Reading Comics 213 "Understanding 52 - Part 5"

52, the 2006-2007 series written by Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Geoff Johns, and Mark Waid, with art breakdowns by Keith Giffen and covers by J.G. Jones, was instantly a favorite of mine as I read its weekly installments, and I recently completed a reread of the whole thing.  The following is the conclusion to a commentary, covering the fourth collected volume, including #40-52:

• #40 - Steel suits up in his armor to confront Lex Luthor once and for all, plus rescue his captive niece, Natasha Irons.  He brings with him a new contingent of Teen Titans, to confront the remnants of Infinity Inc.  He loses his armor before he even reaches Luthor, but that doesn't stop him.  Luthor believes his powers make Steel easy pickings, but Steel's hammer is encoded with a kind of off switch for Luthor's powers.  Steel emerges triumphant in their war.  The chaos in Kahndaq leaves Osiris to conclude in a conversation with Sobek that he's the one responsible for the country's ills.  He resolves to do something about it.  The artist is Chris Batista.  Giffen and editor Michael Siglain offer commentaries.  Giffen is surprised that Steel's arc climaxes so early; Siglain explains that the title of the issue is from the famous John Henry folk ballad that gave Steel, John Henry Irons, his name, and that Morrison pulled off one of his obscure references in the script concerning a "Planet Lexor."  For me, it's a defining moment of 52, as Steel had always been a favorite character of mine, but one that had never really gotten his moment to shine.  His fifty-two issues of a solo series in the previous decade had seen him marginalized after "Reign of the Supermen" (where he was equally neutralized), and even in Morrison's JLA, once he'd joined, he served little purpose as the team's Vulcan.  It wasn't until Natasha armored up when they'd returned as supporting players in the pages of early 2000s Superman comics that he was allowed to develop into a conventional superhero rather than a token black character who stuck around for a while.  Cyborg in Johns' Justice League later had the spotlight Steel hadn't had in JLA.  Morrison brought him back in his New 52 Action Comics run, which is the last time Steel has been seen.  Pitting him against Lex Luthor in the pages of 52 is tacit acknowledgment of Steel's true potential.  It's also Luthor's last major run in his classic role as a straight-up villain putting on a positive public image, something he'd already struggled against in the pages of The Final Night a decade earlier, and would reclaim later in a pre-New 52 Action Comics starring role and finally as a surprise member of Johns' Justice League. 
• #41 - Adam Strange  and Starfire struggle against a remnant of Lady Styx's horde.  Renee Montoya struggles in the aftermath of Charlie's death.  Richard Dragon forces her to confront what she's become.  Ralph Dibney reaches the end of his journey with the Helmet of Fate.  Montoya has a conversation with Wonder Woman in Nanda Parbat.  She asks Montoya, "Which will have greater rule over you...your fear...or your curiosity?"  Strange and Starfire rally each other's spirits.  They land on Mogo.  Giuseppe Camuncoli provides art.  Rucka and Siglain provide commentaries.  Rucka admits that the writers were beginning to face the prospect of figuring out how to give enough space to each arc before the end of the series.  He credits Waid with helping figure out Wonder Woman's appearance, this following his "embassy" era and before his Rebirth era return to the character, so Rucka certainly knows enough about her.  Siglain is clearly a guy who can dig as well as Morrison into the DC canon, as he demonstrates in his thoughts.
• #42 - Renee Montoya: "You're going to have to look.  And you want to.  You know you do.  Shine the light into the dark corners.  Gaze into your self-made abyss.  See what stares back.  Don't be scared.  That's right, that's it...Just open your eyes...What do you see?  Good question."  Ralph Dibney's arc concludes as he reveals, like Booster and Skeets before him, his actions this whole time were an elaborate conceit.  Turns out Fate was really Felix Faust all along, attempting to trick Dibney into giving up a pure soul Faust needed for a bargain with the demon Neron.  The gun?  A wishing gun.  The stuff in the flash?  Gingold, what Dibney used to use to stretch as Elongated Man.  He gladly sacrifices himself to trap Faust with his Faustian deal, trapped with Neron for eternity...Fire, whom we've seen in glimpses throughout the series, is there to give Dibney a proper hero's farewell at his grave.  Darick Robertson provides the art.  Dan DiDio provides commentary, explaining how he asked Giffen to rework Dibney's death after the writers had finished their effort, a risky editorial move that sheds further light into the delicate creative process.
• #43 - Osiris and Sobek visit the Rock of Eternity and the Marvel Family, Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Junior and Mary Marvel.  Black Adam and Isis arrive.  They argue over Osiris's contention that his powers are a curse.  Osiris becomes increasingly belligerent, but eventually claims he's reconsidered his conclusions.  The aliens who originally gave Animal Man his powers complete his revival.  He comes with increased awareness of his abilities.  Lady Styx is reborn.  Sobek is revealed as a double agent.  Osiris gives up his powers, and his talking crocodile friend...eats him.  Dan Jurgens provides art.  Johns provides commentary, explaining how Black Adam's arc in 52 developed in its conception, and how Giffen, who never liked Osiris, helped make his death more impactful.  Of course he would.  It's ironic that Jurgens, who had become an archetypical superhero artist a decade earlier, and who gets to feature his Superman style with Captain Marvel and related characters this issue, also does the honors for what seems like the most unlikely Dan Jurgens sequence ever, the grim death of Osiris.
• #44 - Sobek is revealed to be Famine of the Four Horsemen of Apokolips, and he leads his brethren against Black Adam and Isis.  Isis is killed in the resulting battle.  Renee Montoya realizes she's dead, and it's just the impetus she needs to finally leave Nanda Parbat again.  (Richard Dragon: "You're going to find, like Sage [Charlie, the Question] did, that some questions can only be answered by wearing a mask.  Just as there are some that can only be asked when you remove one.")  Eddy Barrows provides art.  Rucka provides commentary.  He remarks that Johns has Isis actually confirm that Black Adam reverting to form is the proper response to what's just happened to him.
• #45 - Black Adam and the Marvel Family attend the funeral.  Renee Montoya is there.  They don't see eye-to-eye.  Bruno Mannheim betrays Bialya, home of the remnants of the Four Horsemen.  Black Adam begins his rampage there.  Green Lantern Alan Scott begins marshalling a response; Amanda Waller attempts to convince Atom Smasher to do the same.  The rampage continues.  The Great Ten realize they will have to confront Black Adam, who defeats Death.  On Oolong Island, Sivana celebrates Black Adam's imminent arrival.  Chris Batista provides the art, with an assist from Jamal Igle.  Giffen provides commentary.  He remarks, "Life is made so much easier for those of us pushing pencils when writers think visually."
• #46 - T.O. Morrow, Will Magnus, Egg-Fu and the others at Oolong Island brace for Black Adam's arrival.  Veronica Cale (I've kind of glossed over her appearances) has her most significant appearance of the series in an impotent reflection of her role in all this.  Morrow incapacitates Black Adam.  Sivana salivates on the prospect of finally getting his hands on a Marvel.  Morrow wins a bidding war for the head of Red Tornado.  Clark Kent helps Steel and Natasha Irons prevent Lex Luthor get away with murder one more time, exposing Everyman as a stand-in and bringing Luthor himself into custody.  Green Lantern Alan Scott and the Justice Society remnant investigate Black Adam's carnage in Bialya.  Atom Smasher offers to help them find him.  Pat Oliffe provides the art.  Giffen provides commentary.  He says Rucka had to make an unpopular argument to save Cale's life, as she'd been slated to die.  Another reference to Jones's genius on covers.
• #47 - Wonder Woman converses with Tim Drake, Robin, in Nanda Parbat.  Bruno Mannheim and the others in Intergang's Crime Bible cult realize they can trap Batwoman in her guise as Kate Kane.  Will Magnus wrestles with his conscience on Oolong Island.  Animal Man and his benefactors discuss how easy it'll be to get home, where he believes his wife Ellen Baker is seeing someone.  Steel and his niece Natasha Irons unveil a hopeful new project.  Nightwing greets the returning Renee Montoya, who's just found out Kate's indeed been caught.  Wonder Woman has an epiphany: "Diana of Amazonia, beloved of the gods.  Of purest purpose.  You who sought to teach.  When did you ever know guilt before this [murder of Maxwell Lord]?  Or doubt or regret?  Or what it is to fail?  When did you, in all your perfection, ever share the pains mortals feel each day of their lives?  Until now.  Welcome to the world, Wonder Woman.  Here is wisdom."  Bruce Wayne emerges from his ordeal reconciled to his role as Batman.  Giuseppe Camuncoli provides the art.  Rucka provides commentary.  He attempts to argue that the conclusions he thinks Morrison wrote concerning Wonder Woman.  He thinks she didn't get enough time to explain her arc, that her problem amounts to not being "human enough."  I totally disagree.  It's a true breakthrough for the character.  Morrison later wrote Wonder Woman: Earth One, a seminal reexamining of her origins.  Clearly creative differences.
• #48 - Renee Montoya and Nightwing launch their assault on Bruno Mannheim, Intergang, and the Crime Bible cult.  (Nightwing: "Would you really die for this?"  Montoya: "Good question.  Wouldn't you?")  It's her official debut as the new Question.  They save Batwoman, who kills Mannheim with his own ceremonial dagger, which he'd previously stabbed her with.  Sivana and Egg-Fu ransom the life of Black Adam, with Green Lantern Alan Scott preparing a response.  Darick Robertson provides the art.  Rucka and Siglain provide commentary.  Both gush over Jones's cover.  Rucka admits he tends to think in human scale for his stories, which he thinks he mitigates this issue with "turning Gotham into a mini-Apokolips." 
• #49 - Green Lantern Alan Scott leads the response against Egg-Fu's mad scientists.  The Great Ten claim sovereignty to stymy him.  Will Magnus employs the Metal Men against Egg-Fu.  Scott realizes the Great Ten are covering for the fact that Egg-Fu is an associate of theirs.  T.O. Morrow confronts Magnus, then vacates Oolong Island.  Sivana continues torturing Black Adam.  The Great Ten strike a deal with Scott.  Magnus obliterates Egg-Fu.  Atom Smasher sets Black Adam free, believing Bialya to be a giant mistake.  That's the giant mistake...Eddy Barrows provides the art.  Giffen and Siglain provide the art.  Giffen explains Barrows' mix-up with the Great Wall of China appearing in both the Oolong Island sequences and Alan Scott's confrontation with the Great Ten.  Siglain doubles down on that.  For what it's worth, I think both make a mistake themselves in believing that.  The only problem is assuming Scott and the Great Ten are on Oolong Island.  Presumably, it's in the South China Sea.  Problem solved.
• #50 - Black Adam barrels through Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family.  Green Lantern Alan Scott and the reconstituted Justice Society  debate Black Adam's actions.  The Great Ten prepares a defense against him.  The Society is refused entry into China to aide in the battle.  General August-in-Iron concedes that the Great Ten can't defeat Black Adam on its own.  Scott, Captain Marvel, Atom Smasher, Steel, and Natasha Irons are among the heroes who answer the call.  Booster Gold steals Steel's weapon.  Infinity Inc. runs away from the fight.  Captain Marvel devices a way to steal Black Adam's powers by changing his magic word.  A depowered Black Adam wanders trying to figure out the new word.  T.O. Morrow tinkers with the head of Red Tornado, but Booster and Rip Hunter arrive to claim it.  The head continues to babble "52."  Justiniano provides the art.  Waid provides commentary, giving full credit to Johns for the issue, with a few of his own ideas thrown into the mix.  I give a lot of credit, personally, to Justiniano, who has since served time in prison for possession of child pornography.  A shame, as he's a truly sensational artist.
• #51 - Animal Man finally returns home.  Donna Troy and Wonder Girl are observed by Wonder Woman in her new role as a secret agent in her civilian life.  Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent talk.  The Teen Titans form a new lineup.  Adam Strange gets a new pair of eyes (yeah, never mentioned that, sorry).  Lobo realizes he can free himself from his religious obligation once the head dolphin finally reveals the whole thing was a trick to neutralize the one weapon that can kill him: the Emerald Eye of Ekron.  Starfire arrives just in time to save Animal Man's family from a remnant of the Lady Styx horde.  The head of Red Tornado ("52"), T.O. Morrow, Booster Gold, and Rip Hunter prepare to confront Skeets, who's really been Mister Mind this whole time...Joe Bennett provides his last solo artwork of the series.  Waid provides commentary, plugging Starfire and Animal Man's continued adventures in Countdown to Adventure.  He also confesses the writers spent a lot of time trying to decide whether or not the mature Mister Mind wears the same goggles as his caterpillar incarnation...
• #52 - The multiverse in its present 52 worlds incarnation debuts.  The head of Red Tornado, Rip Hunter, and Booster Gold pursue Mister Mind across all the worlds created at the end of Infinite Crisis.  Supernova returns, revealed to be Daniel Carter in this incarnation, rescued by Rip from oblivion.  Booster reunites briefly with his old pal, the late Blue Beetle Ted Kord.  Sivana, the initial cause for Mister Mind's rampage, also becomes the solution.  Booster becomes the greatest hero history never knew.  There's a montage with Green Lantern Alan Scott, Steel, Natasha Irons, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam.  Ralph Dibney is reunited with his wife Sue as ghost detectives.  Renee Montoya settles into her career as the Question.  Batwoman, Kate Kane, has recovered from her ordeal.  "Are you ready?"  Art is supplied by Justiniano, Barrows, Batista, Oliffe, Robertson, and Mike McKone.  Waid and Siglain provide some concluding thoughts.

The end!

Reading Comics 212 "Understanding 52 - Part 4"

52, the 2006-2007 series written by Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Geoff Johns, and Mark Waid, with art breakdowns by Keith Giffen and covers by J.G. Jones, was instantly one of my all-time favorite when I read its original weekly installments, and I recently did a complete reread.  Here are my continuing thoughts, based on #27-39 from the third collection.

• #27 - Ralph Dibney and the Helmet of Fate make their most harrowing stop on their journey together, visiting Jean Loring, the ex-wife of Ray Palmer and murderer of Dibney's wife Sue in the pages of Identity Crisis, with the assistance of the Spectre.  Skeets confronts Waverider and attacks him, claiming his metallic shell is derived from Waverider's later corpse.  And after all, why wait?  Renee Montoya continues her training with Richard Dragon in Nanda Parbat.  Charlie, the Question, begins to cough.  Montoya realizes he has cancer.  She also realizes that Kate Kane, Batwoman, is in mortal danger thanks to the Crime Bible and its adherents within Intergang.  Identity Crisis is listed as eighty-four weeks in the past, thanks to Dibney dragging Jean Loring back to the moment she murders Sue.  He's prevented from exacting wicked revenge by his own conscience, and thereby learning for himself the toll magic takes on its users.  He decides he has to go to Nanda Parbat.  The artist is Shawn Moll.  Waid provides the commentary.  He says Johns wrote the Waverider scene.  This opening issue in the volume is bookended with the one that closes it, beginning and ending Charlie's final arc (he later returns in the New 52 as part of the Trinity of Sin, but as with the rest of New 52, those events are entirely unrelated to 52).  As such, it's one of the most essential moments of the whole series, and if you somehow only read one of these four original collections (a later series pared it down to three, and so the culling becomes harder), this would be the one to read.
• #28 - Renee Montoya and Charlie, the Question, are back in Gotham, where they reunite with Batwoman.  (Montoya: "I hate it when he coughs.")  They warn her about the prophecy in the Crime Bible.  In Australia, Red Tornado has been repackaged as someone's personal bodyguard.  He continues spouting "52."  He's dismantled and his head is tossed away for scrap.  Animal Man, Adam Strange, Starfire, and Lobo flee from Ekron, from whom the Emerald Eye of Ekron comes from.  Batwoman strikes at the Intergang thugs, including Bruno Mannheim, who following the Crime Bible.  The space heroes discover Ekron is actually a Green Lantern.  They realize the bigger problem is whatever Ekron was guarding against before his eye was taken from him.  Art is from Drew Johnson.  Rucka provides commentary.  He says he labored on this script throughout what was supposed to be a vacation, then praises Jones's cover, and admits he hates the naming scheme of "Crime Bible" and "Religion of Crime."  I never had a problem with "Crime Bible."  Batwoman's first solo adventure was in a spin-off mini-series called Crime Bible: The Five Lessons of Blood, which I did have a problem with, if only because the title was needlessly long and not particularly compelling and...why didn't it feature "Question" or "Batwoman"?
• #29 - Green Lantern Alan Scott and the remaining old guard decide to officially end the Justice Society.  Infinity Inc. is having a far happier Thanksgiving, as it introduces a new Jade, unrelated to Scott's deceased daughter.  Scott's volatile son Obsidian predictably reacts poorly to this development, confronting the disrespectful Everyman project team that includes Natasha Irons.  Scott cools the situation down.  At Oolong Island, Sivana and the mad scientists are carving up a mutant turkey (I seem to remember saying this last volume; I'll have to go back and check on that).  Will Magnus begins an acquaintance that ushers a downward spiral.  Egg-Fu is paranoid about being left out of the dinner because people are, er, calling him that behind his back, and not his preferred moniker, Chang Zhu.  He says T.O. Morrow vouched for Magnus, who doesn't seem to have contributed to any of the experimenting going on. The suggestion is made to take away his medication.  Magnus is dragged away kicking and screaming.  Steel's Everyman steel skin comes off.  Art is from Chris Batista.  Commentary is from Michael Siglain, who successfully took over editing duties from Stephen Wacker at around this point.  Both deserve a significant amount of credit for 52 working out.  He mentions how Giffen slipped in Spider-Man during the parade.  It's also worth wondering how much of Will Magnus's arc is Morrison writing about his ability to slip into the "madness" that so often typifies his best work, or is he merely remarking on where his weirdest stuff comes from?  Does he sometimes feel comfortably muzzled? 
• #30 - Nightwing reflects on Batman's state of mind.  He's talking to Tim Drake, Robin, as all three of them participate in Bruce Wayne's year of soul searching.  Renee Montoya reflects on the cost to Charlie, the Question, of returning to Gotham, leaving the sanctuary of Nanda Parbat, where he was last feeling well, before the cancer started eating him alive.  Kate Kane, Batwoman, offers to let Charlie stay at her house indefinitely.  His main concern is whether or not Kate is still pursuing their Intergang enemies.  "You should always...ask the question."  Nightwing decides he's leaving the world tour.  Bruce confronts the Ten-Eyed Man, who symbolically cuts the darkness out of him.  "It's over.  Batman is gone."  Nightwing meets Batwoman.  The art is from Joe Bennett, first time this volume but certainly not his first go-around in the pages of 52.  Rucka provides commentary.  He says Batman's experience here is long overdue.  He also says Charlie and Montoya share one of their most important moments of the series this issue.  Waid chimes in for a little background on the Ten-Eyed Man.  Material from this issue ought to be considered part of Morrison's complete Batman sequence.  He was really only getting started on a long Dark Knight run at this point, too.
• #31 - Captain Comet, plus a few Green Lanterns, try to hold the line against Lady Styx.  Comet is captured by her minions and desiccated.  Natasha Irons starts to have an idea that there's a rotten apple within Infinity Inc.  We learn well before she does just how rotten the Everyman of the Everyman project really is.  Ralph Dibney, who appears to have begun drinking booze out of a flask, and the Helmet of Fate visit Wonder Girl.  They all agree that the guy running the Cult of Connor was a con artist.  Dibney also admits that his wife was brought back from the dead for a moment during the aborted ceremony that ended the con artist's run.  Wonder Girl admits she believes Supernova is Superboy.  Dibney confronts Supernova.  He knows who he really is, and it isn't Superboy.  We see Captain Comet's corpse, and Lady Styx properly for the first time.  The artist is Chris Batista.  Commentary is from Giffen, who admits he's officially lost count of which writer is responsible for what by this point.
• #32 - Ralph Dibney and the Helmet of Fate come across the Great Ten on their way to Nanda Parbat.  Osiris and Sobek audition for the Teen Titans.  Captain Marvel Junior tells him he has to prove he's worthy, after the way Black Adam was behaving at the start of 52.  Animal Man, Adam Strange, Starfire, and Lobo decide they're going to tackle Lady Styx.  Dibney finds himself deposited in Nanda Parbat.  Accomplished Perfect Physician of the Great Ten explains his background.  (Honestly, I think the Great Ten mini-series worked so well for me because each issue did this, and it's also the reason so few readers queued up for it.  Together they tame the Yeti, an associate member of the Great Ten.  In hindsight, the ending of this issue is a cryptic way to explain Dibney's whole arc in the series.  Pat Oliffe provides the art.  Waid provides commentary.  He admits Morrison wrote the Dibney sequences this issue.
• #33 - Ralph Dibney and the Helmet of Fate visit the Flash Museum to pick up a special souvenir, a gun that will be explained later.  (Perhaps a continuity problem, here, unless it was deposited at some point during the 52 year.)  Batwoman and Nightwing meet.  He gives her an official batarang, thereby welcoming her into the family.  Lex Luthor (first time we see him this volume) gives Infinity Inc. presents.  He sacrifices another Everyman project participant in the hope of finding a way to benefit personally from the project.  Renee Montoya finds Charlie, the Question, increasingly delirious from the effects of cancer.  Kate Kane, Batwoman, consoles her.  We see Ellen Baker (Animal Man's wife), Clark Kent and Lois Lane, and the head of Red Tornado in a montage of holiday celebrants.  We actually see Hawkwoman having gotten better.  I stand corrected from previous comments.  We glimpse the space heroes closing in on their destination.  Black Adam, Isis, Osiris, and Sobek give the world a glimpse of them at their most vulnerable, transformed back into their mortal selves for a moment.  Amanda Waller and Atom Smasher's Suicide Squad stands poised to attack.  Joe Prado and Tom Derenick provide the art.  Rucka provides commentary.  He admits to lifting much of Charlie's delirious comments from Denny O'Neil's old Question series.  Waid chimes in to explain a Moonlighting reference. 
• #34 - The Suicide Squad prepares to strike at Black Adam, Isis, Osiris, and Sobek.  Atom Smasher attempts to get Black Adam to turn himself in .  In the heat of the moment, Osiris murders the Executioner.  (Somewhat poetic, that.)  Steel attempts to explain to his niece, Natasha Irons, the error of her ways once more.  This time he appeals to her with facts and asks her to figure it out for herself.  Clark Kent is interrogated by Lex Luthor about the identity of Supernova.  He's able to honestly say it's not Superman.  Renee Montoya witnesses Charlie, the Question as it deteriorates further.  Luthor has his own New Year's countdown, the results of which we'll see next issue.  Charlie sings "Danny Boy."  "...the pipes, the pipes are calling...from glen to glen and down the mountainside...summer's gone and all the leaves are turnin'...now you must go away and I must - must - and I bide."  Joe Bennett provides art. Rucka provides commentary.  He says Johns wrote the Suicide Squad sequence (I imagine he wrote much of the Black Adam material), and admits "Danny Boy" was another thing he lifted from O'Neil's Question.  Needless to say, but of the whole Montoya/Charlie sequence from the volume, this one is the most heartbreaking.  Rucka says some readers thought Charlie dies at the end of the issue, what with the body on Jones's cover and all.  No, not until the end of the volume...Waid chimes in to praise Wacker and Giffen for juxtaposing his and Rucka's competing material at the end of the issue.  I personally think the Rucka material should've closed the issue, made it more impactful.  As it is, it gives too much weight to Waid's material, and not enough to Rucka's.  But I'm okay with not crying about this particular cancer tragedy, really...
• #35 - Lex Luthor shut off a wide swath of Everyman project beneficiaries on New Year's, sending them plunging to their deaths.  It's his challenge to Supernova.  The mysterious hero saves who he can.  Natasha Irons and the rest of Infinity Inc. experience the carnage. She realizes her uncle Steel was right about Luthor's duplicity.  Various heroes converge to help out.  Animal Man, Adam Strange, and Starfire discover that Lobo has been leading them straight to Lady Styx all along.  Phil Jimenez and Dan Jurgens provide the art.  Waid and Siglain provide commentary. Waid expresses regret for The Kingdom.  I don't think he needs to.  Jurgens in an issue where we're still trying to decide whether or not Supernova is Superman is pretty genius.
• #36 - Animal Man, Adam Strange, Starfire, and Lobo take on and defeat Lady Styx, at the apparent cost of Animal Man's life. Renee Montoya continues to observe Charlie, the Question's decline.  She realizes all over again that taking him from Nanda Parbat was a deadly mistake.  She resolves to take him back.  Kate Kane, Batwoman, thinks it's an equally terrible mistake.  Sobek comforts Osiris, distraught over what he did two issues ago.  Supernova and Rip Hunter attempt to hide from Skeets.  Good luck with that.  Jamal Igle provides the art.  Giffen provides commentary.  He admits to simplifying Morrison's stage direction during the Lady Styx sequence.  Funny that a big bad dies so easily.  He compares Siglain to J.D. (Zach Braff) from Scrubs.  I love that Igle got to work on 52.  At the time, he was knocking Firestorm out of the part, and is just one of the reasons I wish that series had gotten better buzz. 
• #37 - Booster Gold explains to Skeets the Supernova charade he pulled off with the help of Rip Hunter.  Booster and Rip begin the process of defeating the wayward drone.  Green Arrow and Black Canary discuss Ralph Dibney (it's kind of a callback to the beginning of Identity Crisis).  Adam Strange and Starfire hold a memorial service for Animal Man.  Lobo says his goodbyes.  Adam and Starfire leave Animal Man's body behind.  Animal Man wakes up!  Pat Oliffe provides the art.  Waid provides commentary.  He likens Booster's Supernova arc to Frank Grimes from The Simpsons, providing some alternate dialogue from #15 to prove it.  Hilarious.  Obviously, this is the biggest development of 52 to this point, the first time it reaches a climax. 
• #38 - Renee Montoya and Charlie, the Question, struggle to find their way back to Nanda Parbat.  Will Magnus and T.O. Morrow converse again, Magnus now fully giving in to his impulses.  Egg-Fu announces the dawn of the Four Horsemen of Apokolips.  Montoya is totally lost.  Natasha Irons lets her uncle Steel know that she's finally seen the light.  Montoya has a final lucid conversation with Charlie.  He dies just outside of Nanda Parbat.  Joe Bennett provides the art.  Rucka provides heartbreaking commentary.  I guess this is why they didn't let Rucka have the conclusion to that other issue to himself.  Once it really sinks in that this is the moment Charlie dies..."The 'uuuuuuuuu' sound that Charlie is making for several pages comes from personal experience.  It is a distinct sound, and those who have heard it will never forget it.  It's the sound of a body preparing to stop, a vocalization made by the dying, and it is a truly awful, endless noise, so horrible and painful that when it does, finally and literally terminate, one is almost grateful for the silence."
• #39 - One of Lex Luthor's Everyman project scientists has been faking test results that show Luthor as incompatible with the process.  He attempts to complete this by killing himself and destroying his notes.  Ralph Dibney and the Helmet of Fate visit Aquaman, who is temporarily lost to himself.  (The Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis series with his son is worth reading.)  At Oolong Island, Sivana continues his experiments with suspendium, so-called artificial time.  T.O. Morrow suspects Will Magnus has been working on his Metal Men again.  Magnus insists he couldn't because he's been watched the whole time.  But of course he has been.  Black Adam, Isis, and Sobek realize the earth in Kahndaq is dying.  Natasha Irons discovers the truth about the shapeshifting Everyman at last.  Luthor gains powers and unleashes them on Natasha...The art is from Andy Smith.  Siglain provides commentary.  He suggests Osiris was supposed to die this issue rather than several issues later.  He also says the de facto S-shield Luthor sports on the final page (echoing one Steel has when he first gains his Everyman steel shell earlier in the series) is something Giffen and Smith had included but then the idea was second-guessed and it was taken out and put back again later when it was third-guessed...The fun of peeking behind the curtain...

One volume to go!