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    DC

    52 – Week 44 – Deaths in the Family

    Stephen SchleicherBy Stephen SchleicherMarch 11, 2007Updated:January 4, 20081 Comment5 Mins Read

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    After Sobek took a really big bite out of Amon/Osiris last week, you just knew there was a major battle brewing. This week, Isis and Adam discover not one, but four villains out to bring them and their country down. How do you respond to the Four Horsemen of the Apokolips? It’s obvious isn’t it?

    01.jpgIsis and Black Adam must have been on the other side of the country for a couple of days because it took a while for them to discover the eviscerated and decaying body of Isis’s brother Amon. One of the problems I have been noticing more and more as the series continues is the great jumps in days as we progress from one week to the next. If Amon was murdered on the fifth day of Week 43, why did it take two whole days for the power of Osiris to return to Adam? This certainly isn’t the first time this has happened, with DC brushing this off with the whole “Time is Broken” comment – Grrrr.

    But back to the story, almost on cue Sobek appears, sans shirt and pants, ready to bring the smack down of the Four Horsemen down on the Adams. It is here Sobek reveals the plan, telling Black Adam the torment Kahndaq is suffering is because Adam failed to allow Intergang passage through the country. If this is the only reason the Four Horsemen were created, it seems a bit extreme, kind of like using a Howitzer to kill a house fly. Sure it may do the job, but what a waste.

    The big battle breaks out with Sobek attacking Black Adam and Plague attempting to wipe out Isis. Four against two doesn’t seem like a fair fight, but a quick grab of the jaw and snapping Sobek’s jaw is enough narrow the odds a bit.

    IMAGE REMOVED BY DC LEGAL DEPARTMENT

    Isis hasn’t been in too many fights, and we saw how well she did when jumped by the Suicide Squad, which means a giant monster like Plague should be able to take her down easily. And he does; a full blast of plague gas causing boils to erupt across her body, dropping her hard. Adam is able to destroy War and use its weapons to get Plague out of the picture. With her last ounce of strength Isis uses her power to blow Death clean out of the kingdom. Unfortunately, Death is able to flee to fight another day, and with the power of Isis and Osiris returned to him, Black Adam is more than angry enough to go on the war path.

    I had originally hoped DC would have spared Isis from biting it in 52, but it seemed inevitable she was going die. Remember, Rip Hunter’s lab did say, “The Four Horsemen will end her rain?” I didn’t want to see her gone, because she actually turned Black Adam around for the good, and let’s face it, she was pretty easy on the eyes. But beyond those two qualities, in all the time we saw her, she did not become a major character we could rally behind and identify with. So in the end, like Amon, Adrianna’s death was really a let down.

    The only thing that was interesting in her last moments was her plea to Adam to avenge her death, essentially saying she was wrong all along. That is something really odd to say, even if she is dying. It’s almost like she were reciting lines to incite Adam into going to war. I really hope she isn’t/wasn’t another pawn in Intergang’s arsenal to manipulate the heroes of the world.

    When she goes, the flower Isis gave Montoya withers and dies in Nanda Parbat. Renee feels she needs to investigate to see what has happened. It is here that Richard Dragon and Tot bring out clothing treated with the same chemicals Vic Sage used to turn himself into the Question. Renee claims she won’t wear the mask, but Richard quickly points out that sometimes it is a necessary evil.

    IMAGE REMOVED BY DC LEGAL DEPARTMENT

    And so, looking a lot like a female Indiana Jones, or Lara Croft, Renee leave Nanda Parbat to answer some questions.

    The Good

    • 16 pages of smack down after smack down
    • Renee begins her first adventure (as The Question?)
    • Reference to Monster Society – is this a tie in to the Shazam! series?

    The Bad

    • The death of Mighty Isis
    • The four horsemen went down rather quickly considering they were developed using Apokilyptian technology.

    Since most of the issue is filled with a major fight between The Four Horsemen and Adam and Isis, there really isn’t that much else going on. A good story like 52 requires some action to get readers on the edge of their seats, and this issue delivered. But as good as the fight sequences were, the death of Isis was something we saw coming months and months ago, which made the issue seem rather flat. Not the best issue of the series by a long shot, so I have to give 52 – Week 44 a 2 Star Rating.

    2stars.jpg

    Parting Shot

    IMAGE REMOVED BY DC LEGAL DEPARTMENT

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    Stephen Schleicher
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    Stephen Schleicher began his career writing for the Digital Media Online community of sites, including Digital Producer and Creative Mac covering all aspects of the digital content creation industry. He then moved on to consumer technology, and began the Coolness Roundup podcast. A writing fool, Stephen has freelanced for Sci-Fi Channel's Technology Blog, and Gizmodo. Still longing for the good ol' days, Stephen launched Major Spoilers in July 2006, because he is a glutton for punishment. You can follow him on Twitter @MajorSpoilers and tell him your darkest secrets...

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    1 Comment

    1. Shah on March 15, 2007 11:50 pm

      I stopped collecting 52 three weeks ago–after reading about Countdown. While comics are a serial-based medium, I like the idea that stories have an ending–particularly LIMITED SERIES. This was taking away from the idea that built up in the 80s with Crisis and Secret Wars–Huge, sweeping events in a LIMITED series.

      Now, it is, a prelude to an event which will start something that will cause sweeping changes for the foreseeable future (for a time, anyways). But 52 leads to Countdown, and there is supposed to be something after Countdown. Point being, if you collect all this stuff, you are spending 300+ dollars. And the death of Iris just demonstrates that these changes and introduction of new characters simply return things to the status quo. (For everything that happened, Black Adam will be the same person after the story.)

      So what changes? There is a new Question. Skeets is evil.

      Reply

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