The Revolution thought that 52 #12 was a nice rebound issue. Will lucky number 13 be even better? I think it has plenty of potential to be a great read. The cover to 52 #13 is fantastic and it looks like we will spend plenty of time on Ralph Dibny’s plotline. It is 104 degrees here at the Bunker. I’m over this insane weather. But, I’m all iced down with a cerveza in hand and am ready for this review.
Creative Team
Writers: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid
Penciler: Todd Nauk
Inker: Marlo Alquiza
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: Week 13, Day 2: This issue starts with Ralph attending the Cult of Superboy’s ceremony to resurrect Sue Dibny. Everyone is wearing hooded cloaks. Ralph has brought along with him Green Lantern (Hal Jordan flavor), Green Arrow, Metamorpho and Zauriel. They all communicate to each other using telepathic ear plugs created by Hal’s power ring. Ralph tells them about the cult’s plan to resurrect his wife. His friends tell him to give them the word and they will bust up this insane plan. Ralph then reveals that he didn’t bring them with him to stop the cult; he brought them with him to see if they thought the cult could actually bring Sue back.
Ralph says he chose each person specifically for this situation. Hal Jordan was dead and then became the Spectre before coming back to life. Green Arrow was dead and then came back to life. Metamorpho has been thought to be dead numerous times and Zauriel is an angel. That all of their stories are no crazier than what the Cult of Superboy is claiming that they can perform.
During this conversation, Devem is conducting the various ceremony rituals including the holy waters of Memon, the fires of Threntar and then passes around a glowing green rock called “blood kryptonite.”
Hal tells Ralph that the blood kryptonite is just a painted rock. Metamorpho says that the fires are a chemical show and the water-fall is just colored lights. Hal then tells Ralph that it is his call if he wants them to stop this ceremony.
We then cut to Southeast Asia where Black Adam and the mighty Isis save numerous children from a slave camp. Unfortunately, Isis’ brother is not among the children. The two of them have spent a week dismantling dozens of slavery camps across Africa, the Middle East and Asia, but still haven’t found her brother. Isis says that they should probably give up hope. Black Adam then tells her that they cannot give up hope. That Isis has shown these freed children hope. That she has shown him hope. That they will find her brother and free all the children in the world while doing it. (Wow. That surely isn’t the Black Adam that I’m used to!)
We cut back to the Cult of Superboy ceremony. Ralph tells his friends to go ahead and take down this cult. Metamorpho destroys the “blood kryptonite” and Hal and Green Arrow take out the altar. Wonder Girl then attacks Ralph claiming that he used her to sneak his friends in just to shut the cult down. Green Lantern restrains Wonder Girl. During the fight, the cult members panic and try to escape. The giant bowl of fire is knocked over and the building catches on fire. Ralph confronts Devem amid the flames and calls him a twisted scam artist who has put Ralph through hell. Suddenly, the straw dummy being used for Sue’s “body” crawls over to Ralph and tugs on his robe and says “Ralph?…” Devem calls Ralph an idiot. Ralph then loses it. He cries out “what have I done?” Ralph yells for his friends to stop fighting. Hal tells everyone to evacuate the burning warehouse. Ralph yells that he was wrong. That all of this wasn’t a trick. Ralph begs Devem to try again. That he should have believed him. Devem tells Ralph that they can’t. The kryptonite was destroyed and they have no more sacred waters. That thanks to Ralph, they have nothing. With that Wonder Girl picks up Devem and flies them out of the burning warehouse while an anguished Ralph yells for them to wait.
Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Zauriel and Metamorpho busy themselves with evacuating all of the cult members from the fire. We see an insane looking Ralph grab the straw dummy and hold it tightly. Suddenly, the entire building collapses in a huge explosion.
Week 13, Day 3: Green Lantern has used his power ring and can’t find any signs of Ralph’s body. That he must have gotten out alive. But, there is no trace of him. Hal feels sorry for Ralph because “even after he thought he’d lost everything, he still has his mind. Now what happens…?” We see Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Zauriel and Metamorpho leaving the scene of the fire. We see Ralph’s wedding ring amid the rubble. We then see an absolutely bonkers Ralph sitting under an interstate overpass holding the mutilated straw dummy. Ralph mumbles “Try again…try again…try again…” We see a shadowy figure far away watching Ralph. End of story.
Of course, we are also “treated” to a back up store on the origin Elongated Man. It is two pages long and describes the life and powers of Elongated Man. End of issue.
Comments
The Good: Absolutely incredible! 52 #13 is by far the best issue yet. Wow. Just an amazing read. That was quite simply one hell of a story. The writers just smashed one out of the ballpark with this issue.
First, I’ll tackle the Black Adam and Isis scene. It was nicely done. Surprisingly, Isis has not gone power mad, choosing to only injure the slavers rather than kill them like Black Adam desired to do. Plus, we got our first look at a rather shiny happy Black Adam. He was unusually positive in this scene. Clearly, Isis has had a rather mollifying effect on Black Adam. This should be interesting to see how long Isis’s influence on Black Adam lasts.
All right, now let’s tackle the main part of this issues story: Ralph Dibny. The ceremony scene and all the ensuing chaos were perfectly done. I love how Ralph purposely picked each hero to accompany him not to stop the cult, but to tell him if they thought the cult could actually bring Sue back to life. Ralph was completely right that the Cult of Superboy’s plan was no more far-fetched that what has occurred with the re-incarnations of Hal, Ollie and Rex. Plus, it would be hard for Zauriel as an angel to say that something is impossible when it comes to life and death.
That was such a great swerve. I was expecting Ralph to have brought his friends along because he wanted their help shutting down the cult. The fact that he wanted their advice based on their past experiences was an excellent twist.
And then it got even better. Ralph did what I expect which was to agree with his fellow heroes that Devem was just a fake and to take them down. And during the fight, the straw dummy moved and spoke to Ralph! Another total shocker! Now, the big question is whether the dummy actually spoke to Ralph or if Ralph has finally gone totally off the deep end and hallucinated the entire event. At this point, I’m not too sure which one is the correct answer.
And watching Ralph react in horror about how he had made a mistake. And seeing him beg to Devem to continue the ceremony was gut wrenching. And then having Devem cruelly tell Ralph that it is all Ralph’s fault that they cannot perform the ceremony since he destroyed all of their holy artifacts and water. Ralph’s sorrow is now multiplied since he believes that he is the sole reason that Sue is not reincarnated. That he has no one to blame but himself for not believing.
And the final scene was like a punch to the gut. Seeing a completely insane Ralph holding the mutilated dummy under the bridge was a powerful scene. Ralph has finally lost everything. Including his mind. I thought that it was only a matter of time before Ralph snapped. There is simply only so much one man can bear and this was it.
The writers did an excellent job making me feel Ralph’s pain and sorrow. I feel so bad for his character. But, I must say that before Identity Crisis, I zero interest in Ralph Dibny. Between Identity Crisis and 52, I am now extremely interested in Ralph’s character. The writers have done a great job taking a character that meant nothing to me and making him one of the most compelling and tragic characters in the DCU.
I’m thrilled that Sue was not re-incarnated. And I am at the edge of my seat wondering where the writers are going to take Ralph’s story next. For me, Ralph’s story has been the most intriguing of all the other very interesting plotlines.
And just who is the shadowy figure? Oh man, that got my interest immediately. I cannot wait to find out more about this angle.
I know that many people will hate this issue with what DC is doing with Ralph. I love it. It makes him a much more interesting character. Plus, everyone knows that you can’t make your triumphant return to hero status without hitting absolute rock bottom. And that is exactly where Ralph is right now.
The artwork was solid, not spectacular. However, the art is definitely not why I’m collecting 52. It is all about the story. The art merely has to be serviceable and not get in the way of the story. Mission accomplished.
The Bad: Absolutely no complaints at all. Well, the two page origin of Elongated Man was a total waste of space. I’d rather we get two more pages of story dedicated to the fantastic plotlines of 52.
Overall: I loved 52 #13. Such an emotional read that had quite an impact on me. My jaw was literally wide open at the end of this issue. Just a fantastic job. Kudos to the writers who are just kicking so much butt on all the various storylines. I simply cannot recommend 52 enough. It is so worth your money.