52: Difference between revisions

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'''PANEL 5''': "''I'm [[The Question|Renee Montoya]], second-stringer from the Batman books and [[Batman: The Animated Series|the Batman animated series.]] And I am'' '''a lesbian.''' ''And also very, very'' '''awesome.'''"|'''[[Atop the Fourth Wall|Linkara]]''', ''52 In 5 Panels''}}

''52'' was a yearlong series published by DC Comics from May 2006 to May 2007. As the name suggests it consisted of an issue every week for an entire year, a Herculean task made easier by having four writers ([[Geoff Johns]], [[Grant Morrison]], [[Greg Rucka]], and [[Mark Waid]]), one breakdown artist (Keith Giffen), and a veritable army of pencilers, inkers, colorists, and letterers. The story takes place between the events of [[Infinite Crisis]] and the One Year Later storylines of [[Wonder Woman]], [[Superman]], and [[Batman]].

While Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman appear occasionally throughout the story, the main focus is on the rest of the DC Universe as it functions without its iconic heroes, devoting most of its panel time to second and third string characters, including some who had been all but abandoned at the end of [[The Silver Age of Comic Books]]. Because of the [[Loads and Loads of Characters|sheer number of characters]] to keep track of and all the continuity and decades old story lines used as the backbone of the story, ''52'' could be accused of veering into [[Continuity Porn]]. This is alleviated to a certain degree by the collected volumes of the series, which included creators' notes at the end of each week that tended to illuminate various parts of that week's chapter (including some of the more obscure references). DC also produced a companion book to the series that reprinted some classic issues featuring some of the major characters of the series that are not as well known (Rip Hunter, for example, had been pretty much been out of DC Comics since the 1960s, but becomes pretty important as 52 presses on), as well as more recent issues that set-up the characters for their individual stories.

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* [[Brought Down to Normal]]: Superman recently lost all of his powers and is spending the year simply as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, learning to do things as we humans do them (including shaving and picking up scalding hot pots). Both he and Lois are taking the entire affair in rather good order, content to be only human, but according to Perry White his work has really suffered as of late (since he is not used to actually having to ''look'' for news) and he is on the edge of termination.

* [[Buffy-Speak]]: "It's been three weeks since I saw Mister cryptic-I-have-no-face-but-plenty-of-attitude."

* [[Butterfly of Doom]]: Lex Luthor kidnaps Clark Kent and gives him an experimental [[Truth Serum]] which his scientists explain is a synthetic recreation of [[Wonder Woman]]'s magic lasso. Luthor then asks Clark, who broke the story about new hero Supernova, why it is that Superman is [[It's All About Me|toying with Luthor by pretending to be someone else]]. Clark, [[Laughing Mad|laughing madly]], informs Lex that he does not know who is under the Supernova mask, but he is absolutely certain of one thing: [[Crowning Moment of Funny|it is not Superman]]. Creator commentary in the trade-paperbacks points out that this scene, and perhaps the '''entire future path of DC Comics''', could have gone so differently if Luthor had simply known to ask ''the right question''.

* [[The Cape]]: Not strictly anyone in the series, but as Black Adam [[Character Development|softens up]], he takes to wearing his cape more as symbolic gesture.

* [[The Cape (trope)]]: Not strictly anyone in the series, but as Black Adam [[Character Development|softens up]], he takes to wearing his cape more as symbolic gesture.

* [[Captain Ethnic]]: The Great Ten of China. [[Enforced Trope|Deliberately]].

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: At the Black Adam/Isis wedding in Week Sixteen, the Intergang bomber quotes from the Crime Bible that serves as the foundation of the Religion of Crime. The bible itself and the religion as a whole would not be featured or even named until Week Twenty-Three, when the Question and Renee Montoya infiltrate one of their occult meetings.

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** [[Only Sane Man]]: The Accomplished Perfect Physician, Thundermind

** [[Mauve Shirt|Mauve Shirts]]: The Yeti, The Seven Deadly Brothers, The Celestial Archer, Shaolin Robot

* [[Thanatos Gambit]]: {{spoiler|Ralph Dibny uses his death to trap both Felix Faust and Neron in the Tower of Fate for eternity, since by killing him before he removed the binding spells around the tower, there is no way to escape.}}

* [[There Are No Therapists]]: When all the heroes who went out into space in [[Infinite Crisis]] are rescued and brought down to Australia they have all been mutated, transformed, merged or deformed in unique and disturbing ways. Original [[Green Lantern]] Alan Scott got off lighter than almost anybody else - he only lost one eye, but even the eye he still has was not originally his and his daughter Jade died during the Crisis. [[Steel]] recognizes that, physical rehabilitation aside, all these returning heroes are going to need counseling to help them deal with what happened, but Alan is adamant that that is not even an option.

{{quote|'''Green Lantern Alan Scott:''' "It's my job to set an example. I have to show we don't break like other people. We don't give in to fate."}}