The Revolution found 52 #11 to be the weakest issue so far. I still enjoyed the story, but it wasn’t as good as the previous issues. Will 52 #12 rebound after the slight dip with the last issue? Let’s hit the review and find out.
Creative Team
Writers: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid
Penciler: Barrows
Inker: Stull
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: Week 12, Day 1: This issue starts with Captain Sawyer chewing out Renee Montoya for the events of last issue. Now that Intergang knows that Gotham PD is on them, Intergang has responded by going underground and they shut down the offices at Ridge-Ferrick. Sawyer then tells Montoya to butt out of the Intergang investigation.
We then shift to Montoya going back to her apartment where the Question has been in deep meditation for the past two days. The Question then snaps out of his meditation and tells Montoya that they are going to go to Kahndaq.
We then cut to Black Adam using his powers to change the course of a river to help one of his struggling villages. Adrianna tells Black Adam that he should be using his powers to perform acts of hope rather than to give into his anger and spend his time building his coalition of nations. Adrianna asks why Black Adam always acts out of anger. Black Adam then flies Adrianna back to his palace. There he takes her to the memorial for his wife and two sons who were murdered. They are why he does what he does so no one else will feel the emptiness that he feels. Black Adam then reveals a hidden tunnel and takes Adrianna down into the earth to a place far away from his palace.
We see Black Adam and Adrianna arrive inside the Rock of Eternity where Captain Marvel is seated on Shazam’s throne. The Seven Sins and the power within the Rock are driving Captain Marvel insane. Black Adam then reveals an amulet said to contain the power of another one of Shazam’s champions from ancient Egypt: Isis. Black Adam wants Captain Marvel to make Adrianna part of the Marvel family.
We then shift to Wonder Girl entering her apartment and surprised to find Ralph Dibny waiting for her. Wonder Girl admits that they stole all of the various items from Ralph because Devem wants to take a trial run at resurrecting a person before they attempt to resurrect Superboy. Wonder Girl apologizes for tricking Elongated Man, but she knew he would never willingly help her. Ralph then responds that he would do anything to help resurrect Sue from the dead.
We cut back to the Rock of Eternity. Captain Marvel states that Adrianna is worthy of Isis’ amulet. Black Adam tells Adrianna that she has shown him a new way and that he needs her help. That he needs her by his side. Adrianna takes the amulet and then transforms into the MIGHTY ISIS!
Isis then tells Black Adam that she will join him on his mission as soon as they find her brother. End of story.
Of course, we are also “treated” to a back up store on the origin Wonder Woman. It is two pages long and describes the birth and powers of Wonder Woman. End of issue.
Comments
The Good: 52 #12 was another well done issue! The opening scene with Montoya and the Question was pretty humorous. The dialogue and chemistry between Montoya and the Question is perfect. Even though I’m not a real fan of Montoya, I think the two characters make a great team.
I liked the scene between Adrianna and Black Adam at his village. Black Adam is a leader that has clearly been more focused on his own agenda rather than helping his own people with the basic needs that they require. Adrianna has been a pleasant influence on Black Adam.
I thought the scene where Black Adam explains why he acts out of anger and not hope. It makes perfect sense that a man whose wife and sons who were killed by a villain that he could have destroyed would act out of anger. Black Adam’s rationale that he doesn’t want anyone else to feel the emptiness that he feels made perfect sense.
In these two scenes, the writers succeed in further developing Black Adam’s character and giving him much more depth and complexity than a simple bad guy. I have always liked Black Adam, but the writers are making me like him even more. Black Adam is becoming a much more nuanced and interesting character than ever before.
The scene in the Rock of Eternity was great! Finally, we get to see what is going on with Billy Batson. Poor Captain Marvel is having one hell of a time adjusting to taking over Shazam’s position. Captain Marvel’s mental unbalance, erratic rambling and spontaneous shouting was rather unexpected, but interesting nonetheless. It only makes sense that Billy would have a tough time adjusting to the massive power boost and responsibility of assuming Shazam’s role in the Rock of Eternity. The constant arguing with the seven sins was twisted yet humorous. I’m definitely interested to read the upcoming Shazam comic to see if Captain Marvel is going to be able to regain his sanity.
The scene with Wonder Girl and Elongated Man was well done. Poor Ralph has been through so much. The ending shot of him looking overwhelmed and offering to help in any way to bring back Sue was perfect. Ralph is such a desperate man. If this attempt to bring back Sue fails then I’m not too sure if Ralph will ever be able to recover from this entire event.
Personally, I want Sue to stay dead. However, Ralph is going to be such a broken man if this attempt to resurrect her fails that I don’t know if he can ever be a regular player in the DCU.
I dig Isis. Not only is she a hottie, but she is a pretty cool character. It doesn’t hurt that I vaguely remember the old Isis TV show and always thought it was pretty neat. Isis and Black Adam are going to be a very formidable team to deal with. Is Isis going to continue to be a mollifying influence on Black Adam, or will power corrupt absolutely and will Isis become more like the vengeful Black Adam? I could easily see the power of Isis going to Adrianna’s head.
Then ending had a pretty neat little hook with Isis mentioning that she and Black Adam had to find her brother. I am curious to see where the writers take this storyline.
52 #12 was a nice rebound from issue #11. Personally, I like Black Adam and find his storyline in Khandaq to be rather interesting. The writers deliver another well written issue. They crafter some well done dialogue that made this story an enjoyable read. The interaction between Adrianna and Black Adam was nicely done and those two characters keep getting more developed with each issue. The writers continue this story with a nice pace. Not too fast and not too slow. Plus, they always manage to end each issue on a high note with a little hook to get the reader to eagerly await the next issue.
The artwork was very solid. Barrows and Stull deliver a nice looking issue that helps to make this a pleasant read.
The Bad: There was a minor editorial mistake with Adrianna’s dialogue on page 8. Adrianna’s dialogue is repeated twice. I was surprised to see such a gaffe on a title that has been rather impressively organized up to this point.
I thought that the Origin of Wonder Woman back up story was a total waste of two pages. It was horribly generic.
Overall: 52 #12 was another solid issue. DC has done a great job on this title and consistently puts out a good issue each and every week. I like the pace and the structure of this story. The writers are doing a nice job developing the various characters and getting me interested in them and their plotlines. 52 continues to be worth my money.