1220 ( )

Ah, Black Adam going crazy. There was some of Black Adam going on a rampage in the main 52 TPBs, but the nitty gritty was glossed over. Nothing is glossed over here.

This comic is intensely gory. Wow. Many, many superhero and normal humans die in this, some in seriously gruesome ways.

Also, there is such an astounding number of Superheroes in these issues. Everyone from the original Green Lantern and original Flash to the Martian Manhunter. It mostly takes place from Manhunter's point of view as well. And it's an interesting point of view, neither all positive or all negative when it comes to us complex humans.

All in all a fine TPB, a nice extra to the 4 main volumes of the 52 saga. ( )

World War III expands on week 50 of 52, giving details of Black Adam's war on the world, and in the meantime answering question no one ever cared about, like how did Cyborg get restored to normal, when did Supergirl return from the 31st century, why did (not-Martian) Manhunter quit her job, where did Booster Gold get a different device than the one he turned up with in week 52, and... uh... well, I'm sure it answered some other questions. Really, this is just pointless: Black Adam smashes things (people, mostly), Martian Manhunter ponders whether or not to get involved (I thought he was a hero? isn't this obvious?). Focalizing this through Martian Manhunter is supposed to make it more meaningful, I guess, but aside from the scene where he bumps into his coworkers from his old police detective days, it literally did nothing of interest. A completist might think you need to read this as part of 52, but really, omitting it from the Omnibus was the right call. (I do like what ultimately happens to Black Adam, but that's an event that happens in 52 proper, even though it's reprinted here alongside World War III.)

There's some focus on the Teen Titans here, which results in a couple of them getting punched so hard they die. Why anyone involved thinks that stories about teenagers being brutally killed is something I read I have no idea. Oh geeze, was a comic book about a group of teens who live together and fight crime on their own with superpowers somehow in need of gritty realism? Thanks, Geoff Johns. (Actually, John Ostrander writes the issue in question, but I'm willing to bet the action is Johns's fault.)

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