Week Thirty-Nine
We get three big surprises in this week’s issue, but the problem is that all of the surprises leave you with the thought of, “Oh, cool, now what comes next?” In other words, it’s another week of groundwork laying. I’m all for that, I suppose, since we all know that the pay-off is coming real soon here. Anyway, let’s talk about what happens in Week Thirty-Nine.
The issue opens with Dr. Laughlin, Luthor’s top scientist on the Everyman Project, blowing up his own lab and all of his findings. He does so after Natasha Irons and her boyfriend (not!) decide to ask some questions. The “boyfriend,” as we know, isn’t actually who Natasha thinks he is, so they start to fight when she finds out that her real boyfriend is dead, but the fight is broken up when Luthor shows up and reveals that Laughlin had been lying this entire time. Luthor is compatible with the Everyman gene, and, now, he’s Superman. Nice surprise, but I’m getting to the point where I’m going to avoid looking at the cover so as not to be spoiled before cracking the issue.
Elsewhere this week, we discover that Dr. Magnus has been secretly rebuilding his Metal Men (in miniature form) behind the backs of all the other mad scientists on Oolong Island. He also tips off Professor Morrow as to the whereabouts of Red Tornado’s head. Also on the island, the Four Horsemen are teleported off to wreak havoc on the Earth. Where are they sent? Where else? Straight to Kahndaq and the Gardens of Isis, where poison rain starts to pour down and destroy all the plant life, leaving Black Adam and company looking surprised. Uh-oh, Spaghetti-O’s! The Four Horsemen are going to kill the Black Marvel Family, except for the patriarch, and then they’re going to have World War III on their hands. Black Adam’s going to be royally pissed. This is going to be sweet.
Other than that, nothing happens. Ralph Dibny and the Helmet of Fate continue on their journey, this week traveling through Atlantis. The cover’s got a misprint on it, also. The ticker reads, “Lex Luthor: Man of Steel?!?” and “Montoya fights a Dragon!” Only thing is, Montoya’s not in this issue.
Not that big of a deal, but, y’know. I like to nit-pick. We have twelve issues to go, folks. That’s not very many. I’m guessing that the last five or so are going to be absolutely huge, but the next few are also going to have a number of big revelations and goings-on. I’m guessing the Ralph Dibny storyline will wrap itself up real soon here, as there’s not much left for him to do. I’m just wondering how all of these separate storylines are going to eventually converge. They probably should, but I’m not seeing a clear way how.
See ya in seven.
Since you like nit-picking, aren’t there 13 more issues (not 12 like you said)? 52-39 = 13
The scene with Aquaman, well on his way to becoming the Dweller in the Depths, was the highlight of the issue for me. Everyman revealing that he’s eating what’s-his-name was cool, but the they pointed out he was named Hannibal and I groaned to myself. How many cover spoilers is this now? They shouldn’t let JG Jones know what’s happening in every issue.
I agree on the Aquaman moment. It seemed kind of silly that they forced Ralph to go there pretty much just for that reveal, but so it goes.
I’m really wondering if they’ll try to tie everything together, or if some of the plots will just resolve themselves mostly independent of some over-arcing mystery.
I may have missed this, but why is it that Intergang is going after Kandaq? There just doesn’t seem to be any way to attach that to what’s going on with Skeets, etc., or with Ralph, or with Luthor.
I like nit-picking, but I’m bad at math. Plus, I was drunk when I wrote this, so I just guessed.
As for why Intergang is going after Kahndaq, I think that goes all the way back to week three or so, when they offered Black Adam a deal to let them run their operations through his country (along with offering him the girl who eventually became Isis). Remember, he killed them and told them to screw off.
Seems like they took it personally. Or, there’s something bigger that I’m forgetting.
In case you can’t tell by what I just posted, I was bored tonight.