52 #31 Review

52 #31 looks like it should be a pretty action packed issue. It seems that the Stygian Passover plotline is going to be kicked into high gear. I’m pretty confident that 52 #31 is going to be a good read. Let’s go ahead and hit the review.

Creative Team
Writers: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid
Penciler: Chris Batista
Inker: Rodney Ramos, Dan Green & Dave Mikes

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 31, Day 1: We begin with Captain_Comet trying to protect the planet Vardu from the Stygian Passover. During the battle we are given dialogue from Captain Comet’s thoughts that he is broadcasting over a distance of five light-years. Captain Comet gives a full description of the Stygian Passover in order to better prepare other planets in defending against them.

We see two Green Lanterns on Vardu. They contact the Guardians and inform them of the Stygian Passover. The Guardians discuss how there is no information on the Stygian Passover in their database. That it is a menace from the Eternal Pit beyond the gates of spacetime itself. That it uses void technology to power its weapons and contaminates all flesh it encounters.

We get more information on the enemy horde from Captain Comet’s projected telepathic message. That the first wave of attack is the Believer Cubes which anchor themselves to a planter’s surface and destroy the ecosystem. The second wave of attack is the billions of Glorifiers who are walking deadmen chanting her creed. They spread the contagion, the living word of the Lady Styx.

We then see Captain Comet and his soldiers fall in battle and captured. The Stygian Passover then proceeds to brutally dissect the soldiers.

Week 31, Day 2: We cut to the Infinity Inc. dorm rooms in LexCorp Tower. We see Natasha ignoring numerous text messages from Steel urging her to call him. Jade tells Natasha that she feels bad about getting the codename “Jade.” Skyman then enters the room. The trio talk about how gross and creepy Everyman is. That it is because of his powers and how he can only take the shape of organic material that he’s digested. Jade leaves and then Skyman and Natasha share a big kiss. Natasha then leaves. We then see that Skyman was really just Everyman in disguise.

Week 31, Day 3: We see Wonder Girl at the shrine to Superman and Superboy. Suddenly, Ralph Dibny appears along with the helmet of Dr. Fate. Ralph is drunk and is constantly taking swigs from his flask during this scene. Ralph tells Wonder Girl that for a moment his wife really was resurrected back at the Cult of Connor ceremony. Wonder Girl agrees that resurrection is possible since Superboy is also back to life. That Supernova is Superboy. Ralph then leaves.

Week 31, Day 4: We see Ralph meeting with Supernova. Ralph has figured out Supernova’s secret identity. Ralph tells Supernova that he needs to tell Wonder Girl that he is not Superboy. Supernova says there is too much at stake and he can’t talk with Wonder Girl. Supernova then tells Ralph to not contact him again. That they shouldn’t be meeting. Supernova then flies off.

Week 31, Day 6: We see one of the Green Lanterns falling in battle with the Stygian Passover. The other Green Lantern contacts the Guardians for immediate backup. The Guardians deny the request. They say that they cannot risk exposing their officers to an unknown extra-universal contaminant at this time. We see the Stygian Passover complete their decimation of the planet Vardu. We see Captain Comet body integrated to one of the Stygian Passover’s machines. Captain Comet ends his telepathic transmission by saying that he is preparing to jettison his primary consciousness.

Week 31, Day 7: We see the Lady Styx inside the space ship that Captain Comet’s body is grafted to. The Lady Styx is presented the two Green Lanterns’ power rings. The Lady Styx eats both power rings. We then see Lobo, Adam Strange, Animal Man, Starfire and the Emerald Head of Ekron watching Lady Styx’s ship from afar. End of story.

We then get a two page back up story about the origin of Robin. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: 52 #31 was another good read. This issue was well plotted and moved along at a brisk pace. There was certainly plenty of action in this issue. The dialogue was well done. Overall, this issue had a nice flow to it as it transitioned between the various plotlines.

The boys at DC seriously kicked the Stygian Passover plotline into high gear in 52 #31. They took their time slowly laying the foundation for this plotline. This issue was the big payoff. We finally are given the vital information on what the Stygian Passover is and how they attack their prey. I liked using Captain Comet’s telepathic transmission to give us the information about the Stygian Passover during all the big battle scenes. This was a nice way to combine lots of narrative with action packed scenes so that the reader didn’t get bored and the pace didn’t slow down to a halt.

It was shocking to see the Guardians at a total loss on how to handle the Stygian Passover. And seeing them turn down the request of a Green Lantern for immediate backup was logical, yet still very chilling. Green Lanterns are insanely powerful so any force that can dispatch of two of them is definitely something extremely dangerous.

The scene at Infinity Inc was all right. It was extremely short, but at least showed that Natasha is still ignoring Steel’s pleas for her to talk to him about Lex Luthor’s Everyman Project. I also liked how Everyman’s powers work. Gross, but funny. Everyman is certainly one creepy bastard. You know that we are going to see Natasha and Everyman lock horns at some point.

The scenes with Ralph Dibny, that drunken bastard, were great. I absolutely love Ralph. Seriously, I never cared at all about his character until Identity Crisis. Ever since that point, Ralph’s character has become more and more fascinating. Ralph’s dialogue is well written. I like how they are handling his personality. The interesting part is that to a casual observer, Ralph would just come across as some drunk who has had a nervous breakdown and is imagining everything. However, we know that Ralph is actually on to something with this magical journey that he has embarked on over the past several issues.

I also dig how Ralph has already solved the mystery of Supernova’s secret identity. It is easy to forget that after the Batman, Ralph is the world’s best detective. I’m glad to see that amid his nervous breakdown and his drinking binge, that Ralph’s brilliant detective mind is still has sharp as ever.

And the mystery surrounding Supernova just keeps getting more and more interesting. Clearly, Ralph and Supernova know each other. I’m still hoping that Supernova turns out to be Booster Gold.

The artwork is average. Nothing to complain about, but nothing to praise either. But, that has been the case for this entire series. 52 is simply not about “hot” artwork. It is pretty enjoyable to see such a big series based on strong writing rather than “hot” artwork.

The Bad: I have serious reservations concerning the Lady Styx and her horde. At this point, the Lady Styx comes across as your generic other-worldly villain. I rarely enjoy plotlines that revolve around some nebulous mystical villain and their attempts to destroy our realm. I really hope that there is more to Lady Styx than just being your typical mystical menace. I hope that there is something more to this Stygian Passover plotline that what we are seeing at this point.

I also thought that the graphic gore with the Stygian Passover carving up people and the really gory death of Captain Comet was probably a bit unnecessary and a little too over the top. Sometimes less is more and has a much more profound impact on the reader.

Overall: 51 #31 was another damn good read. The writers cranked up the pacing and delivered an action packed issue. It is incredible how the writers have been able to juggle so many different plotlines and slowly begin to combine them together.