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| Issue |
52
week 40 |
| Subtitle |
Man
Ain't Nothing but a Man |
| Date |
February
7, 2007 |
| Writer(s) |
Geoff
Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid |
| Artist(s) |
Keith
Giffen, Chris Batista, Rodney Ramos, Dan Green |
| storyline |
Steel
(JHI in armor) and the Teen Titans (Raven, Changeling,
Aquagirl, Offspring) attacked the Lexcorp building
where Luthor was holding Natasha. Everyman was
able to tear through Steel's armor, but he went
down hard. John Henry continued on for Luthor.
Lex, now with his Superman-like powers, got
the upper hand. Natasha was able to use his
hammer to turn off the metagene. John defeated
Luthor easily once they were on equal ground.
Osiris, still believing he was cursed, watched
as Kahndaq continued being pelted with acid
rain and disease. |
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| Issue |
52
week 41 |
| Subtitle |
Miracles
& Wonders |
| Date |
February
14, 2007 |
| Writer(s) |
Geoff
Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid |
| Artist(s) |
Keith
Giffen, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Rodney Ramos |
| storyline |
Starfire
and Adam defeated Molek the Hunter, but the
bounty hunter had all but destroyed their
ship. When he knew he was going to lose, he
ordered his own to self-destruct.
Nanda Parbat didn't save Charlie. Renee spoke
briefly with Tot before searching out Richard
Dragon. He tried to get her to realize what
the Question had wanted, but she was still
too grief stricken to concentrate.
Ralph visited Haven Penitentiary. He found what
he believed to be a teleportation device hidden
in a security camera. No one else had been able
to figure out how TO Morrow escaped. He was allowed
to see Professor Milo. The man had fashioned a
wheelchair around the Silver Wheel of Nyorlath.
Dibny secured it and had Fate make their escape.
Renee bumped into Wonder Woman (in plain clothes)
in Nanda Parbat. After they talked, Renee
headed back into the cave with a single candle.
Adam had a breakdown. He felt he'd let everyone
down - Buddy was dead and Starfire was injured.
Their ship was heading into a sun. A planet
somehow appeared in front of them and they
crashed into it: the planet was Green Lantern
Mogo.
Includes
the Origin of Starfire. |
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|
| Issue |
52
week 42 |
| Subtitle |
Trigger
Effect |
| Date |
February
21, 2007 |
| Writer(s) |
Geoff
Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid |
| Artist(s) |
Keith
Giffen, Darick Robertson |
| storyline |
Renee
looked at her reflections in the cave - none
had faces.
At the Tower of Fate, Ralph put on the helmet,
then shot it off himself. It turned into Felix
Faust. After listening to Dibny tell him how
he'd figured the situation out, Foust told
him Neron gave him an out - Ralph was to be
the pure soul. Neron appeared, but Ralph wouldn't
let him take Foust. Neron killed Dibny with
his wedding ring, only to discover that the
binding spell that was in place could only
be lifted by the one who cast it. Both Neron
and Foust were trapped in the Tower of Fate
forever.
Bea found Ralph's ring atop his wife's tombstone.
Includes
the Origin of Green Arrow (Oliver Queen). |
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| Issue |
52
week 43 |
| Subtitle |
Family
Matters |
| Date |
February
28, 2007 |
| Writer(s) |
Geoff
Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid |
| Artist(s) |
Keith
Giffen, Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund |
| storyline |
Osiris
and Sobek entered the Rock of Eternity in
hopes that the Marvel Family could help. He
asked Billy to remove his powers. Black Adam
appeared and reminded him they were a gift.
Osiris suckerpunched him through a wall. The
Marvels attempted to break them up, but in
the melee, Osiris accidentally hit his sister.
He agreed to help them rid their land of the
evil which had invaded.
The yellow aliens placed Buddy back at the
location they'd found him after nursing him
back to health. He was able to tap into the
powers of the suneaters. Elsewhere, Lady Styx
was reborn.
Osiris confided in his friend that he still
wanted to rid himself of the powers. Sobek
convinced him to say Black Adam's name so
that he'd lose his powers. Once the lightning
came down, Sobek ate Amon.
Includes
the Origin of Plastic Man. |
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|
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| Issue |
52
week 44 |
| Subtitle |
Deaths
in the Family |
| Date |
March
7, 2007 |
| Writer(s) |
Geoff
Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid |
| Artist(s) |
Keith
Giffen, Eddy Barrows, Dan Green, Rodney Ramos |
| storyline |
Black
Adam was hit by lightning and realized the
power he'd given Osiris had returned to him.
They found Amon's body; Sobek revealed himself
as Famine. The remainder of the Four Horsemen
(Pestilence, War, and Death) loomed nearby.
They were the cause of Kahndaq's woes. Adam
ripped Sobek's jaws apart, then went after
War. Only Black Adam survived the battle.
As Isis died, she told Adam she was wrong
- the rest of the world needed redemption.
She wanted him to avenge her and her brother.
The flower Isis gave Renee shattered. She
realized Isis was dead. Tot and Richard gave
her a hat, coat, and mask. She was hesitant,
but they convinced her to take it and go to
Kahndaq. |
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| Issue |
52
week 45 |
| Subtitle |
Every
Hour Wounds, the Last Kills |
| Date |
March
14, 2007 |
| Writer(s) |
Geoff
Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid |
| Artist(s) |
Keith
Giffen, Chris Batista, Jamal Igle, Rodney
Ramos |
| storyline |
Montoya
visited Black Adam after he buried his wife
and brother-in-law. He was not hospitable
and flew off in search of the last of the
Four Horsemen. He arrived in Bialya tracking
Death. As he rampaged through the country,
other countries began mobilizing fearing they
would be next. Atom Smasher left Belle Reve
to go after him. Waller tried to stop him,
but he threatened to go to Checkmate.
The Great Ten of China discussed the former
ally - within 36 hours, he'd completely destroyed
a country. Some wished to uncover those who'd
set the Four Horsemen loose to provoke him,
while the rest wanted to secure their country.
Black Adam finally found Death.
Oolong Island prepared for his imminent attack.
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| Issue |
52
week 46 |
| Subtitle |
Mad
Science |
| Date |
March
21, 2007 |
| Writer(s) |
Geoff
Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid |
| Artist(s) |
Keith
Giffen, Patrick Olliffe, Drew Geraci, Rodney
Ramos |
| storyline |
Black
Adam easily broke through Oolong Island's
defenses. Once inside, the mad scientists
used their creations to stop him. It worked.
Black Adam was captured. During the struggle,
TO Morrow won an online auction for a piece
of art which contained the head of the Red
Tornado.
Lex Luthor was taken into custody, but reporter
Clark Kent felt something fishy was going
on. He called out to Steel, who was escorting
him. They headed inside Lexcorp building and
found the real Luthor. Everyman had been impersonating
him outside.
Green Lantern, Wildcat, and Flash searched
Bialya for survivors and found none. Atom
Smasher asked to rejoin the JSA.
Includes
the Origin of Batman. |
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| Issue |
52
week 47 |
| Subtitle |
Revelations |
| Date |
March
28, 2007 |
| Writer(s) |
Geoff
Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid |
| Artist(s) |
Keith
Giffen, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Lorenzo Ruggiero |
| storyline |
Bruce
and Tim ended up in Nanda Parbat. In his
retraining, Bruce was undergoing a new ordeal
- seven days in darkness: the Thorgal Ordeal.
In Gotham City, Intergang sacrificed another
while still searching for the Batwoman.
Whisper realized her real name must be Cain.
In "space B," Buddy was shown images of
his wife being consoled by another man.
Gar invited Natasha to join the Teen Titans,
but she declined - she and her uncle were
starting their own "team" at Steelworks.
Renee stopped in to visit Kate, but her
apartment was trashed. Nightwing was there
- Intergang had taken her.
Diana received wisdom from Rama Kushna.
Bruce emerged from his cave.
Includes
the Origin of the Teen Titans.
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|
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| Issue |
52
week 48 |
| Subtitle |
Asked
and Answered |
| Date |
April
4, 2007 |
| Writer(s) |
Geoff
Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid |
| Artist(s) |
Keith
Giffen, Darick Robertson |
| storyline |
Nightwing
and Montoya continued to cut through monsters
on their way to Mannheim, who was preparing Batwoman
for the sacrifice. They found a device, which
monsters activated. It burned both upwards and
down into the Earth. Abbot, who was tired of all
the "prophecy" clued them in on what was happening.
They split up - Abbot and Nightwing went to shut
off all the burning devices, Montoya put on her
mask and went after Mannheim and Kate.
Montoya found them, but the monsters stopped
her long enough for Mannheim to plunge a dagger
into Kate's chest. Montoya took down the monsters,
but Bruno grabbed her gun and turned it on
her. Batwoman pulled the knife out of herself
and hit him in the back with it. She died
in Renee's arms while Mannheim died face down
nearby.
Chang Tzu broadcast to the world that he had
Black Adam up for auction.
Includes
the Origin of the Birds of Prey. |
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|
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| Issue |
52
week 49 |
| Subtitle |
Eve
of Destruction |
| Date |
April
11, 2007 |
| Writer(s) |
Geoff
Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid |
| Artist(s) |
Keith
Giffen, Eddy Barrows, Dan Green, Rodney Ramos |
| storyline |
The
JSA attempted to retrieve Black Adam, but were
stopped by the Great Ten. They were told that
they must leave the island or it would be considered
an act of aggression against China.
Magnus used his new tiny Metal Men against
Chang Tzu. He teleported TO Morrow to Sivana's
robot in orbit above them.
Alan Scott called the Great Ten's bluff by realizing
Chang Tzu was one of their own. The Great Ten
were there to cover up the fact that he'd used
Intergang money to build doomsday weapons to take
down Black Adam. The JSA got in to find Magnus,
who surrendered after destroying Chang Tzu. Atom
Smasher caught Sivana who took him to Black Adam.
He didn't want to believe that his friend was
capable of destroying a country, but his faith
was broken when Black Adam looked him in the eye
and flew away.
Includes
the Origin of the JSA. |
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|
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| Issue |
52
week 50 |
| Subtitle |
World
War III |
| Date |
April
18, 2007 |
| Writer(s) |
Geoff
Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid |
| Artist(s) |
Keith
Giffen, Justiniano, Walden Wong |
| storyline |
Checkmate
found Black Adam in China. The JSA headed
in to stop his path of destruction. After
he walked through most of the Great Ten, the
people of China opened their borders to help.
The JSA and their allies went in.
The mystics gathered in the Rock of Eternity;
Captain Marvel returned. He'd petitioned the
Egyptian gods to remove Adam's powers, but
they'd refused.
The Steels readied a missile, but Booster
Gold reappeared for the first time since his
death and snatched it.
The flying heroes grabbed him and flew him upward;
Captain Marvel sped downward to meet them, then
called the lightning. He somehow harnessed it,
then threw it at Adam. Black Adam reverted to
human form and was unable to call it back upon
himself - "shazam!" wasn't working. Atom Smasher,
the only person who still believed in Black Adam,
caught him. Captain Marvel told the group he'd
changed the magic word - Black Adam was no more,
but his body was not found.
Rip Hunter and Booster Gold found TO Morrow,
who'd acquired the Red Tornado's head (which
was still repeating "52"). |
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|
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| Issue |
52
week 51 |
| Subtitle |
Homecoming |
| Date |
April
25, 2007 |
| Writer(s) |
Geoff
Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid |
| Artist(s) |
Keith
Giffen, Joe Bennett, Jack Jadson, Belardino Brabo |
| storyline |
Buddy
(Animal Man) Baker returned home using the suneater
powers he'd received.
Superheroes from all over gathered at the Superman
/ Superboy memorial. Agent Diana Prince surveyed
the attendees. Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent (out
of costume) were also there. Robin debuted his
new costume, which was red and black (with a touch
of yellow) in tribute to Superboy. Wonder Girl
flew off when he approached her.
Adam Strange woke up on Rann with new eyes cloned
from his daughters. Thanks to his father-in-law
Sardath, he could now see the entire electromagnetic
spectrum. He told two Green Lanterns who were
there that Lobo had taken the Emerald Eye of Ekron.
Lobo returned to his fish god and learned that
they Eye was the only thing that could kill the
deity. He used it on him.
Two interstellar assassins arrived at the Baker
home, but were stopped by Starfire, who'd also
returned from space. She passed out on the Baker
doorstep.
Rip Hunter and Booster Gold used TO Morrow and
the head of the Red Tornado to lure Skeets. Morrow
uttered something about "52 worlds."
Skeets, just a shell, opened up to reveal Mr.
Mind, who'd been using the robot as a sort of
cocoon. Rip and Booster got back into the time
sphere and headed "back to where it all started"
- they'd failed to stop him again.
Includes the
Origin of the JLA. |
|
|
|
| Issue |
52
week 52 |
| Subtitle |
A
Year in the Life |
| Date |
May
2, 2007 |
| Writer(s) |
Geoff
Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid |
| Artist(s) |
Keith
Giffen, Mike McKone, Justiniano, Eddy Barrows,
Chris Batista, Pat Olliffe, Darrick Robertson,
Andy Lanning, Walden Wong, Rodney Ramos, Drew
Geraci |
| storyline |
Rip
and Booster arrived at the dawn of the new multiverse
- exactly one year before. Hunter had seen images
of the future from a device in Morrow's lab. Mr.
Mind was now devouring time, space, etc. He "regurgitated"
the phantom zone at the exact time Hunter brought
Supernova (now Daniel Carter) back into play.
His suit deflected the phantom zone back to where
it belonged. Hunter had saved him from a time
loop of 52 seconds where Mr. Mind had him imprisoned.
They used Red Tornado to track (and lure) Mr.
Mind (who was now a huge moth monster thing) by
altering their vibrational frequency. Mind eat
events and years from various Earths during their
chase. Booster had a moment of doubt when he realized
he was a part of the team shouldering the fate
of the entire multiverse. Skeets reassured him.
Booster and Rip headed out into different times:
Booster visited Ted Kord (his old friend the Blue
Beetle) on "new" Earth just after the
first Crisis. He grabbed an energy source (the
Blue Beetle scarab). Rip visited current time.
He shot Dr. Sivana and stole his "suspendium."
Back in the time sphere, they added their loot
to the Supernova outfit and arrived back in Rip's
lab. Booster trapped Mr. Mind within Skeets, who
was now coated with the suspendium. Rip ordered
Booster to throw Skeets (with Mr. Mind) through
the time stream so the suspendium would charge.
Booster reluctantly threw his friend. Supernova
followed the robot in.
Supernova detonated the "time bomb"
in the desert in week 1. Dr. Sivana heard it and
found Mr. Mind in the crater. He snapped him up
and put him in a test tube.
With all three once again back in the time sphere,
Rip told Booster he'd backed up Skeets and that
no one could know about the multiverse situation.
Back at the end of the 52nd week, Checkmate put
together a team to look for Teth-Adam; Natasha
asked her uncle John about Infinity, Inc.; someone
found the Amulet of Isis; the Department of Metahuman
Affairs named Black Adam "the most wanted
mortal in the world;" a figure in crocodile
boots walked desert streets; a pit opened under
a preschool where the ghosts of Ralph and Sue
Dibney prepared to work a "mystery."
Booster visited Doc Magnus. Skeets was rebuilt,
but with no knowledge of the previous year. Montoya,
now as the Question, returned the bat outline
to the signal which once held a question mark.
Kate Kane began recovering from her stab wound,
claiming to have no memory of what had happened
to her. The batsignal shown through her window.
|
|
| Notes,
references to time, and chronology: |
| |
The
deaths of Vic Sage (the Question), Ralph Dibny (the Elongated
Man), Osiris, Isis, Chang Tzu, and Bruno Mannheim. |
|
World
War III: the world vs. Black Adam. |
|
Renee
Montoya assumed the identity of the Question. |
|
The
space heroes (Starfire, Buddy "Animal Man" Baker,
and Adam Strange) all made it home. |
|
Rip
Hunter to Booster Gold in issue 52: "The broken Earths
collapsed back together, combining historical remnants
to from one new earth - one far too small to contain the
energy within it. In a cosmic act of self-preservation,
as you just saw, it began replicating. Unknown to anyone
but myself, a new multiverse was born in the wake of the
Crisis. 52 identical Earths in 52 identical cosmos."
"They're aligning. In a few seconds, the Earths will
occupy the same space, each on a different vibrational
plane." |
|
Earths
17 (knights riding through cities), 3 (Crime Syndicate),
10 (Nazi / WWII), 50 (Wildstorm), 5 (Shazam), 22 (Kingdom
Come), 2 (JSA), and 4 (Charlton Comics) were all visited
in issue 52. |
|
Kate
Kane - Batwoman - was revealed to have survived. |
|
52
Earths now inhabit the multiverse. |
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