Villians revealed, a brother found, and powers transferred happen in this short week. T O Morrow, Will Magnus, Black Adam, Isis, Renee, and The Question all make appearances this week.
Last week, Will Magnus was abducted by B.O.L.T.S. the robot, and this week, we find out where he is being taken. Oolong Island, home of the world’s best mad scientists, where all of the missing scientists are “asked” to work on their own wild projects with plenty of booze, drugs, and women to keep them working hard. Magnus gets the lowdown, and the grand tour from T.O. Morrow, and it is clear most of the projects everyone is working on are of the robot variety. Seems both the good guys and the bad guys want Magnus’ responsometers for their own.
An island of crazy scientists doesn’t seem that far out, and this isn’t the first time Oolong Island has made an appearance. Oolong Island was first seen in Wonder Woman #157-158. While I can point out Dr. Sivana, the other Mads are a real mystery for me. I’ve only been reading comics since the early ‘80’s, so my knowledge of DCU history is vague at points. I do know, (thanks to ComicBase 11, and the link to the Metal Men history website I pointed to last week), that in Wonder Woman #158, Egg Fu makes an appearance. My only hope is DC doesn’t make Egg Fu the very bad stereotype he was in 1965.
And this is really what makes some people fans of 52, and others completely lost. Credit must be given to the writers of the series for the excellent job they’ve done digging deep deep deep into the DCU history, bringing forward tons of characters that have been out of the spotlight for years. Whether it be Oolong Island, Will Magnus, Super-Chief, Baron Bug (the guy flying the Cricketron), or Dr. Rigoro Mortis (House of Mystery #165), new readers can enjoy the story being revealed, while long time fans can trip down memory lane, knowing characters may have stepped down, but are not forgotten.
I take back what I said last week about Super-Chief. DC isn’t scrapping the bottom of the hero barrel in a vain attempt to resurrect forgotten heroes. To me, 52 has become what Marvels and Kingdome Come were to Alex Ross – spotting all of the Easter Eggs, and guessing who everyone is, without spoiling a very fun story. I’m hopeful that when the 52 Ultimate Hard Cover Edition is released, DC includes a panel by panel break down of the Who’s Who in the 52 Universe.
And speaking of Who’s Who – anyone notice the monster men that abducted Will Magnus, are also the same creatures that Renee and The Question encountered when they first broke into Intergang’s hideout and rubbed elbows with Whisper A’Daire (Week Eleven)? Of course you did. *
Well Renee and The Question run into A’Daire once again this week in Yemen. A’Daire is leading a cult and brainwashing children into doing their bidding. What kind of bidding? Oh, like strapping a bomb to their body and trying to disrupt a wedding, for example.
Before they can take action, A’Daire tells her minions to bring forth Amon Tomaz. Yes, they finally found Isis’s brother. Amon is a strong willed one. Even with weeks and possibly months of beatings, he has not broken down and caved into A’Daire’s way of thinking. Instead of trying to convert him, A’Daire’s solution is simple – break his legs and ensure he will never walk again.
This is more than Renee can take, and jumps into action. While she is busy shooting the bad guys, The Question goes after the book A’Daire was reading from. Luckily before the duo is killed, Isis and Black Adam arrive to put the hurtin’ on the baddies.
We discover that Isis has the ability to heal recent wounds, but her brother has sustained too much damage and will probably die if nothing is done. Black Adam steps forward and tells Amon to say his name, which transforms the broken body into Osiris.
IMAGE REMOVED BY DC LEGAL DEPARTMENT
Does this introduction look familiar? It should. The same thing happened to Freddie Freeman, a.k.a. Captain Marvel Jr. By the way, if you haven’t checked out The Trials of Shazam!, now would be a good time to pick up issues one and two.
With the Black Adam family growing, Isis suggests they all head to China. The last time they were there (Week Six), Black Adam tangled with the Green Lantern’s over an alien craft that crashed there. Why go back? What else is in China that we haven’t seen? We’ll hopefully find out next week.
Wild Speculation
Currently I’m 1-1 on my Wild Speculations; right on BOLTS, wrong on the Emerald Eye’s origin. So it is time to dive into more wild speculations.
Whisper A’Daire was once a member of Ra’s al Ghul’s organization, but since his “death” she’s been working with Intergang. As we know, Ra’s has/had been around for a long long time.
When we see Whisper, she’s reading from The Epic of Moriarty, Chapter 27, Verses Seven through Twelve of the Book of Crime. This book has been around for a long time chronicling all manners of violent crime, and written by (presumably) famous villains.
What’s interesting from the verses read are Moriarty’s references to the detective. Since this is the original book, not a copy, where did Whisper get it? Obviously the detective referred to is Sherlock Holmes, but what if Moriarty was really Ra’s al Ghul, under another name, and has ironically been fighting one detective after another throughout history?
Could all of these be hints that Ra’s is returning? I’ll say yes.
And with Whisper working with Intergang, could Ra’s be the master mind villain controlling everything? Probably not, but it would make for a real shocker of an event, similar to the Alex Luthor reveal.
The Good
- Isis. Her emotions affect the surrounds, and she can calm Black Adam with a breath.
- Oolong Island and references to old DCU history
- The art rocks this week
The Bad
- Origin of Osiris nearly identical to origin of Captain Marvel Jr.
- Egg Fu is coming
- The amount of research one has to do to really “get” all the references
I liked this week a lot. As I delve deeper and deeper into origins and histories of the main characters in 52, I begin to appreciate all the vague references and the importance long forgotten characters play in the DCU. This week 52 earned 4 out of 5 stars.
Parting Shot
*You probably also noticed the beach umbrellas on Oolong Island appear to be supplied by the Penguin.
** Oh, I also refrained from titling this review “Welcome to the world of T O Morrow!”…heh heh…get it… a reference to Futurama? Robots run rampant and look a lot like the way robots were invisioned in the 60’s. Kind of like the robots currently being created by Mads, and the Mads had their heyday in the ’60’s…heh heh…
Discuss 52 – Week 23 in the Major Spoilers Forum.
1 Comment
Wow… Dr. Rigoro Mortis is even beyond me. I did wonder about the Egg Fu connection, and hope that he IS a giant super computer… though let’s hope he’s one that doesn’t look like a Chinese stereotype.