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52 is the title of a comic book limited series published by DC Comics, which debuted on May 10th, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. The series is written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen. Each issue of the series costs $2.50 USD.

52 is comprised of 52 issues, published weekly for one year, chronicling the events that take place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis. The comic focuses on every character in the DC Universe through characters whose stories are told exclusively in the book and occasionally cross over with each other.

Story as of Week 26

Template:Spoiler In the aftermath of Infinite Crisis, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have temporarily retired their costumed identities, and the remaining heroes attend a memorial for Superboy in Metropolis. Booster Gold attends the memorial, but when Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman do not arrive as Booster expects, the change in history makes his robot sidekick Skeets malfunction. Skeets, normally flawless, later reports other incorrect historical data. Booster and Skeets search time traveler Rip Hunter's desert bunker for answers, but find it littered with scrawled notes (See "Rip Hunter's lab" below). Booster finds photos of himself and Skeets surrounded by the words "his fault" with arrows pointing at both of them.

Ralph Dibny, the retired Elongated Man, learns that his late wife Sue's tombstone has been vandalized. Dibny confronts Cassandra Sandsmark, accusing her of leaving a message on the tombstone: an inverted version of Superman's S-symbol, which in Kryptonian means "resurrection." Sandsmark and other members of the Cult of Conner steal Dibny's wedding ring. Dibny tries to get Booster Gold to help him investigate, but when he realizes that Booster might have been able to save Sue, Dibny attacks him. While Booster later disperses a mob, an actor he hired for a staged battle reveals the truth to the press. Dibny tells reporters that Booster is a fraud.

After Dibny finds Sandsmark, she tells him that the cult believes that Superboy's spirit is holy and can be resurrected, but they need to do a trial run. Dibny agrees to cooperate so that his wife may live again; however, he and his friends disrupt the ceremony, destroying the necessary elements. A straw doll dressed in Sue's clothing crawls to Dibny and calls out to him while it burns. The cult leader, Devem, tells Dibny that because of the disruption, he no longer can resurrect anyone. Dibny, mentally unstable, hides under a bridge and clutches the straw doll's remnants, saying that he will try again.

After Dibny recovers from his mental instability, he receives a visit from Detective Chimp, who brings with him the newly recovered helm of Doctor Fate. The Shadowpact assembles in Giza for a scrying to reveal the helm's recent history. Nabu speaks through the helmet to Dibny, promising to fulfill his desires if he will make the sacrifices Nabu asks of him. Dibny accepts and leaves with the helm, beginning his pilgrimage and journeying through the Aztec and Native American lands of the dead, as well as Hell. During the pilgrimmage, Dibny is cautioned about the use of magic.

A mysterious superhero named Supernova appears in Metropolis, angering Booster, whose reputation has been ruined. Clark Kent jumps out of a window, forcing Supernova to catch him; the interview saves Kent's job. Booster strives to regain the spotlight by containing a nuclear explosion. Supernova attempts to save Booster after the explosion, only to return with Booster's charred corpse. Booster's funeral is held in an isolated church in a city he had never been to. The only attendees are several metahumans paid for their appearances. Skeets recognizes a man named Daniel Carter as Booster's ancestor and uses him to regain access to Rip Hunter's lab. When Skeets sees the arrows Rip Hunter drew on photos of him, he traps Carter in a time loop and leaves.

Sandsmark, again working as Wonder Girl, meets Supernova for the first time. She seems to think he is the dead Superboy Kon-El, but the hero becomes uncomfortable with her advances and leaves abruptly. Supernova later examines the Batcave, particularly a gauntlet from Lex Luthor's battlesuit, which has several varieties of kryptonite embedded in it. Later, Lex Luthor dismisses Cassie's thought as a delusion, believing instead that Supernova is actually Superman in disguise.

Black Adam creates the Freedom of Power Treaty and forges a coalition with several other countries against the United States' metahuman supremacy. Adrianna Tomaz, whom Intergang offered to Adam as a slave, shows Adam how he can use his abilities to help his country rather than to fight the United States. Adam convinces Captain Marvel to give Tomaz the power of Isis, and Isis and Adam travel to Africa, freeing children from slavery. The people of Kahndaq rejoice at the news of Black Adam's engagement to Isis. Captain Marvel marries the two in front of the assembled populace.

The Question and Renee Montoya uncover futuristic weapons in a warehouse in Gotham City. The Question believes that Intergang is preparing for an invasion of Gotham, and he and Montoya eavesdrop on Intergang. Transforming beast men attack the two, but Batwoman appears and rescues them. Montoya and the Question fly to Kahndaq, where they find a room full of mangled dead bodies and empty boxes of rat poison. When they leave, they are arrested, but Montoya and the Question later escape from prison and prevent a girl from exploding a bomb at Black Adam's wedding - Montoya is forced to shoot and kill her. Adam bestows the two with the highest honor Kahndaq can give to those not born in the nation. When Montoya fails to appear, Adam finds her guilt-stricken and drunk, in bed with another woman. After Isis calms the situation, she and Adam agree to help Montoya and the Question defeat Intergang. They track down Intergang, which is forcing children to become operatives. Seeing that Amon Tomaz, Isis' brother, is crippled and beyond her ability to heal, Black Adam shares his power with Amon, telling Amon to say his name, and Amon is reborn as Osiris. Black Adam's new family travels to the Freedom of Power Treaty member countries to tell them that Kahndaq is no longer interested in consolidating power or executing metahumans. Parting ways, Black Adam and his family go to have dinner with Dr. Sivana's family (who request his help in finding the missing Dr. Sivana), while the Question takes Renee to train with Richard Dragon.

Will Magnus visits T. O. Morrow at the Haven confinement center. Morrow believes that someone is abducting mad scientists, including Dr. Sivana. Magnus tries to rebuild his Metal Men, but he can't restore them, and he refuses to sell the robots' remains to the American government. Morrow disappears, but leaves a note in machine code for Magnus, who then is able to resurrect Mercury. Magnus is attacked by mindless Metal Men replicas; he escapes, but his home, and apparently Mercury, are destroyed. Magnus is taken to the tropical Oolong Island, where Intergang head Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim and Egg Fu have been hiding kidnapped mad scientists to develop new super-weapons for them. There, he is greeted by Morrow and ordered by Intergang to rebuild Plutonium.

Despite the efforts of an undercover J'onn J'onzz to dismantle Checkmate, the organization is recertified as a United Nations agency. Amanda Waller, as part of Checkmate, orders Atom Smasher to form a team of fellow metahuman convicts for a mission to stop Black Adam. Alan Scott, offered the position of Checkmate's white king, asks Michael Holt if he will become his bishop.

Steel (John Henry Irons) deactivates his niece Natasha's armor after an argument about responsibility. During Irons' autopsy of what appears to be Lex Luthor's dead body, Luthor storms in with a group of reporters and declares the body to be that of an impostor who was responsible for the crimes with which he is charged. After a pat on the back from Luthor, Irons discovers that he can change his skin to stainless steel. Natasha finds out about Irons' new powers and accuses him of hypocrisy. Natasha goes to LexCorp and is selected by Luthor for metagene therapy. An enraged Irons attacks Luthor, but Natasha and a squad of other metahumans save him. Irons tries to convince Natasha to come home, but she refuses, beats him, and sends him away. Natasha continues her career in Luthor's metahuman team, making television appearances.

Kala Avasti, S.T.A.R. Labs scientist, tells Irons that she has discovered a trigger in Luthor's gene therapy that allows him to take away metahuman powers. Luthor's team of metahumans, using the purchased title of defunct superhero team Infinity Inc., fight a new Blockbuster, another Luthor creation. The Teen Titans arrive, expressing concern about the operation. Luthor manipulates his metahumans' superpowers, turning Trajectory's speed powers off when she faces Blockbuster alone. Left powerless and disoriented, Blockbuster kills her. At Trajectory's funeral, several Titans quit, and Beast Boy, Raven and Zatara share their suspicions with Irons. Luthor himself attempts to gain powers through his therapy, but is told that it is incompatible with his physiology.

Following his grandfather's wishes, Jon Standing Bear smothers him with a pillow and accepts the identity and powers of Super-Chief. As Super-Chief, Standing Bear joins a new Justice League formed by Firestorm and Firehawk. The League take on an invasion of pirates and robots staged by an armored Skeets, during which a number of new metahumans granted powers by Lex Luthor get in the way, leading to a massacre, and Skeets kills Super-Chief.

Six injured heroes return to Earth after the fight at the center of the universe during the Infinite Crisis. During a medical crisis, a message plays from a part of the Red Tornado that is embedded in Mal Duncan: "It's coming! 52! 52!". A badly damaged Red Tornado utters the number 52 twice to Aborigines in the Australian outback. A mechanic rebuilds him with scavenged materials.

Animal Man, Starfire, and Adam Strange are marooned on an alien planet. Strange, blind from the loss of his eyes, struggles to repair a damaged Thanagarian spaceship. The New God Devilance the Pursuer, captures them and reveals that he was sent to capture the heroes, who are considered guilty of having seen something that humans are thought unfit to see. The three steal Devilance's lance for use as a power source for their ship, and they finally take off. As their power reserves later run low, Lobo saves the travelers from Devilance by tearing him apart. Starfire convinces him to help them by offering payment. Starfire tells her companions that Lobo has found religion, turning his back on violence. Lobo takes the three to his church among the refugees huddling in the ruins of sector 3500 and tells them that Devilance's pursuer is the same being that destroyed the sector. He then reveals the Emerald Eye of Ekron to them. A swarm of creatures attack the planet, and Starfire uses the Eye of Ekron, which alerts the "Emerald Head of Ekron" to their location. Template:Endspoilers

Back-up stories

History of the DC Universe

A back-up story titled "History of the DC Universe" appears in Weeks 2-11, with Dan Jurgens and Art Thibert as the creative team similarly to the history DC Comics published in a two-issue limited series at the conclusion of Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985. The story of the universe's history is seen through the eyes of Donna Troy as she explores it through the dead Harbinger's recording device. In the final chapter, both the Artificial Intelligence in Harbinger's recording device and the resurrected Monitor confront Donna Troy with the startling notion that she - and not Jade - was supposed to have died.

Secret Origins

Weeks 12 through 52 feature a back-up feature, Secret Origins, the majority written by Mark Waid.

The following origins have been announced but have yet to be scheduled:

• Bat-Mite, art by Unknown.
• Zatanna, art by Brian Bolland.
• Power Girl, art by Adam Hughes- previously scheduled for Week 27

Format

The use of a weekly publication format is unusual in the North American comics industry, a model based upon monthly (or less frequent) publication. This has been done at least twice before by DC Comics. In 1988, the eight-issue Millennium limited series was published weekly as an "event" in DC continuity, with each issue tying into various ongoing monthly publications. Shortly thereafter, for less than one year in 1988 and 1989, the long-running series Action Comics was retitled as Action Comics Weekly, and published weekly from issue #601 to issue #642 until changing back to a conventional monthly format.

References to the number "52"

Reinforcing the title, the number 52 appears, in the background of panels within the 52 series; as the series continues, however, the number 52 features more prominently, appearing in the foreground or in dialogue. The number is even mentioned by Dominators in Legion of Super-Heroes. Additionally, the 52 logo is shaped like the Greek symbol Omega.

Week One

• The fireman talking to Steel has the number 52 on his jacket.
• Renee Montoya drinks at "52 Pick Up.", whose name is a reference to the number of cards in a deck; the bar has a playing card motif.

Week Two

• The flight numbers of both the flight Booster saves (2824) and the flight he means to save (2428): 28 + 24 = 52.
• The address of the building The Question hires Renee Montoya to investigate is 520 Kane St.
• One of Dr. Morrow's news clippings states Dr. Tyme has stolen 52 seconds.
• The Red Tornado's last words are "It's coming! 52! 52!"

Week Three

• Black Adam tells Power Girl that 5,079,432 people were killed during the Infinite Crisis. The numerals 5 and 2 begin and end the number.
• Steel mentioned "The NX-520" during his phone conversation with a member of S.T.A.R. Labs.

Week Eight

• Steel watches WLII, a news channel. In Roman numerals, LII means 52.
• Day three of Week Eight is considered the 52nd day of this 365-day timetable, which marks the first known sighting of Supernova.

Week Nine

• Devilance refers to the "two score and twelve walls of heaven" - two score and twelve being 52.
• In Rip Hunter's bunker:

• The atomic time lock is set to open on midnight, January 1, 52 B.C.
• A list of numbered papers 51.53.54.56, with the conspicuously missing 52.
• A sheet with 520 Kane St., the address the Question meets Renee Montoya.
• The chalkboard is headlined with "Time is Broken" and peppered randomly with "52."
• Te versus (Au + Pb) - Te is the symbol for Tellurium, element 52
• All the clocks are set at 12:52 am, or 00:52(52)

Week Ten

• When Renee is looking at the baseball game between the Gotham Knights and the Stars from Star City, the Stars are winning 5-2.

Week Eleven

• In Day 6, the first panel shows Renee's pack of cigarretes, clearly showing 5 to the left, then the one she is holding, and then 2 to the right; a 52 made out of cigarettes.

Week Twelve

• A Gotham City billboard with "52" is visible in the background as Renee walks home in the rain.
• Sandsmark's apartment number is 322 3+2=5 leaving it to be 52.

Week Fifteen

• Sanjay's computer has a stickie that reads "Khandaq Embassy 555-2222".

Week Seventeen

• The damaged upper body of Red Tornado utters "52...52" to Aborigines in the Australian outback.

Week Nineteen

• The Cover of this issue sports the year 5252. It also sports the year 85,271. This second year is that of DC One Million.
• The past-due bills on Daniel Carter's coffee table, shown on page 1, reveal that his address is 1834 Hoyle Street. 18+34 = 52. Also, Edmond Hoyle is best known for providing detailed descriptions for games, such as poker, a game that uses 52 cards in a standard deck.
• The flashbacks to his football injury, as well as the picture on the wall of his home, reveal that Daniel Carter's jersey number was 52.

Week Twenty

• The clock at Wayne Manor reads 12:52 when Supernova is in the Batcave.
• When he begins his hunt for the space heroes in possession of his Eye, Ekron swears, in an "alien" font, "I will kill you in 52 ways."

Week Twenty-Two

• On Page 15, When Jon kicked some guy out the bus window, They Are Near "Highway 52" when the road sign is seen near Metropolis (note that Highway 52 is actually located at northwest-southeast which is between Portal, North Dakota and Charleston, South Carolina).
• Jon Standing Bear stopped at Metropolis when his bus arrived at "Gate 52" on Page 16.

Week Twenty-Four

• Ambush Bug says 52 several times, although these are likely due to Ambush Bug's comic awareness. A panel later, Firestorm says he doesn't know anything about 52 during his phone call with Green Arrow.

One Year Later And Beyond

• Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes #17: After Supergirl's arrival 1,001 years in the future with the Legion, the Dominators say "fiffdetuuu" as they discuss their bio-weapon being delivered to Earth.
• Robin #153: Robin and Captain Boomerang defuse a bomb, and the number left on the timer is 52.
• Green Lantern (4th series) #13: During a meeting of the Guardians of the Universe regarding Superboy Prime, Ganthet says, "So we have all come to the same conclusion. The need for the Green Lantern Corps has become quite clear," and all of them reply, "52."

Other '52' References

• Week 1 was released on May 10th, 2006. In the United States, new issues of comic books are released every Wednesday. The Wednesday 52 weeks after the initial release date falls on May 2nd 2007. Hence, the series will end on 5/2/07.

Rip Hunter's lab

When Booster enters Rip Hunter's bunker in Week 6, he finds it in disarray. Among the details of Hunter's lab, a giant globe is marked with red X's and the words "World War III Why? How?” A time machine sits broken. Notes scrawled everywhere indicate that there is a problem with the time stream, and as noted above, the number 52 figures prominently in these writings. Many of the writings foreshadow and refer to DC Universe events and characters, some of which are not yet introduced by the time of Booster's discovery. A multitude of clocks are all stopped at 12:52 (00:52). Monitors show images of Rosa Parks, Abraham Lincoln, a sailing ship with the flag of the Knights Templar, Elvis Presley, the Boston Tea Party, and a dinosaur.

Papers on the floor bear the titles of canceled DC series, including superhero comic Infinity Inc., 1940s humor title Casey the Cop, and Silverblade, a 1980s maxi-series about an actor-turned-vigilante. Also on the floor is a book titled Who's Who, using the logo for the DC series of the same name, and two notes: "FIND THE SUN DEVILS" and "What is spanner's galaxy?" Sun Devils and Spanner's Galaxy are the titles of two more 1980s maxi-series.

A set of blackboards is covered with more clues:

• "TIME IS BROKEN"
• The number 52 in a circle litters the boards, the circles sometimes overlapping. The symbol of overlapping circles has been used in the past by DC Comics to represent alternate Earths, or alternate Earths fusing (such as in Infinite Crisis).
• "Dead by lead?" - In the DC Universe, the Daxamite race is especially vulnerable to lead poisoning. The pre-Crisis Daxamite Mon-El is a 20th century hero whom Superman preserves for 1,000 years in the Phantom Zone when the former contracts lead poisoning. Mon-El re-appears post-Infinite Crisis in Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #23 (December 2006). Lead is also the name of one of the Metal Men.
• "Further time is different" - A new version of the DC Comics character Father Time appears in the limited series Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Blüdhaven and Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters.
• "The four horsemen will end her rain?" - Egg Fu mentions "four horsemen", and Isis creates rainstorms to express sadness.
• "He won't smell it."
• "Find the last 'El'" - "El" is the family name of both Superman (Kal-El) and Supergirl (Kara Zor-El). After the fight in space, Supergirl was sent to the 31st century, when she joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. It is also the name pre-Crisis Superboy gives to Mon-El, another hero who joins the Legion one thousand years into his own future. In addition, for a period of time, Conner Kent (Superboy) uses the name "Kon-El".
• "MAN OF STEEL" - This was the title given to John Henry Irons in promotional material for the Reign of the Superman storyline that DC published following the Death of Superman storyline. In 52, Irons' skin becomes stainless steel. It is also one of the aliases given to Superman.
• "Sonic disruptors --> Time Masters --> Time Servants" - In DC Comics, Rip Hunter was given the title "Time Master". This also appears to be an in-joke, as the "Sonic Disruptors" series, published by DC years ago, was cancelled before being completed, apparently because the creators working on the project could not complete it on time.
• "The reach. The reach. The reach." - In the current Blue Beetle title, the insane villain Bottom Feeder raves of an 'army' he sees in his dreams, raving that "The Reach are coming! And they bring doomsday!".
• "Tornado is in pieces" - Red Tornado was shattered in the fight in space.
• "I'm not kryptonite"
• "It hurts to breathe"
• Circled: "The Scarab is eternal?" - The new Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes, is the new host of the blue scarab owned by Dan Garrett, the original Blue Beetle.
• "2,000 years from now"
• "Where is the Curry Heir?" In the "One Year Later" stories, a character named Arthur Curry, who looks exactly like Aquaman, appears. A character called the Dweller in the Depths is heavily implied in the Aquaman series to be the original Aquman.
• "Who is Supernova?" - Supernova is a new character who first appears in 52 Week Eight.
• "Σ What happened to the son of Superman?" - The question of Superman's offspring is the subject of a large number of "imaginary stories" and Elseworlds comics, including Son of Superman, a 2000 Elseworlds graphic novel, and The Kingdom limited series, which featured the debut of the time/reality concept "Hypertime."
• "Σ Where is the Batman?" - A month after the Infinite Crisis, Batman, Robin and Nightwing travel the world and are absent during the year in which 52 takes place.
• "Σ Who is the Batwoman?" - Batwoman is a new character who debuts in 52 Week Eleven.
• "Σ Te versus (Au+Pb)" - As noted above, the atomic number of Tellurium (Te) is 52. The other elements mentioned are Gold (Au) and Lead (Pb). Gold and Lead are names of Metal Men, and alchemists attempted to transmute lead into gold. Additionally, "Tellurium"'s root word is "tellus" (which is Latin for "earth"). Tellus is a member of the pre-Zero Hour Legion of Super-Heroes. Booster Gold and Mon-El, who has a weakness to lead, are also characters based in the future.
• Circled: "Σ Who is Diana Prince?" - In the "One Year Later" Wonder Woman series, Wonder Woman appears as Diana Prince, a secret agent.
• "SECRET FIVE!" - The Secret Six, following the events of Infinite Crisis Special: Villains United, are down one member. In the Secret Six limited series by Gail Simone, they recruit the Mad Hatter.
• "Σ Who is Supernova?" - See above.
• "Σ Don't ask the Question. It lies." - A possible reference to the character The Question, one of the stars of 52.
• "Σ World War III? Why? HOW?"
• "IMMORTAL SAVAGE" - Vandal Savage spends the year depicted in 52 in space, and when he returns, he has lost his immortality.
• "Σ Someone is monitoring. They see us. They see me." - The Monitor returns in DCU: Brave New World. Additionally, series writer Grant Morrison previously has broken the fourth wall in his stories, having comic book characters realize their true, fictional nature. In the Animal Man series, the main character also steals a time machine from Rip Hunter.
• "The Lazarus Pit RISES".
• "KHIMAERA LIVES AGAIN" - In the initial "One Year Later" storyline in Hawkgirl, Khimaera appears as a new antagonist.
• "Σ The old Gods are DEAD, the new Gods want what's left." - The "New Gods" refers to the protagonists of Jack Kirby's "Fourth World" comic book stories whose worlds were created from the remains of two of the Old Gods.
• "I'm supposed to be DEAD?" - Donna Troy, Dick Grayson and Kyle Rayner each receive visits from Monitors, who tell them they were not supposed to survive the Infinite Crisis.
• "WHEN AM I?".
• Circled: "OTHERS?".

Action figures

In September 2006, DC Direct premiered a line of action figures based on 52. The first wave, featuring figures based on Batwoman, Isis, Booster Gold, Animal Man and Supernova, is scheduled to ship in May 2007.

References

1. http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=6658
2. Grant Morrison at 2006 San Diego Comic Convention International
3. 52 Week 19
4. http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/WAcker/Week9/52Wacker09.html
5. 52 Week 25

See also

• Significant events of the DC Universe lost year
• Timeline of the DC Universe

External links

• DC's official website devoted to 52.
• Dan Didio spills on DC's "52" (newsarama.com)
• Crisis Counselling Supplemental Interview with Dan Didio on 52
• Issues #1-5 online
• The Superman Database - Full list of every issue of “52” ever published w/ Cover Art and more.

• 2000s comics
• DC Comics titles
• Infinite Crisis