Broken Frontier

A moment of tragedy arrives at last – the event that brings World War III to the DCU is revealed in all its gory glory within this latest chapter of the 52 epic.

After the truly shocking, unexpected (though wholly convincing) twist at the end of last week’s Week Forty-Three, Black Adam and Isis square off with the Four Horsemen for the fate of Kahndaq’s future, a nearly issue-length contretemps that sets the stage for a big World War III event coming in another month and a half. Also: Montoya dons a particular hat and cloak and prepares for her future.

Unlike some other, plot-twist-that-shall-not-be-named of recent 52 precedent, the visceral horror that assaulted readers at the end of last week’s Week Forty-Three, and the consequent battle royale that it elicits here, are both effortlessly affecting, set-up and maneuvered into play by deft, pitch-perfect execution. As 52 nears an end, its many divvied plot threads have all arisen to reach respective crescendos. Sadly, the majority have been (at least in part) unsatisfactory: the Irons/Luthor conflict was anticlimactic, Montoya’s transformation a trifle heavy-handed, the Lobo/Heroes Space Odyssey without rhythm or discernable payoff, the Booster Gold/Supernova arc overall bland (though good for the mystery of 52 and for turning Skeets into an evil, surprisingly eerie antagonist), and the plot-that-shall-not-be-named an arbitrary experiment in specious storytelling. But the Adam/Isis arc that has enthralled with every installment, and now pays with a climax that trumps even the dramatic impact of Marvel’s Civil War #7.

The battle sequence in Week Forty-Four is a furious one, spellbinding in its brutality, utterly captivating in its intensity; from the first panel to the last, every beat of this pre-war drum is in perfect tempo with (and a bolstering, enlivening complement to) the rest of the ongoing DCU opus. Whoever the scripter responsible, they managed to craft a brilliant choreography, and a wholly buyable end, wherein one character’s change of heart and sudden, sinking shift of ethics is a sincere, chilling event, rather than an unfounded plot-device. This issue is pathos and conflict presented in exquisite extremes, and it is a profound and affecting one.

Eddy Barrows churns out some lush, unforgettable action sequences, and layout man extraordinaire Keith Giffen also deserves a free round for putting together a blow-by-blow throw-down that sent willies down my spine – I was positively giddy while I read this issue, and I haven’t experienced that during a major company event in years. Par excellence, Mr. Giffen, Mr Barrows. Damn fine show, gentlemen.

Perhaps the greatest issue of the series yet, and hopefully proves the quality of the upcoming World War III April crossover. Two months left and then we’re charging into Countdown. If DC can learn from fan response from 52’s poorer issues and stick to the tactics used in the tales that have proven across-the-board effective, then perhaps that second weekly event will be worth more of the continued weekly grind. One way or another, they’ll certainly have to prove such a thing to an ever-growing number of skeptical fans for what will more or less be 52 Season Two.