Broken Frontier

Supernova’s identity is at last revealed and several recent tragedies take on some surprising twists.

Note: This review discusses significant plot SPOILERS so please read no further if you have not yet read the issue.

As Skeets continues his rampage across the timestream, he at last locates the missing Time Master, Rip Hunter. Hunter has been holed up in the bottle city of Kandor, far from the robot’s path (or so he hoped), preparing a defense. But Hunter has not acted alone. His partner in this endeavor has been the mysterious Supernova—now revealed as none other than the seemingly deceased Booster Gold! As Booster recounts the origin and motivation for his deception, the startled Skeets redoubles his efforts. Elsewhere, the space heroes tearfully bid farewell to one of their own…but all is not as it seems in this scenario either.

And across the nation, fans of Justice League International breathe a collective sigh of relief. DC has taken quite a bit of flak in recent months for apparently targeting the cast of that lighthearted 1980s series with a steady stream of death and destruction. One can only assume that they were having a good laugh behind closed doors at the misdirection of Booster’s death and the subsequent ire it caused. Many fans (myself included) suspected the truth but it was nonetheless fascinating to see the deception revealed. This, combined with a surprising ending and an appearance by several long-unseen characters familiar to Grant Morrison fans, made Week Thirty-Seven a whirlwind ride and a step up from some of the more faltering recent issues. The surprises are eyebrow-raising and the reveals give the issue an edge-of-the-seat quality. Fans hoping for more lasting consequences may find these to be cheap reversals, though with the number of second string heroes becoming cannon fodder in the wake of Infinite Crisis and its spinoffs, I’m ready to see where the writers are going with this.

Patrick Olliffe handles the artistic reins on this particular chapter and does a competent job. It’s nothing flashy (at least when compared to the more disarming elements of the story) but as par for the course with 52, it’s fairly solid superhero illustration. The figures seem a little stiff or skinny in a few panels but otherwise, Olliffe carries the story well. The issue also features Jamal Igle’s pencils on the Origin of Firestorm and Igle’s smooth lines remain pleasing to the eye.

With secrets coming to light and signs of portent on the horizon, Week Thirty-Seven gives the impression that the endgame of 52 is drawing near.