Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Official '52' Discussion Thread ... SPOILERS!

52: 4 out of 5 doctors agree it's richer in fiber than Civil War.

Metal Men AND Ambush Bug in 52.

Well, Will Magnus at any rate.

But yes, THE BUG!

And don't forget Cheeks!

"Cheeks"? As in first name "Butt"?

I loved Cheeks the Toy Wonder!

Hopefully we will get to see Prez, Danny and his Monster, and 'Mazing Man!

Cuz... well... 'Mazing Man rocks.....!

No one answered this, so I will. We won't see any of the six main characters in 52 anywhere in the DCU until 52 ends. That's mostly to keep any surprises in 52 from being spoiled. After 52 ends, whomever survives is free to appear arounds the DCU again. So, while we won't get any Question goodness in a book like JLA until 52 is over, we'll get to see him week after week for a whole year.

I love this big exposure for The Question - after being one of the breakout characters in JLU, he's prime to blow up. Does anyone know which writer will be the main architect of his storyarc? Rucka did a good job with Vic in the Huntress mini.

I wonder if they'll steer him towards the conspiracy minded JLU version, the urban shaman version from his mini or go back to the zen version of his series or even his Ayn Rand roots - either is fine with me as long as they keep him someone who thinks outside the box rather than someone who's out and out nuts.

I totally echo your comments Drake, couldn't have said it better.

Gary, I think Haggard Lad is right...we don't really know if any of them will die by the end. Some, like Steel, are rumored to really 'break out' of 52 and be restored a potent force in the DCU, so I don't think he'll be dying.

Preview Pages! (scroll down)

Man, how cool is that page of the Question taking down the Bat signal?!?!

I saw that yesterday and it completely blew me away. The imagery is so powerful...it *has* to be Grant Morrison who is doing the Question scenes...

Looks great, the panel layouts are pure Giffen. Looks to be informationally dense too. Do I spot two pages of 9-panel grid already? I looks like Booster is being brought back to his late 80s roots as well. A lot of stuff to be explored there and probably more relevant than ever in today's commercial world.

I'm guessing that they're going to ask what a hero is. Each of the leads has different motivations. Ralph's personal tragedy, Booster's pursuit of fame and fortune and so on.

I dunno. Booster went through a large period of growth in his own series, after fighting Doomsday, losing an arm and now Ted's death. His life is almost as bad as Kyle's has been.

Yet, because of the BWAHAHA years, today's writer's (and DeMattis and Giffen as well) tend to overlook all this and concentrate on the gimmick. Which while relelvant, is still a gimmick.

I'd like to see a Booster character who's relfects what we've seen the last 20 years. Smart, resourceful, and capable of learning from his mistakes. He can still have his commercial tendencies as long as they keep Skeets around to be his conscience. But he has potential to be a great character and I really hope 52 will be good to him.

Unfortunately, considering the treatment of the JLI leaguer's, I doubt it.

Jamie

I'm pretty sure the Booster we see here may not be the Booster that went away dejected at the end of the OMAC project. When he first appearred in IC my impression he had been rebooted. That remains to be seen though, he's perhaps another revision caused by SB Prime as revealed in the Batman Annual.

He seems to know about his earlier (or alternate timeline Booster) involvement with Ted though. Rebooting him also solves the Legion weirdness in his previous origin(s).

Essentially all new readers need to know is he's a guy from the future looking to make his fame and fortune.

Oh my god -- has Booster Gold really been around for *twenty* years?!?! That seems so weird to me...

And regards to his characterization, it just seems to me the inevitable "return to their core concept" cycle that every character seems to go through when a certain amount of continuity gets attached.

Drake - Yep. It pretty wild when you think about it. He's languished from time to time but he's been pretty active over those 20 years.

As for the characterization goes, yeah, I can understand that. I just wish they'd take it beyond that. Hopefully, Tamper's right and we'll see a rebooted Booster. He certainly seemed more confident than when he left. I'm not sure the old one would have just strolled into the Batcave like that. <G>

Jamie

DCBS finally has their March solicits listed, and They've discounted the first four issues of 52! 75% off #1, and 2-4 at 50%. Secret Six and Shadowpact are both 75% off their first issues, also. That takes the edge off what was going to be a bigger-than-normal order...

OK, we might as well make this the official 52 thread once the series starts. Hey, one of you moderators could change the thread title if you're *really* bored -- thanks Scooter!

We already know some things about what happened during the missing year, so it should be interesting to see how it matches up.

6 Months into the missing year
(1) Hal Jordan Green Lantern goes missing for a time (per recent GL). He appears to be captured as a POW in a foreign country for a few weeks (crap, can't remember--3 or 6?). This will be interesting to see, especially in how it relates to the other heroes who are left and the international flavor of things (they won't know this of course, but there is story potential there).

(2) Harvey Bullock makes his 'discoveries' about the Gotham police force. I'm certain this will have to do with the Montoya story, as perhaps she becomes the rumored Batwoman and goes back to her old partner Bullock to have her help him be the legal face of the sting that opens up the corruption of the GPD. I wonder if we'll see Crisp/Spectre show up here as well. Perhaps the Question (who we know will be in Gotham) is a part of this too.


9 Months into the missing year
(1) Commissioner Gordon becomes Police Commissioner of Gotham again. Again, this could be a part of the Montoya story, or even the Question story, not to mention what Batman is up to during this time.

Other things
(1) Green Lantern (Hal) enters foreign airspace at least 3 previous times. Most likely near the end, after weeks of build-up that make this a hot button issue.

I haven't read the Titans yet, so feel free to add 'em in!

Might as well keep track of this too:

Heroes we know are missing during the missing year
Superman
Batman
Wonder Woman
Flash (?)
Aquaman
The Atom (Ray Palmer)
Green Lantern (Guy Gardner)
Green Lantern (John Stewart) - eventually
Black Canary - eventually
Cyborg
The Metal Men
Kid Flash
Blue Beetle
Captain Marvel
The Spectre (?)
Dr. Fate
Captain Atom
Connor Hawke (assuming based on other people's spoilers)
Speedy (likewise as Connor Hawke)
The Outsiders (Thunder, Grace, Metamorpho, Captain Boomerang, Kitana)
various mystical heroes

possible
Hawkman
Donna Troy

Slightly missing/not really around
Green Arrow (becomes mayor, not seen much)
Nightwing (off the radar but appears to be around somewhat)
Robin (is he blatantly around OYL in Titans?)

I think when you look at it like this, it makes it a little easier to see just how much thinner the DCU would be without these heroes around. I know there are various C-listers (*bleh* Bloodlines), but thats a good amount of big guns. I know I'm missing some.

Fate unknown (re: possibly dead)
Arsenal
Starfire
Hourman
Sand
Jesse Quick
Ray
Lady Quark
Tempest
Dolphin
Mal (?) - I haven't read latest Titans
Red Tornado

Starring in 52 (as a lead)
The Question
Steel
Booster Gold
Enlonganated Man
Black Adam
Animal Man
Renee Montoya (possibly becomes Batwoman)
Adam Strange
Captain Comet
Will Magnus
various others - I believe one might be Hawkman

Man, that FATE UNKNOWN list is chock full of characters that I really, really like (7 of 11). Their presence would cause me to buy a title I normally wouldn't (paying attention, DC?).

Todd, as I was writing it, I was thinking the same thing. The Ray, my two favorite new blood JSAers, Red Tornado, Lady Quark (love, love, love that character)...lots of good ones.

Arsenal, Hourman, Sand, Ray, Tempest, Red Tornado and Dolphin (now that some time has passed since her 'fall' in the last Aquaman series) are the ones for me. Though I, too, like Lady Quark and would be interested in seeing her again.

Well, we know that Red Tornado never fares well in a Crisis....

Don't forget to add Cassandra Cain to the unknown list. And Shift...cause that sounds like the real deal over in Outsiders.

Jamie

Jamie, read Robin OYL. <span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text"> Cassie is alive. Poor Lynx is dead.</span></span>