little bit darker in recent years.

I do have one rather major complaint about the end of Crisis 2, though:

*RELATIVELY MINOR INFINITE CRISIS #7 SPOILERS FOLLOW*





The sonsabitches over at DC have pulled a Spidey: since the Earth of the DC Universe is a new one, due to all of the mucking around Alexander Luthor and Superboy Prime were up to, DC decided to introduce their equivalent of organic webshooters. Batman Begins and Smallville are hugely popular, and it looks like DC decided to retcon their way into movie continuity since they’re essentially whores. Remember how Joe Chill was caught in Begins? Well, according to good ol’ Alex Luthor, in this new Earth ‘Batman still fights for Gotham, even though his parents’ killer was caught.’ Furthermore, ‘There are recorded rumors of Superman’s activities before his appearance in Metropolis.’ Smallville, anyone? Don’t get me wrong; I thought Infinite Crisis #7 was a great end to the series, and it was packed with truly heroic and just plain kickass moments (the Supermen fighting Doomsday was incredible), but those 2 little retcons pissed me off. Not only does it insult the intelligence of new readers, as they apparently can’t understand that comics and TV shows are slightly different, but it felt like it cheapened the entire issue a bit. Now, I think that’s actually one of the cleverest retcons I’ve ever seen, as they actually had a somewhat legitimate excuse for it; better than Superboy punching on the walls of time to justify anything you want. I just think retcons are stupid in general, and this was a rather cheap, obvious way of changing comic continuity to reflect mainstream media. They could have at least said those things in their respective titles, and tried to be more subtle with vague allusions to the past. Bleagh.




*END SPOILERS*


Other than that little gripe, I’d say DC has really gotten their act together over the last few years. Hopefully I’ll be able to write another column next year (assuming we’re still here, of course) that will reflect the same idea about 52. For now, DC definitely has my interest piqued, even if it was through a massive company-wide crossover. While Spider-Man’s still a good character, I’ll take an entire cohesive universe over Peter’s financial problems any day. For now, make mine DC.

Agree? Disagree? Please, let me know. As I said before, this seems like it could be a fun topic to debate, so by all means, leave some comments and let’s have a talk. Always feel free to email me, too, at aswindle@gmail.com and I’ll get back to ya right away. As always, this and all of my previous 'Meister's Musings columns are archived at meistersmusings.blogspot.com.

--The Almeister

Originally posted on waitingforwednesday.blogspot.com 5/3/06 Read more