52 Week 6
John Jack
Recap
Week six of 52 opens with Booster Gold doing some shady stuff, paying off a fake supervillian for publicity and indulging in a little insider trading on his way out.
We cut away to Green Lanterns Jordan and Stewart working to take down Evil Star in Chinese airspace at the behest of the Great Ten, China's premier super team. Just as they begin to overpower the team Black Adam shows up and informs them China has joined Kahndaq's coalition putting Chinese airspace under his sole protection. As they fight Evil Star runs into Russian airspace, the Green Lanterns inform Adam that making himself a national defender means that crossing out of his airspace constitutes an act of war, Black Adam stands down for the moment.
Magnus and T.O. Morrow meet again, once again discussing the missing scientists. As they talk a camera is installed in Morrow's cell, but who it reports to is a mystery.
We cut back to Booster, who has found Rip Hunters last known address. A bunker in the desert. The bunker contains a wealth of Easter eggs for the era, so fun to pick through, front and center is a broken time sphere and the issue ends with a major clue to the mystery at hand.
Review
This issue is jam-packed with information, almost every facet of this issue comes into play later, so cool. This issue is a crucial turning point in at least three plot lines. The density of the storytelling in play is unbelievable.
I really liked seeing the Lanterns, no doubt written by Johns on loan from his magnum opus GL run. I really enjoyed their dialogue but was a little thrown off by the communication breakdown between them and the Chinese, as the rings should have a universal language function running at all times. A very minor complaint but I hold Johns’ GL to some pretty high standards.
Black Adam forming a global coalition and the troubles created by that begin a process that will culminate in a tie in miniseries called World War III, which I’ll probably get to around December. But the seed is planted this issue.
I won’t spoil the big crux of Booster exploring Rip Hunter’s bunker but I can’t stress enough they they literally lay a HUGE plot point out for the reader. I’m always very impressed when a mystery is solvable from early on in the story, a prime example of this being “Krusty Gets Busted” from season one of The Simpsons (one of the greatest mystery stories ever told in twenty-two minutes or less).
The T.O. Morrow and Magnus segment seems like the low point of this issue but big things are happening on that front as well, with a seed being planted there as well.
The art this issue by returning penciler Joe Bennett is great, I really love the Green Lantern pages in the issue, I always love seeing all the constructs artists throw in. The Great Ten are really interesting and varied, I’d read their eventual miniseries based on their appearance here alone. The Booster segment at the end is also superb, with Easter eggs galore, a delight.
The cover by JG Jones and Alex Sinclair is killer, showing Green Lantern, the Great Ten and Black Adam. The contrast between the Green Lantern and the Red background is eye catching and dynamic.
Final Thoughts
This issue is a perfect example of the dense storytelling this series is known for. Just great.
52 Week 6: The Turning Point
- Writing - 9/109/10
- Storyline - 10/1010/10
- Art - 8/108/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 10/1010/10
