Creative Team
Writers: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid
Penciler: Patrick Olliffe
Inker: Drew Geraci
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: Week 19, Day 1: We see Skeets rummaging through Daniel Carter’s apartment. Daniel busts in on Skeets and demands to know what the shifty little flying toaster is up to. We learn that Daniel was a star high school football player who blew out his knee and he lost his football scholarship. Since then he has led a life of mediocrity. Skeets asks Daniel for his help breaking into Rip Hunter’s lab. That there must be something important in the lab that Booster didn’t notice. Daniel declines to help Skeets. Skeets then comments that he knows that Daniel has applied for Lex Luthor’s Everyman scholarship to become a metahuman. Skeets promises Daniel Booster Gold’s powers and his glory.
Week 19, Day 2: We shift to our team of heroes lost in space. They arrive at Lobo’s “First Celestial Church of the Triple Fish God” where Lobo is the Archbishop. Our heroes take showers and Starfire tells Animal Man and Strange that Lobo mentioned that Devilance the Pursuer came from the world of the New Gods.
Our heroes then meet with the Archbishop Lobo. Strange confronts Lobo about what he is really up to with this religious shtick. Lobo tells Strange that he has truly found religion. That the Fish God spoke to him. Since then he has turned his back on violence, swearing, sex and alcohol. (That doesn’t sound like much fun.)
Lobo tells our heroes that the people at his Church are the survivors of planets that have been destroyed. That the Guardians if t Universe call it Sector 3500. Once it had hundreds of thriving planets and now it is just a dead hole in the universe full of dead planets. Lobo tells out heroes that they can come with them on their pilgrimage to the three Golden Planets.
Starfire then asks Lobo who put a bounty on their heads. Lobo said that the person who put the price on their heads is the same one who destroyed Sector 3500. But, “she” isn’t what they are running from. With that Lobo pulls the Emerald Eye out of a box.
We shift to Metropolis where the Weather Wizard is attacking a bank. Supernova is on the scene. Supernova rescues the people in the bank while Wonder Girl arrives and captures the Weather Wizard. Supernova thanks Wonder Girl for her help. Wonder Girl tries to touch Supernova causing him to grab her wrist and tell her to “respect his personal space.” Supernova flies off and Wonder Girl calls him “Kon-El.”
Skeets then flies away from the lab saying “He knows.” End of story.
We are “treated” to a two page origin of Animal Man. End of issue.
Comments
The Good: 52 #19 was another great read. The boys at DC continue to impress me on this title. A weekly comic is tough to pull off. But, to have it ship on time each and every week and actually deliver a solid and entertaining storyline that is well constructed and nicely paced? Incredible. DC deserves all the praise in the world for their fine work on this title.
52 #19 focused mainly on the Skeets/Booster Gold plotline and the lost heroes in space plotline. We did get one scene dealing with the Supernova plotline. The scene with Supernova and Wonder Girl was ok. This scene does do a nice job showing just how totally and completely desperate Wonder Girl is right now. We see her with the Cult of Superboy trying to resurrect Kon-El. Now, she is grasping on to the pathetic hope that Supernova is Kon-El. Do I think that Supernova is Kon-El. No way. Their powers are too different. Plus, we know that Kon-El is still dead with the One Year Later storyline. I doubt that DC would bring Kon-El back as Supernova and then kill him a second time during 52. Supernova is someone else. Who? I’m not too sure. Maybe Mon-El. Maybe Booster Gold. Maybe he has some connection with Steel’s niece. But, I am confident that he isn’t Kon-El. This scene just shows to further portray how sad and desperate Wonder Girl has become since Superboy’s death.
I actually love how DC is handling Wonder Girl’s character with regard to Superboy’s death. She has totally collapsed. She is still suffering in the Teen Titans, a full year after his death. Superboy’s death has massively impacted her life and she seems emotionally crippled. I love it. Too often in comics, character get over the death of a teammate, friend or lover in just a couple of issues. That is simply not realistic. Honestly, a death of a close friend or lover would last with a person for years. Maybe even their entire life. I think DC is actually doing the best job showing how a character would deal with the death of a teammate and lover.
The scene with the heroes in space dealing with Lobo was pretty interesting. First, being a massive Legion of Super Heroes fan, you know I loved seeing the dreaded Emerald Eye! Just what in the world is Lobo doing with the Eye? The “She” that destroyed Sector 3500 and put a bounty on the heroes’ heads must be none other than the Emerald_Empress. However, the writers throw in a bit if a twist with Lobo saying that the “she” is not who they are running from. The writers have certainly gotten my interest in this storyline. I am curious to see if the “she” is the Emerald Empress and I am interested to find out just who Lobo is running from if it isn’t the Emerald Empress. This plotline has tons of potential. This should provide readers with some rather exciting stories down the road.
The scenes with Skeets and Daniel Carter were probably the best in this issue. Skeets, Skeets, Skeets. I thought I knew you. It seems that what we thought was a cute friendly and helpful little robot is actually a diabolical flying toaster who is turning out to be a rather evil little bastard. Skeets is like a little metal Lucifer using his silver tongue to promise Daniel super powers, riches and glory all in exchange for Daniel’s help.
The scene with Skeets and Daniel at Rip Hunter’s lab was chilling. Skeets is revealed to be the sinister little machine that I never thought I would see. He was always such a light hearted character. It was creepy to see him coldly lock Daniel inside the lab and allow him to get sucked up by the vortex. I’m sure that many people who are huge JLI fans will continue to bemoan the butchering of all the characters from that team. They will be unhappy that Skeets has been transformed into a sinister and controlling machine. Personally, it makes for a good story and gives Skeets more depth and makes him more interesting. I have no problem with it. Change is good as long as it leads to an entertaining storyline that is well crafted.
Skeets mentions that “He knows.” Just what does is Skeets talking about? I find this extremely fascinating. The writers do a great job ending this issue with a massive hook that makes me want to read the next issue right now. I cannot wait to see where the writers go with this plotline.
The writers continue to craft an excellent story. The pacing is measured and steady which is perfect for the weekly format of this title. The story is soundly constructed and has a clear direction and purpose. It is enjoyable to watch the various plotlines unfold, expand and eventually begin to connect with each other.
The dialogue was well done. Each character is nicely developed and the chemistry between the characters is enjoyable. The writers do a nice job pulling the reader into the story with the first page of this issue and not letting go until the end.
The Bad: My only complaint would be the artwork. I thought that Olliffe turned in a very pedestrian job on this issue. The art was generic looking and rather weak. Visually, this issue was rather boring.
Overall: 52 #19 was a great read. The boys at DC keep this title rocking. The storyline really does get better with each and every issue. 52 has so many incredible plotlines. This really is one of the best reads on the market right now. If you still haven’t checked out this title, then give it a try.