Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Sun Eaters
Week 36 is one of those weeks where a lot of questions get partial answers, a hero falls, and Supernova is Ray Palmer. It can’t be that simple, can it? You guessed it. Major Spoilers ahead…
Last week, we were left with the impression that Lobo was going to turn all of the heroes in to Lady Styx for the reward money and be on his merry way. I for one didn’t buy that and knew he had a plan up his sleeve. And when he shows up in the throne room of Lady Styx with only Kory and Buddy in chains, you know something is up. Remember, it is easier to fight from the inside out.
Why didn’t I buy Lobo as the scum that he is? After all, he did kill everyone on Czarnia just for the heck of it. Well, deep down inside, Lobo has always done the right thing, and even the main man himself probably can’t stand to see someone else more bad-ass than he is.
During the conversation, we do learn the space trio does know something, and Lady Styx is more than willing to suck the information from their nervous system. This is one of those questions we’ve seen pop up quite a few times and still makes me wonder what they could have seen between Infinite Crisis and 52.
While trying to collect his reward, Lady Styx (as translated through Fishy) calls Lobo all manner of coward, which as we could have guessed, turns on Lobo’s berzerker mode.
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But Lady Styx isn’t as helpless as her undead army, and she’s more than able to take a few whacks at Lobo herself. Don’t worry though, Lobo can regenerate. All of the chaos and killing was nothing more than a distraction so Adam Strange and the Emerald Head of Ekron could sneak around on the outside and blast a hole in the side of the ship.
Lobo’s plan all along was to wait for the convoy to pass close by a migrating herd of sun-eaters (last seen in Infinite Crisis #7 and before that in Final Night), toss Lady Styx out the hole onto the Emerald Head of Ekron’s head, and dive bomb into one of the herd.
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Readers know Lady Styx has appeared in Mystery in Space that takes place One Year Later, so I think only one is going to make it out alive.
Speaking of making it out alive, Buddy was hit by a necro-toxin and is fading fast. Even though Adam pleads for Buddy to use his powers, it is too late.
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And back on Earth, his wife seems to know the end has come.
With the death of Buddy Baker, DC seems hell-bent on wiping out many 80s characters as possible. I was never a fan of Animal Man, but the death of someone who is a family man, and who really is trying to do good for everyone without concern for himself, his death seems rather tragic and pointless. Maybe that is the point…
The preview for next week show Buddy laid out on a slab, but if you really think about it, DC could have an easy out in returning Buddy to life. Adam Strange did tell buddy to use his powers, and his powers extend to things around him, so why not use Lobo’s powers to regenerate himself? He might not be able to do that simply because Lobo might not fall into the category of “animal”. For those of you who really want Buddy back, you can hope DC plays that Lobo card. For more guessing, check out that preview page for JSA #1 and tell me that doesn’t look like Buddy talking to Batman.
Many of us thought Vic Sage was a goner several issues ago, but he’s still hanging on in the hospital thanks to all those morphine shots. Renee seems to echo my own thoughts on the pointlessness of death as she idles away her time staying by his side. Tot has been sending medicinal flowers from Nanda Parbat, but by the time they reach the destination, they have died and turned to dust. They just don’t live outside of Nanda Parbat… Hey, wait a minute!
Yeah, it took Renee this long to figure out that she needs to get Charlie back to Nanda Parbat if she hopes to save him.
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We’ll see if they make it. I for one hope they do.
Unfortunately we are subjected to a page of Osiris and Sobek whining about how the Black Adams were set up and how if he returns to the Teen Titans they will arrest him. Oh well, at least he still has Sobek… gag… They just need to reveal Talky Crocky is evil and just get it over with. Maybe the apple Sobek hands Osiris has Mr. Mind inside and will take over Osiris ala Kingdom Come’s takeover of Billy Batson.
Finally, we find out where Rip Hunter has been all this time; inside the Bottled City of Kandor. We also discover what Supernova was doing in the Batcave stealing Lex Luthor’s power glove. Supernova has been collecting the Staffs of the Starmen, the Kryptonite Gauntlet, Shadow Thief’s Dimensiometer and more (did you notice the Cosmic Treadmill?), to try and power Rip’s Chronosphere. We also learn that Skeets knows Hunter needs access to his level of technology for “something”, which we hope to discover next week as a major storyline comes to a head.
But what about Supernova’s identity? I did say Supernova is Ray Palmer only to get you to read the review, but I still don’t believe it. In order to get into the Bottled City, Supernova (and Rip Hunter) needs to shrink down in size. As far as most of us know, the only way to do that is with Ray Palmer’s belt. The new Atom series seems to indicate there are multiple belts around, so there is a good chance someone else besides the Atom is behind the mask. My money – at least this week is still on it being one of the Carter boys or Mon-El.
If this were Vegas, I’m sure the odds have shifted:
Who is Supernova? Place Your Bets!
Rip Hunter 0:0
Ray Palmer 10:1
Michael Carter 100:1
Mon-El 3000:1
Daniel Carter 4000:1
John Henry Irons 6000:1
Ted Kord 10000:1
Clark Kent 1000000:1
If you REALLY want a spoiler for Supernova’s identity, check out one of the pages posted at Newsarama.
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Does that change my mind? Not at all.
As far as the buildup to World War III, DC has announced four one shots that occur within the 52 story that tell the tale of the entire world war. More information on Monday when I’m allowed to release the solicitation information. Oh and is that Anarchy returning to the DCU?
This week had two great stories, and two so-so stories. The war among the stars in a galaxy far far away and the Rip Hunter reveal were two of the best this week. Renee finally finding the obvious answer to the question of saving the Question, and the lame, lame, LAME Osiris showing were disappointing. This week I’ll have to give 52 a solid 3 Stars. Good enough to enjoy, but nothing to get all excited and write home about.
Parting Shot
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Discuss this issue in the Major Spoilers 52 Forum.
