Customer Reviews

52 - Part 1 (DC Comics)

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As someone who read and loved the original weekly mega-series this audio play is based on, I was very impressed by the quality of the voice acting, the music and the sound effects, but a little disappointed by the number of storylines dropped from the original series.

To be fair, my review is only of the quality of the adaptation, since the creators at Graphic Audio had no control over what source they could adapt from, the novelization of the series written by Greg Cox being the core of this this production. And there's nothing wrong with Cox's writing, it's clear and well-paced, and you get almost all the dialogue verbatim. And the voice-acting, including Jeffrey Combs as the Question, reprising his role from the Justice League Unlimited television series, is top-notch and effective. But man, the things I remember, the moments missing; as another reviewer stated on 4thletter.net, this adaptation only covers approximately 22 issues of the eponymous 52 issues of the original series, and that's a shame.

Basically, if you want to dip your toe into the DC Universe and learn about some characters OTHER than the Big Three (Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman), definitely pick this up, it totally lives up to the "Movie In Your Mind" tagline. And also, if you fondly remember the "52" series and want a quick refresher, it'll keep the love alive in your heart. But please, do yourself a favor, and pick up the trades of the original series as well. An amazing mega-novel, self-contained inside the DC Universe, probably in my opinion, the most balanced and engaging story DC has told in years.

While this AudioBook's sequel, "Countdown to Infinite Crisis" was probably a bit better, this was great as well. Funnily enough, only one of the six characters on the cover was among my favorites in the story.

I don't follow the actual comic books, so I wasn't familiar with many of these characters. And though I do normally enjoy Booster Gold, he wasn't my favorite here. Booster was very interesting in the beginning, but toward the end of the Booster/Supernova arc, the finale didn't really live up to the buildup. It was still good though.

Now, the two plots which really showcase character-driven writing here were Black Adam & Renee Montoya's stories. Black Adam's journey was somewhat unexpected, especially when the Famine Hourseman appeared, the whole thing was just very well done, and not predictable as so many superhero tales are. Renee Montoya's quest with the Question was just great, this wasn't as unpredictable, but her denial being juxtaposed with Vic's (The Question) eagle-eyed focus was kind of the whole point of the story.

Batwoman's oddly in front on the cover, maybe she had a bigger role in the comic version, but in the novel she was not much of a protagonist. She's a Jewish Lesbian who is rich and can handle herself in a fight. That may sound like it would make for an interesting character, but she honestly doesn't accomplish much on her own in this book.

Overall, I highly recommend this book for someone looking for character-driven superhero stories. Though, like most people, Batman's my favorite hero, he's not really missed here. This GraphicAudio adaptation really lives up to the "movie in your mind" slogan. The only criticism I have is that they use the same actor for Commissioner Gordon and Superman, not a problem for this story, but odd in the ones that use both characters, especially since they use several dozen different actors...