52 Volume One

by Grant Morrison, Various (Illustrator), Mark Waid

After the INFINITE CRISIS, the DC Universe spent a year without Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman--a year in which those heroes were needed more than ever as the fate of the world hung in the balance. This is 52, a four-volume collection of the unprecedented, critically acclaimed weekly series of death, danger, romance, terror and the never-ending search for heroism in the DC Universe's most eventful year ever. 52 features the best and brightest writers from the comic-book field including Geoff Johns (INFINITE CRISIS), Grant Morrison (ALL STAR SUPERMAN), Greg Rucka (WONDER WOMAN) and Mark Waid (KINGDOM COME), working together to tell the tale of a world awakening from a nightmare to face a new day. 52: A year without Superman; a year without Batman; a year without Wonder Woman...but not a year without heroes.

Genres: Graphic Novels

584 pages, Paperback

Published May 7, 2024

About the author

Grant Morrison has been working with DC Comics for twenty five years, after beginning their American comics career with acclaimed runs on ANIMAL MAN and DOOM PATROL. Since then they have written such best-selling series as JLA, BATMAN and New X-Men, as well as such creator-owned works as THE INVISIBLES, SEAGUY, THE FILTH, WE3 and JOE THE BARBARIAN. In addition to expanding the DC Universe through titles ranging from the Eisner Award-winning SEVEN SOLDIERS and ALL-STAR SUPERMAN to the reality-shattering epic of FINAL CRISIS, they have also reinvented the worlds of the Dark Knight Detective in BATMAN AND ROBIN and BATMAN, INCORPORATED and the Man of Steel in The New 52 ACTION COMICS.

In their secret identity, Morrison is a "counterculture" spokesperson, a musician, an award-winning playwright and a chaos magician. They are also the author of the New York Times bestseller Supergods, a groundbreaking psycho-historic mapping of the superhero as a cultural organism. They divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and Scotland.

Reviews

[Rei Smoak · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are stories a person reads that are forgotten the next day. Stories that are forgotten a week later, or a month. And there are stories that stick with a person forever. 52, for me, was one of those stories. When it first came out, it reignited a fading interest in comics for me and lit a fire that still burns. I could ramble forever about all the things that this amazing series meant to me, but most of all I will always remember it for making Booster Gold one of my favorite characters and for the romance of Renee Montoya and Kate Kane - the single panel of them celebrating the holidays together is still one of my fondest memories of anything DC ever wrote. It was such a pleasure coming back to read this again, and now I just have to decide if I want to rush into the second half or let volume one linger for a while like a fine wine.

[Eric Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly ambitious book. 52 takes the concept of 'What if Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman disappeared for a year?' And shows how the rest of the DC Universe deals with that.
Not only does it shine a greater spotlight on dozens of lesser known heroes, but it is a sprawling narrative with many different plot points weaving together and away from each other.
The fact that they published one issue a week for 52 weeks or 1 year straight (hence the name) is mind blowing if you are familiar with comic publishing at all.
Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid are among the greatest comic writers ever, and this only cements their legacy even more.

[John Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept to tell the course of a year without the major heroes to allow the lesser ones to grow, but it’s all over the place and struggles to find a purpose.