The Revolution enjoyed the last issue. It was a nice rebound issue as the writers really got several of the plotlines cranking. I’m sure that 52 #22 is going to be a pretty solid read. We are almost at the halfway point and I have a feeling that the fun is just beginning. Let’s hit this review.
Creative Team
Writers: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid
Penciler: Eddy Barrows
Inker: Rob Stull
Art Rating: 5 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 6.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: Week 22, Day 1: We see Lex Luthor in his office. We learn that Lex has been using surveillance cameras to record Supernova whenever he appears in public. Lex’s scientist shows Lex video footage of Supernova meeting with Wonder Girl. Wonder Girl calls Supernova “Kon-El.” Supernova then sees the surveillance camera from hundreds of miles away and disintegrates it with a beam from his forehead. The scientist says that Supernova is using his telescopic vision to spot the cameras and that he must be Kon-El. Lex snaps and says Kon-El never had telescopic vision and that the scientist is an idiot.
Suddenly, Supernova appears outside Lex’s window. Supernova strikes a typical Superman pose while hovering in mid-air. Lex then says that Supernova must be Superman.
Lex then buzzes his techs running his metagene therapy lab and informs them that he wants to run some new metagene tests on himself.
Week 22, Day 2: We see a Native American dude seriously jack up a guy who was harassing a young girl from the mid-west who has arrived at Metropolis in hopes of entering Lex’s Everyman metahuman therapy. The Native American guy has a pretty bad attitude. We learn that his name is Jon Standing Bear.
Week 22, Day 3: We see Lex’s scientists conducting metagene tests on Lex. The scientists tell Lex that the results are the same as all the tests from before: Negative compatibility for the metagene therapy. Lex is furious and storms out of the lab.
Week 22, Day 4: We see Jon Standing Bear at his father’s funeral. We then see Jon with his grandfather at his grandfather’s place. Jon isn’t very nice to his grandfather. Evidently, Jon’s father and grandfather made his life hell. The grandfather mentions how that he is terribly sick and will not survive without Jon’s father.
Jon’s grandfather then tells him about the Manitou stone that has been passed down from father to son in their family. That this sacred spirit stone gave the medicine man in their tribe super powers. The people of the tribe called the wearer of the stone Super-Chief. The grandfather reveals the Super-Chief costume and Manitou stone to Jon. The Grandfather then asks Jon to do something for him.
We see Jon using a pillow to suffocate his grandfather. Jon looks at the Manitou stone and says that both he and his grandfather are now saved.
Week 22, Day 8: We see Lex at the unveiling of the new Lex Luthor School of Business. A pudgy black guy named Mr. Ferry appears and begins ranting that Lex is playing God. That he is giving super powers that he can also take away. Security kicks Mr. Ferry out of the event. Steel then approaches Mr. Ferry and says that he is willing to help him. Evidently, Mr. Ferry was a part of the metagene therapy program and Lex took away Ferry’s powers.
We shift to Dr. Magnus talking with Mercury about how the military are trying to use his technology to create weapons. Mercury tells Magnus to re-activate the Metal Men and let them help him. Magnus, still reeling from his mental breakdown, is reluctant to re-activate the Metal Men. We then see a military strike force arrive outside of Magnus’ home. We see three androids with the military.
Magnus tells Mercury that the military wants the secret of robots with human emotions. That all the military has been able to do is build robots with no ability for independent thoughts and no ability to think and plan. Suddenly, Iron, Lead and Platinum robots bust into Magnus’ house. Magnus uses a super magnet to take down Iron. Magnus then throws a hydrochloric and nitric acid mixture on Platinum and it dissolves her. Mercury brawls with Lead while Magnus makes a run for it. We see Lead take out Mercury as Magnus runs out of his house. Suddenly, a huge robot the size of a Sentinel appears and the government agents run for cover. The giant robot says something about mad scientists and then blows up Magnus’ home. End of story.
We then get a two page back-up story about Green Lantern (Hal Jordan variety.) End of issue.
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Comments
The Good: 52 #22 was a pretty solid issue. This issue moved at a nice pace. With the exception of the Jon Standing Bear scenes, the dialogue was well crafted. 52 #22 moved along several plotlines. We got a few answers and plenty of new questions to go along with those answers. And that has really been the magic to 52. Each time the writers give us an answer, the new information creates several more questions.
The Lex Luthor plotline got even more interesting. Supernova’s plotline gets weaved into Lex’s plotline with the opening scene. Supernova has taken Superman’s place as the object of Lex’s bizarre obsession. It is safe to assume that Supernova is not Kon-El. I’m still rooting for Mon-El, but I don’t think that I’m correct. Lex is certainly wrong in his belief that Supernova is Superman. I’m glad that the writers have blended Lex, Supernova and Steel into the same plotline.
Even more interesting is the fact that we learned that Lex is obsessively trying to give himself super powers. And what is even better than that is that all attempts to give Lex metahuman powers fail. Lex is unable to benefit from his metagene therapy. How delicious is that? Lex has always boasted that his brains were superior to all of Superman’s powers. Lex has always looked down on Superman as “alien” and not human. But, the fact is that Lex has always been envious of Superman’s powers. And this metagene therapy is something that Lex desperately wishes could grant him super powers. It must kill Lex to see his metagene therapy work on every person who applies for the program, yet it always fails to work on him. That is a great twist.
The scene where Lex is confronted by Mr. Ferry was interesting in that we finally meet someone who has had their powers taken away by Lex Luthor. Mr. Ferry should prove to be an invaluable source of information for Steel in order to help Steel take down Lex Luthor’s metagene therapy program. I like that the writers are really starting to heat up this plotline. I have a feeling that Steel may not make it out of this story alive.
The Jon Standing Bear scenes were interesting only in that I like Native American heroes. Other than that, I wasn’t all that impressed with these scenes. I am curious to see how Jon fits into the framework of 52. He is a late arrival to the game and it appears that he may factor into the Lex Luthor plotline.
The Magnus plotline definitely got cranked up several notches with this ending! We got to see the military’s version of the Metal Men in action. They are soulless, but still pretty interesting. And then we get the big hook at the end of the issue with the giant robot who must be working for whoever is capturing “mad” scientists. This was a great ending that definitely got me excited for the next issue. Magnus’ plotline is one of my favorites and I’m curious to see where the writers take this story.
The Bad: I thought the dialogue in all of the Jon Standing Bear scenes were pretty stiff and average at best. I definitely don’t dig the name “Super-Chief.” It is such a cheesy codename. I rarely like a codename that refers to a character’s ethnicity. And “Super-Chief” is super lame.
I wasn’t very impressed with Barrows’ artwork. It was too rough and hurried looking for my tastes. It gave the comic a very generic and unappealing look.
Overall: 52 #22 was another good read. The plotlines just keep getting more and more exciting. I love that the writers constantly have us wondering what in the world is going to happen next. 52 is an impressively plotted and constructed story weaving together various interesting plotlines. I know that new readers probably won’t jump onto this title at this point, however, the inevitable 52 trade paperback is a definite must purchase for anyone who hasn’t been reading this title.