1. So what's the deal with 52? There's 52 whats, universes? Earths?

The Multiverse is back, baby! In the beginning, there existed one Universe. Krona, one of a race of aliens who would one day become the Guardians of the Universe, decided to look into the origins of the Universe, and accidentally created the Multiverse. Whoops.

So now there were multiple versions of the Universe, each slightly different from the other one. On Earth, the only planet that really matters, the Age of Heroes was slightly different on each version. Earth-1, for instance, was the home of the Justice League of America (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, those guys). Earth-2 was home to the Justice Society of America (The original Flash, Green Lantern, Wildcat, ect). These guys eventually found a way to travel back and forth between Earths, and even found other Earths, like Earth-X, home of the Freedom Fighters, where the Nazis won World War 3, and Earth-S, home of Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family. One Crisis later, and the Multiverse collapsed on itself, basically combining the surviving Earths into one. This was the best of all Earths, as it contained all the heroes from each individual universe. Please see Crisis on Infinite Earths for the full story.

Fast-forward a few years, and the Multiverse split back open, and recombines to create New Earth, one very similar the the original Earth, with some minor changes. And the whole explanation for this is chronicled in Infinite Crisis. Trust me, I'm just giving you the basics here, if you really want to know more, go read these books.

And that brings us to 52 #52. According to Rip Hunter, New Earth couldn't contain the energy of the Multiverse, and started replicating duplicate Earths to hold the energy. 52 parallel Earths (well, 52 parallel Universes) were replicated to hold the excess energy of the Multiverse. That was all fine and dandy until the time-and-space-eating Mr. Mind came by, and decided to eat a few Universes. He took a bite out of one Universe, and altered history so the JLA never formed, and they all became bad guys. He took a bite out of another, and Superman crashed in Smallville in 1938. A few nibbles out of another, and the world that was left had been blown to Kingdom Come. Can Rip Hunter, Booster Gold, and a wacky cast of lovable losers stop Mr. Mind before he eats everytime and everyspace? Well, I hope so, or DC will have to stop publishing comics.

2. Any follow up from WW3, either with Black Adam or J'onn?

All I know is that someone's walking around with crocodile boots. No, really.

3. How do they lead into Countdown?

They don't. At least, it doesn't appear they do. Well, except for that whole "Multiverse" thing.

4. So... this whole thing was about some little-known robot sidekick named Skeets? And that warranted a 52 week limited series?

No, it was about C-list heroes putting their lives on the line and saving the world. Skeets was just a tool used by Mr. Mind to hibernate in for 52 weeks so he could hatch into a crazy time-and-space-eating Mothra/Cthulhu-looking thing.

5. Is Jean Loring still Sheclipso?

Yessir.

6. Does Extant show up?

Nope.

7. In the famous palindrome: "I have scimocs 25 52 comics, evah I", what's are "scimocs"?

A smock evil scientists wear?

8. Jim Carrey played the Riddler in "Batman Forever." Jim Carrey was in a movie called "The Number 23". 23 times 2 is 46. 52 minus 46 is 8. There are eight pennies in my pocket right now. They've been there forever. Coincidence?

Um...

9. What do you think of the new Egg Fu? Do they explain his deal in 52 #52?

I'm sorry, what did you call him? His name is Chang Tzu! Or is it Chung Zhu? Wait, this issue says Chung Tzu. Ah, it doesn't matter, he's a giant fucking egg.

10: Does Bulleteer show up?

No.

11. Does Number 6 escape the village at the end of this?

No, but we find out the monsters were their parents all along.

12. So does Ralph Dibny get brought back from the dead in this?

Back from the dead, no. But are he and Sue ghosts now, being all Ghost Detective-y? Hellz yes! I'm sorry, I don't want a Black Adam mini, I don't want a Booster Gold ongoing, I want, nay, demand a Ralph & Sue: Ghost Detectives ongoing series. Now. Right now. I'll write it for free for the six issues, DC. You've got my number, make the call.

13. I think this all started with Brad Meltzer and Identity Crisis. Don't you?

I-

14. Don't you think that he ought to pay for what he did to Ralph and Sue?

Well, I'm not sure-

15. You seem angry. Are you angry about this?

I don't think I-

16. We can deal with Brad Meltzer. But I have to know: are you ready to put yourself on the line, or are you all talk?

Um...

17. Perhaps we ought to get back to some general questions to distract the plebes. Quite a lot of prying eyes, don't you think?

I... I'm gonna go stand over here, now.

18. So does the female Wildcat come back?

Who?

19. Does Jamm from Bloodlines come back?

What?

20. What about Jemm, Son of Saturn?

When?

21. Do you think you could bring yourself to strangle a man wearing a clown suit ?

Wait... am I wearing the clown costume or is he?

22. How about a Batman costume?

No. But I could strangle someone while wearing a Wonder Woman costume.

Weird, huh?

23. Any more information given on the random mad scientists from Oolong Island?

Dr. Sivana makes is back, only to get shot in the knee by Rip Hunter. That's gotta suck.

24. Have you ever heard of Doctor Cyclops before?

Before what?

25. Any other OYL Titans given more time?

Nope, no Teen Titans in this issue. I'm sure we'll see lots of them in Countdown, though.

26. Does Superman cry?

"Wish that I could cry, fall upon my knees. Find a way to lie, about a home I'll never see."

27. Does Batman cry?

"Crying over you, crying over you. Yes, now you’re gone and from this moment on I’ll be crying, crying, crying, crying. Yeah, crying, crying, over you."

28. Does Wonder Woman cry?

"All alone I have cried, silent tears full of pride. In a world made of steel, made of stone"

29. How come Iron Man and Captain America were such cry babies, then?

"Captain America's been torn apart. Now he's a court jester with a broken heart He said - Turn me around and take me back to the start. I must be losin' my mind - 'Are you blind?' I've seen it all a million times"

30: Does Bulleteer show up?

... no.

31. Does Aztek show up?

No.

32: Does Ambush Bug show up?

No.

33: Does Max Lord in his Lord Havoc form show up, back from the dead to take his revenge on Wonder Woman?

...no.

34: Does Bulleteer show up?

No!

35: Why is Locke with the Others?

Time will tell.

36. If I touch myself 52 times before 52 Week 52 comes out, will I understand what the meaning of 52 means?

Do you have a sigil?

37. How does the Doctor 13 story from Tales of the Unexpected tie into 52 #52?

In that way where he doesn't.

38. Does Highfather show up in this one?

No New Gods sightings, but check out recent issues of Firestorm before it's cancelled, and Blue Beetle.

39. Do they explain what happened to Tempest and Dolphin?

Nada.

40. Do they explain why they hired Bart Sears again for Warlord? He's just awful.

They glossed right over it.

41. Was it all just a dream? And then Countdown is the real story of what happened One Year Later?

I... no?

42. So... Mr. Mind, huh?

Yep.

43. Will Marvel come out with a weekly series called 53, because it rocks so hard they need 53 weeks to tell it?

Marvel's coming out with a daily series called 365 written by Frank Miller with art by Rob Liefeld. It will be finished in 2179 by the robots that Miller and Liefeld's brainwaves are downloaded into. Those robots will also finish All Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder and Youngblood: Bloodsport, respectively.

44. Did you know there are also 52 weeks in a single year?

I suspected it.

45. Do they reveal where the Question (Vic Sage) is buried?

What are you talking about, Vic Sage is alive and well...on Earth 4!

46. Remember that character from the DC/Marvel crossover a few years back? Access? He doesn't show up, does he?

I think he's in the background somewhere

47. So they bring Hypertime back in this one, right?

I guess technically it never went away... it's one of those things you can either believe in or not. Like Santa Claus. Or Spider-Man being the totem of a Spider-God.

48. Is Rip Hunter really the Hypertime Kingdom Come son of Superman and Wonder Woman and is that why he knows so much?

He knows so much because he's smart. Dumbass.

49. So, 52 #52 comes out on 5/2/2007? How in the world did the same company that has their Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman comics running late pull that off?

An elaborate setup of the industries best writers, a workhorse of an art team, and a dedicated Production staff, Editoral Administrators, sales & marketing guys, and last but certainly far from least, Kristan Morrison. Or Indonesian child labor, I can't remember.

50. In Britain, they're going tro write May Second as 2/5/2007, right? So they're not going to be as impressed, are they?

Not bloody likely.

51. Who came up with the idea for Leap Year, anyway? Having one extra day every four years is dumb.

In our universe, it was Julius Ceasar. In the DC Universe, it was Metron.

52. When is the next All Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder coming out?

5/2/2012