52, Vol. 4 - Dark Publications

Location: Home » vampire: masquerade » General AAS » 52, Vol. 4

Similar Items:

•	52, Vol. 3
•	52, Vol. 2
•	52, Vol. 1
•	DC: World War III
•	52: The Companion

Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

The end is here November 23, 2007
4 out of 7 found this review helpful

The fourth collected volume of DC's innovative, weekly series 52 finds the series coming an exciting conclusion, as the stars of the series find themselves in some dire straits. Ralph Dibny, AKA The Elongated Man, finds his journey with Fate coming to an end, with some unexpected and surprising results that spell doom for those involved. Steel seeks to rescue his neice from the newly-superpowered clutches of Lex Luthor, which leads to an action packed showdown. Most notably though is definitely the tragic and violent events that befall Black Adam and his family, and serves as the ignition of World War III. In the middle of it all, heroes fall and new heroes rise, while Booster Gold and Rip Hunter attempt to fix everything before it's too late, and we get our first glimpse at a newly born multiverse, and the endless possibilities that can be drawn from it. Incredibly ambitious, 52 proved to be a spectacular success that endlessly entertains, no matter how jaded a comic fan one may be. The combined talents of Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid have crafted an innovative and striking collection of stories that signify a new DC universe, and even more shattering events to come. If there's any downside to the final volume of 52, it's that a good amount of the various artwork looks pretty rushed. 52 as a whole suffered from this problem, but it is more prominent here. Despite that, the breakdowns by Keith Giffen, along with art from Joe Bennett, Dan Jurgens, Mike McKone, and Darick Robertson is still worth mentioning. All in all, it's kind of sad to see 52 come to an end (the following Countdown, which follows 52's formula, is not nearly as entertaining), but with all the possibilities that arise from it's conclusion, the best may very well be yet to come.

4 out of 5 stars

The Grand Finale December 3, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful

In earlier reviews I said that 52 would have to finish big to make the whole series worth it and book four just barely manages to do it. The first story to finish was the Luthor/Everyman thread and the conclusion was just as boring as the rest of the storyline. The ending of the Ralph Dibney saga was considerably better and I didn't see the plot swerve coming at all. Kudos to Ralph.

My favorite moment in the book came during the Black Adam storyline, not that I particularly enjoyed much of the rest of it. After the Four Horsemen of Oolong Island are unleashed, their first target is Adam's family in Kahndaq. At the risk of revealing one of the major plot twists it turns out that one of the Four Horsemen (hunger) has already been palling around with Black Adam's family for awhile now. Tragedy ensues and Black Adam goes on a rampage killing millions of people before discovering that it was the scientists of Oolong Island who caused his anguish. This is where it gets awesome. Black Adam attacks an island filled with DC's greatest mad scientists and in the ultimate brains vs brawn battle brawn is completely dominated. In fact T. O. Morrow brings down Black Adam while at the same time bidding on an item on Ebay. I've always felt that there are supervillains and there are SUPERvillains. Morrow is one of the later, one of those capable of taking on the entire JLA single handedly. Having the `Science Society' take down the nearly unstoppable Black Adam was awesome. Later, Adam is freed and goes on to inflict more carnage in `World War III' but for the record it's mad scientists 1, Black Adam 0.

Of course the showcase of the 52 series was the Booster Gold storyline and this is where 52 finishes big. Booster Gold started the series and it's only appropriate that he ends the series with a finale that will resonate throughout the DCU. The big reveal is the villain behind evil Skeetz. I actually think the best moment in the Booster Gold storyline was in book three when Booster Gold was revealed to be Supernova but this one was pretty good too.

I would like to, once again, thank 52 for adding the endnotes to each issue. Although they sometimes can get rather self indulgent, occasionally they can be quite honest for instance when Greg Rucka wrote, `I hated hated hated the single tear track on the last page [of issue 44]'. On another note, why does DC comics have such an obsession with creating a female version of all male characters. We now have added a female Question, Batwoman and apparently Deathstroke.

I happen to fall among those people who think that Infinite Crisis was fantastic and 52 doesn't have nearly the emotional impact but all in all I'd give it good marks despite some weak patches particularly in the middle two books.

5 out of 5 stars

review for all four volumes February 12, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

DC's 52 was highly ambitious, which made me more than a little nervous, since projects as big as these usually fall flat. With the big three missing, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, DC picks up some acilliary characters and kind of turns them into the modern age superheroes. Really DC is trying to kick start some other books. But they do a good job, especially since there is a book a week. Bravo gentlemen.

4 out of 5 stars

52 February 12, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

The writing team that worked on 52 has managed to put together an incredible story that will truly be remembered within the DC Universe for many years and were able to reestablish a lot of b and c type characters and make them fun again... great story, action, comedy, mystery and art... this is a must have for any fan of the DC Universe.

5 out of 5 stars

The Pulse-Pounding Conclusion December 31, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This is where it all comes to an end and all of the storylines meet thier conclusion. Booster really shines in this volume and he gets set up for his own series. Black Adam goes on the Rampage known as World War III. John Henry Irons and Lex Luthor face-off. This is worth picking up though only if you've read the rest of the series.

Powered by Associate-O-Matic

T-shirts, Posters

Pentagram T-shirts, bags, etc...

Gothic Posters