Week Three

A day late, but a dollar short? Never.

Apparently some of you liked the second issue of 52 much more than I did (as I said, it was confusing and fleetingly exciting) but I think we’ll all agree that the third issue kicks serious ass. And it succeeds for all the reasons that the second issue didn’t.

First off, the latest issue starts with a bang, the discovery of Lex Luthor’s dead body. Now, of course we know he’s not really dead from the gate, but this is the type of mystery that gets my nerdy blood going. It’s the type of thing that even a casual reader (which I believe DC is trying hard to lure in) will be able to follow. A smear of paint on an extremely minor character’s grave? Not so much.

Next, a steady dose of Black Adam and Steel. I figured from the gate that these two would be the most enjoyable characters, and that holds true here. It makes me wonder if, in a DC writers’ meeting, they all agreed that Black Adam has to be written as the most baddest ass in the universe, because that’s what he’s been during the Crisis, OYL and 52. I mean, as a journalist, I can say it’s not every day you get to cover a press conference and be covered in the smoldering flesh of someone.

The Booster Gold mystery continues, and he continues to be made to look like the biggest a-hole around. Much like the first issue, Booster’s in real action here and at top mugging-for-the-cameras form.

This issue was close to, if not better than, the first one. I just hope the series isn’t so uneven from here on out.