Anyone who knows me knows I’m a DC boy through and through. I’ve been reading DC faithfully for 31 years. So it goes without saying that I give DC a lot more slack than I would any other publisher.
That being said, after reading all four issues of WW III, all I can say is what a load of monkey <brown word>. Did they actually need the four extra issues to expand on 52 #50? I think not. It wasn’t really anything but four issues of filler. I think the purpose of the books was to help bridge 52 with One Year Later, focusing on characters not already focused on in 52. They failed. They could have made 52 #50 a double sized issue and filled it with the throwaway lines they peppered WW III with.
I skipped this one (or four). Most people devoted to %@ will pick it up, but I learned my lesson from all those pre-crisis issues that weren’t really needed IMO.
it just sounded like more “crossover creep” to me - same reason i skipped Infinite Crisis Secret Files, Civil War: Frontline, Civil War: Choosing Sides, Civil War: The Return, Civil War: Aunt May Takes out the Garbage, etc.
Just give me the meat (so to speak) - i’ll pass on the potatoes.
Yeah, WWIII sucked. It was completely unnecessary, as everything you needed to know went down in 52. Black Adam takes on the world, world shuts him down. The pacing in 52 was perfect, cutting away from and dropping you into some pretty intense moments that really didn’t need to be fleshed out. WWIII was ponderous, and, aside from some over the top violence, boring. The only thing that WWIII helped with, and only slightly, was understanding what happened to Aquaman. Now, it’s not so much confusing as it is just bad. So disappointed in this one.
I’d also like to take this moment to say how let down I’ve been over the whole OYL non-event. For the most part, we’re back exactly where we were at the end of Infinite Crisis. The only permanent changes is that came out of it were Superboy’s apparent demise, and Power Girl’s understanding of her true origins. Since then, I feel like OYL has been a complete failure, and overall kind of swept under the rug. The appropriate time to tell the story of how Harvey Dent became the protector of Gotham, or how Diana Prince became an agent of the government responsible for tracking herself down (whatever), is long passed. I’m a big advocate for hindsight, and a big proponent for the I told you so set, so I’ve no problem saying that all of this should have taken place in continuity, concurrently with 52. The opportunity to tell some really engrossing stories of real personal growth in the DCU has now become a desperate attempt to play catch up and sweep this mess under the rug before we rush headlong into Countdown. That’s the wonderful thing about 52, some wonderful personal stories have been told. The first Crisis, in a brave attempt to streamline the DCU and make it a more accessible place for the uninitiated to dip their toes, erased from existence the multiple Earths that flavored DC and set it apart from it’s competition. Infinite Crisis wan’t necessarily brave in it’s attempt to correct some of the mistakes, but was righteously nostalgic about what had once made the DCU such an intriguing place. It was a big gorgeous band-aid, and could have been a wonderful jumpstart to a wonderful new world, instead of a slightly more confusing version of the old one. Same outcome as the first Crisis. And OYL, a sad failure. I love DC, but, aside from a handful of wonderful titles, they’re kind of pissing me off. I really hope that Countdown works as a focusing lens for the DCU and starts to pull it together again. Fingers crossed.
I started picking up 52 religiously every week because they said it would never be traded. Stupid naive me. As great as it is, and I think I’m going to miss it greatly once the last issue hits next week, I would much have preferred to read it in some kind of omnibus form which I am sure will happen. And I’ll be first in line to get that rumoured covers book.
I never realised that Isis was once a campy 70’s tv show!
I worry that Countdown actually translates into, “Hey, 52 worked out. Why not?”
That said, I’ll be getting each and every issue
