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Another week
has come and gone, and so has another issue of DC's 52. What'd
we see? A team "reborn," a hero's death, a team's dissolution, and
a hero's descent.
Yeah - just another
week for 52.
As usual, we've got
a Q&A about this week's issue, and stepping in for the recently
departed Steve Wacker, DCU Executive Editor Dan Didio with assists
by one of the 52 writers, Mark Waid.
Onward.
Newsarama: So
- to first tackle the elephant in the room - what's going to happen
with 52 now that Steve is out?
Dan Didio: What's
going to happen to 52? Well, we plan for it to come out every
week without exception, continue to be ground-breaking in terms
of story and delivery and when concluded, set the standard for which
all periodical storytelling will be judged. Otherwise known as:
business as usual. As for who's editing, Michael Siglain will be
stepping in to shepherd this project to its conclusion.
Mark Waid: Matt,
I'd also like to add here the following statement: Steve Wacker
is the reason you've seen 21 issues in a row ship on time rather
than six issues and then two weeks off and then a clip show and
then a "Special Double Issue." With the help of the brilliant DC
productions staff, Steve set the scheduling mechanism in place,
and his contribution cannot be overstated. That said, he did his
job so well and set up a system so smooth that we feel confident
incoming editor Michael Siglain can help us carry the baton to the
finish line with no interruptions. Seriously, we don't want to let
Steve down even though he's not even in charge anymore, so the momentum
will not cease, we promise.
NRAMA: Let's
hit the big one that readers are worrying about - will there be
any adjustments to the schedule in the transition period?
DD: No adjustments
needed, this project is a well-oiled machine thanks to the involvement
of too many people to mention.
NRAMA: From what
it looks like out here, Steve's departure was rather sudden. Was
it an amicable breakup?
DD: It was only
sudden to those who didn't know something was going on. Steve discussed
the situation at length with me and others of my staff, and while
I hate to see anyone leave, I wish him the best of luck with his
new position.
NRAMA: Okay -
on to the reason why you're here...let's hit some questions about
this week's 52...
DD: No problem,
whatcha got?
NRAMA: Fist off,
what's Luthor's rationale for naming his team Infinity Inc.? Roughly
speaking, in "DCU Time" how long has it been since Infinity Inc.
has been running around?
MW:
Let me take a pass at this one, Dan - roughly speaking, at least
a year or two, maybe more. Luthor's banking on the public having
short memories. The most expensive hurdle for Luthor to leap in
all this was buying the loyalty of the 43-year-old housewife in
Altoona who runs the ILUVINFINITYINC.COM website out of her basement.
Once she was on board, the rest took care of itself.
NRAMA:
The Teen Titans, as led by Beast Boy, took some umbrage at the idea
of the team calling itself "Infinity Inc." Have we seen the last
of people being upset about Luthor's team being named after a pretty
prestigious team of heroes? After all, there are a *few* of the
original Infinitors still running around…
DD: Trust me,
there will soon be plenty more reasons for people to be upset with
Luthor in upcoming issues than him taking the name of a previous
team of superheroes.
NRAMA: So - these
Teen Titans - care to run 'em down for us?
DD: For those
not in the know, the Teen Titans during the missing year are as
follows:
Beast Boy - obviously
left out of all the other major "missing year" events.
Raven - obviously killing
time waiting for her new mini-series by Marv Wolfman to start.
Little Barda - as if
any Barda can actually be considered little. Six feet tall, and
still considered short for her age.
Hot Spot - a redesigned
Joto from the Dan Jurgens run of Teen Titans.
Power Boy - a new mysterious
hero with ties to another team and soon to be tied to another heroine.
Zatara - old name, new
hero with a family connection, and, in my opinion, looks better
without the fishnets, which were in his original designs…. true
story.
NRAMA: Hot Spot
- er, Joto formerly. It's no mistake that his redesign makes him
makes him look like Hot Spot from the Teen Titans cartoon.
Whyso? Was this taking DC and moving things more towards the cartoon,
or a move to make all the characters across the media forms a little
more cohesive?
DD: Any similarities
between the comic and the cartoon are strictly coincidental unless…
NRAMA: Unless?
DD: Unless of
course they drive sales of the comic or bring more viewers to the
show, then we meant to do it
NRAMA: Last week,
our most literate reader ever nailed that the space heroes' journey
was like that of The Odyssey. Now this week, we have Ralph
going into hell all Orpheus like to rescue his wife (who, like Eurydice,
died as a result of the actions of an ally). Are there any parallels
to draw there?
DD: Maybee…but
can I point out also that most of the early Booster Gold storyline
was drawn from a first season episode of Leave it to Beaver?
The Eddy Haskell references are quite prevalent when you look for
them.
MW: … or - right
idea, wrong track. You're chasing the wrong classic work of literature.
And that's all we'll say for now.
NRAMA: Okay -
probably for the best as after Eurydice died, Orpheus swore off
women in favor of young men, right?
DD: Er, that
must have been clipped from the Cliff Notes copy I bought.
NRAMA: Well,
we've got The Odyssey for sure…
DD: Which is
why Adam Strange had to loose his eyes, by the way…
NRAMA: And not
quite Orpheus…but maybe another classic literature work. Any other
classic literature parallels we should be looking for?
DD: There are
many other references to be found, my suggestion is to read all
the classic and modern literature you can get your hands on. The
inspiration for the various storylines should be quite evident.
NRAMA: Did you
just turn 52's suggested ancillary reading list into the
reading list of a freshmen level Great Works In Literature college
class?
DD: [laughs]
If that's what it takes, and this series can get people into checking
out classic literature, then I'm all for it.
NRAMA: Fair enough.
Okay Dan - time for the teases. What can you hint about next week's
issue…
DD:
How about a look at next week's cover, and page 5. Luthor's got
some idea as to who Supernova is…and what he just might do about
it.
 
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