52: The Companion
by Various
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Book Summary Information
Author: VariousEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-03
ISBN: 1401215572
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: DC Comics
Book Reviews of 52: The Companion
Book Review: A good hodgepodge
Summary: 4 Stars
This book covers adventures of assorted characters later used in the 52 miniseries, though sadly not in chronological order. My opinion of the individual stories is as follows:
1.Bridge the Past and Future. This story does not actually feature Steel enough, and does not do a good job of giving an understandable introduction to the character, and is pretty forgettable. It also clearly is a sort of prelude to some long forgotten gimmicky Y2K story. 2 stars. Bad start to a good book
2. Green Lantern's Blackout. This Silver Age Elongated Man story, though not an origin, is a good introduction to the character. It's lighthearted, and has some fun character moments. I really like Thomas Kalmaku as a supporting character and wish he weren't referred to here by the racist nickname "Pieface". He is not a racist caricature, no one treats him poorly for his race or reference it in any other way, so this otherwise sweet story gets a star off for this distracting, bewildering and nonsensical feature. 4 stars
3. From the Depths. A JLI framing story with Booster Gold's origin in the middle. Pure Gold, pardon the pun. Makes me wish this book had a few more origins in it. 5 stars
4. The Secret of the Ancient Seer. An excellent Silver Age time travel yarn starring Rip Hunter. I knew nothing about the character, this gave me the premise and his old school adventurer type of character. All around good fun. 5 stars
5. Corrigan II. THE defining moment for the character of Renee Montoya, as well as her last prominent appearance before the events of 52. A realistic and sad cop drama that shows the real variety that is sometimes ignored in discussions of American comics. 5 stars
6. What Makes a Hero? Shows the Question as he was under the inimitable Steve Ditko, an Objectivist character who somehow is not an arrogant amoral moron. The story is interesting, if a bit long winded, but one of the stories after our blankfaced hero switched allegiances to Zen Philosophy over Objectivism would have been a better lead in to how he acts in 52. Nonetheless, 4 stars.
7. The Clockwork Crimes of the Time Commander! what (sic). That's the reaction on anyone's first Grant Morrison story, good or bad. Thankfully this Animal Man tale is awesome, well drawn and masterfully written. It also is mind-bending and shows off the character magnificently, makes me want to by all 3 trades of Morrison's Animal Man. 5 stars.
8. The Magic Maker of Rann. This rare Adam Strange tale is actually an illustrated short story and not a comic. It is however a great introduction to the premise and sheer weirdness of Adam Strange. 4 stars
9. Evil is in the Eye of the Beholder. Fantastic. I have had no prior knowledge of the Metal Men besides the fact that they were robot superheroes that showed up in a Crisis here and there. I loved this story so much.
6 out of 5 stars. Yes,it is that good.
10/11. Yesterday's War/ Tears of Ra. Another time travel story. This two-parter features the JSA. The disappointing first half is made up for in the stellar second, an excellent study of Black Adam as a character.
4 stars
All in all I'll give this collection four stars. Half a point of for the crappy Steel story, 1/4 point for wanting more origins in there and 1/4 point for the complete lack of Starfire, I know she has very very few stories not also featuring the titans, but her origin from Tale of the Teen Titans would do.
A good primer before one dives into 52.
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