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Mild Mannered Reviews - Specials

52: Week Twenty Two

52: Week Twenty Two

Scheduled to arrive in stores: October 4, 2006

Cover date: October 4, 2006

"Burial Ground"

Writer: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid
Penciller: Eddy Barrows (breakdowns by Keith Giffen)
Inker: Rob Stull
Cover: J.G. Jones and Alex Sinclair

Back-Up Story: "The Origin of Green Lantern"

Back-Up Story Writer: Mark Waid
Back-Up Story Penciller: Ivan Reis
Back-Up Story Inker: Oclair Albert

Michael Bailey Reviewed by: Michael Bailey

Click to enlarge



Week 22, Day 1

Lex Luthor listens as a Mr. Strauss explains his theory on the identity of Supernova. Strauss reveals that he believes that Supernova is really the deceased Superboy. Lex refuses to accept this, thinking that Supernova is Superman in disguise.

Week 22, Day 2

On a bus headed to Metropolis a man makes vulgar proposition to a woman seated next to him. Another passenger, Jon Standing Bear, stops him by throwing him out the window. The police get involved and the only thing that saves John from a jail sentence is the fact that the man had a previous rape conviction. The young woman tries to talk to Jon, but Jon tells her that he isn't someone she wants to know.

Week 22, Day 3

Lex Luthor is tested to see if he is compatible for the gene therapy that can make people meta-humans. Once again the test comes up negative.

Week 22, Day 4

Jon attends his father's funeral. Afterwards his grandfather tries to convince Jon that he is the only one who can accept the Manitou Stone. Jon's grandfather tells the tale of a great noble of the Iroquois called upon Manitou to help him get out of some bad trouble. The spirit threw down a special stone which gave the noble great powers, and he took the name Saganowahna, the Super-Chief. Jon asks what this story has to do with his family and his grandfather reveals the mask and the Manitou Stone.

Later that night, Jon smothers his grandfather while holding the stone as the old man requested.

Week 22, Day 5

At the opening of the Lex Luthor School of International Business Studies and Policy a man named Ferry who had been part of Luthor's project confronts him about the fact that Luthor turned off his powers. Ferry is thrown out, but Steel stops him and informs him that it is time that people started hearing the truth.

Elsewhere Doctor Magnus is attacked in his lab by warped versions of his Metal Men. Magnus fights back, but in the end a giant robot manages to destroy his house.

"The Origin of Green Lantern"

Test pilot Hal Jordan is chosen to be the new Green Lantern of Sector 2814 after the death of Abin Sur. Hal accepted the honor and was inducted into the Green Lantern Corps.

4Main Story - 4: Well, that was ... odd.

I mean did you see that SILVERBLADE RETURNS logo on the back of that bus? That was a weird reference.

Not as weird as Super-Chief supposedly returning, but close.

I mean it's Super-Chief. Super-Chief, who from the looks of it smothered his own grandfather.

This series just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

But in a good way, I swear.

Despite an epic robot battle this was a rather slow issue. Lex Luthor believes that Supernova is actually Superman just trying to mess with him. Lex sure is paranoid, but the red herring about Kon-El possibly being Supernova played into this issue nicely. I also liked Luthor drawing the S on the glass over the hovering form of Supernova.

Creepiness aside the introduction of Jon Standing Bear was really strong. Throwing a pervert from a bus is a sure fire way to make an impression on me. Obviously there is a lot going on with Jon, which generates interest, which keeps me coming back week after week. Other than that I can't really comment too much on the supposed new Super-Chief because I don't have all of the facts.

But there is interest, to be sure.

The Will Magnus plot kicked up a notch this week as well. I liked watching Magnus fight back against the perversion of his creations only to have a Sentinel wannabe hanging around outside. I liked watching Magnus use his head to fight the dark Metal Men and proves that if you can't beat them with brawn just out think them.

Nothing says stop like a huge electromagnet.

Steel even got a cameo this week and hooks up with a disgruntled ex-metahuman that apparently received powers from Luthor only to have them taken away. With the way this series is going I don't know if Steel's resolve to bring Luthor down is a good thing since it seems that anytime a character makes a definitive statement of some kind things go horribly wrong.

So for a slower issue there was still a lot to like. The weekly format continues to be both a blessing and a curse but there is usually something that pops up every few weeks that keeps from even thinking of dropping this title.

4Art - 4: Say what you will, Eddy Barrows made Super-Chief look good. It's not the worst costume ever, but man it looks like it could be screwed up easily.

Barrows and Rob Stull produced a solid issue as far as the art is concerned. The more I see the Supernova costume the more I like it and I especially dug the image of him hovering outside of Lex Luthor's office. Barrows and Stull's style is a little different and not as slick as some of the artists working on this series, but it still looked really good. They also showed some imagination with the Doc Magnus versus the dark Metal Men scene while at the same time gave the sequence the intensity it needed.

I just want to know whose idea was the SILVERBLADE RETURNS reference on the back of the bus.

4Backup Story - 4: Mark Waid keeps cranking out these little two page origins and manages to pack the right amount of information into the page. It's Hal Jordan, he was a test pilot, got a ring and became Green Lantern. Pretty simple as long as you don't get into all of the little details, like going crazy and supposedly killing your teammates.

Ok, that was a cheap shot. I liked this origin. I really did, though I was surprised that Emerald Dawn was mentioned since the drunken driving angle created such tizzy among certain Green Lantern fans.

4Art - 4: Ivan Reis draws a great Hal Jordan. There is no denying that. Hal has the iconic look that the origin called for and still infused the panels with some character, like the smile of Hal's face as he walked away from the wreckage. Like the rest of the issue I had no real complaints with these two pages.

4Cover Art - 4: This is a really subtle cover. The near sepia tone color to Doc Magnus against a red amalgamation of his creations. Doc looks scared and puts the reader on edge before they even open the book. Between the color scheme and titled composition I liked this cover. It may not be my favorite, but it was still really good.


Mild Mannered Reviews

2006

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

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