DC's 52: Supernova Speculation

It's quite obviously Iron Man.

The three prevailing theories have been that it's either:
A) Booster Gold. Yes, he's dead, but he's a time-traveler, that means nothing.
B) Ray Palmer, ex-Atom. His tech could be used to replicate Supernova's powers, if used creatively.
C) Lightray, of the New Gods. His powers are similar to what Supernova has shown thus far, and DC's been dropping hints of a huge New Gods story coming up.

After the last issue though, I think there's a quite a bit of evidence to say that it's John Henry Irons. Which would be a swerve and a half, but also would play fair with what the writers have been saying all along. Should be an interesting reveal, whenever it happens.

I didn't follow 52- what would John Henry Irons' motivation be?

the reason Dibney can figure it out is because he really doesn't have to try and put it together with the clues given. he's just written that way.

i have no idea who it is nor do i think anyone currently can figure it out positively with the info given.

here's another theory i found elsewhere.

They've said multiple times that Supernova is someone who's appeared elsewhere in 52 though, which is what discounts the Ray Palmer and Lightray (and Snapper Carr) theories to me.

Are you sure those guys weren't in the big mass meeting scene in the first issue, though?

That's the only part I can't figure, other than a need to fill Superman's shoes (again). Though why he would need to create another identity to do so is a problem. Maybe because he knew Luthor's been watching him? I don't know. S'fun to speculate though.

You're right, I'd forgotten about that.

i hadn't heard that until now. is that the 52 that we've read up until now or the entire run? it's pretty hard to say who is going to appear in the next 20 or so issues.

the prime candidates are Steele and some version of Booster Gold (the most recent theory deals with Booster being teleported out of the right before the explosion explosion, replaced with another body, in an attempt to stop Skeets from finding Rip Hunter - who is wearing the suit at the start of 52. he then goes to the future digs up his own dead body to fool Skeet's DNA scan and making true the statement that "Michael Carter is dead".)

my guess would be Booster Gold, as Steele already has a storyline going that's totally unrelated to Supernova. i think it's stretching it a bit to place him in both stories.

the craziest theory is the one based of the "52" clue. it's a person made up of 52 different body parts of different heroes, like Adam Strange's eyes...

I've had enough experience to know that editors and writers frequently lie in these types of situations. I'm certainly taking nothing said or written at face value.

I actually think Ray Palmer makes the most sense from a DCU perspective. There's still the Identity Crisis fallout to wrap up with the character, as alluded to in the Dibny/Loring/Spectre issue, and it's not hard to see how you can adapt the technology.

If it's an actual character that has had significant face time in 52, it pretty much has to be Steel or a time travelling Booster Gold.

Frankly, I'd be fine with any of those three or Rip Hunter or someone else with proper motivation. It certainly looks like it will be less arbitrary than any of the big events of Infinite Crisis or Civil War.

ANYone being Supernova would be less arbitrary than Civil War. But that's a whole other discussion.

here's the image of the page with everyone gathered if anyone is curious:

Booster Gold certainly makes dramatic sense.

But they'd just have to kill him again, since the JLA reboot has established that he's dead.

I like the Snapper Carr theory actually.

Ray Terrill has been mentioned and since there's some new guy running around as The Ray on Freedom Fighters, he's got to be somewhere.

I don't know about that, but haven't the core DC books been delibrately tiptoing around giving away what happens at the end of 52?

The JLA line was along the lines of "we should visit Ellen" which could be read a number of ways. And it raises the question of why even hint at that when it could have been avoided. It could definitely be a red herring.

Of course, it could just be wish fulfillment on my reading. I want Buddy Baker to live. Pull out all the comic book resurrection mumbo jumbo you want to make that happen. They apparently pulled a swerve with the Question, I'd like to see a similar swerve pulled with Animal Man.

I'd agree that the real time aspects of 52 aren't working, but it's still a more satisfying read than Infinite Crisis. So far they've substituted mindless fight scenes with character development, mysteries, and plot twists and it's been a lot more fun to read. And it helps that I like most of the main characters instead of being annoyed with them.

(spoiler) With the latest reveal of Supernova working in collusion with Rip Hunter in Kandor, no less adds weight to the Ray Palmer theory, but at the same time the Supernova dialogue feels less like that of a scientist and more like that of someone along for the ride, i.e. Booster.

Until this issue I had J'onn pegged as a suspect as well, but the dialogue just doesn't fit.

The "real time" aspect really is the most disappointing aspect of the series--take that out, and it's fairly entertaining and occasionally great. I think that a series with this many characters and plotlines couldn't really work in real time, but I'd like to see someone make an attempt on a similar book somewhere down the line. Didn't I hear that, due to the success of 52, DC is planning on doing another weekly comic in the near future?

Supernova is Barry Allen/Wally West.


yeah you heard me. It just struck me, Waid loves these two, how do you teleport a massive amount of people? Easy move them all at superspeed while blinding everyone with a flash of light. He's using Ray Palmer's shrinking belt, and a legion flight ring or something to fly.

Now, everyone will go, "righhhht" but here's this - Barry (my more likely candidate) has time-traveled plenty, including the 30th Century, and hence would be someone knowing the timeline was being messed with. Sure he's dead/part of the speed force/inside Bart Allen (or whatever shit Bilson and DeMeo have been writing) but He's showed up plenty of times to save the day in both Waid and Johns' Flash runs. They're half the writing team.

Sure Supernova most likely bites it at the end or hops back into the timestream, but hey that just lets someone new use the tech/costume.

I'm probably horribly off-base but hey he was Ralph's best friend so Ralph could probably figure it out, and since he's been a dick, would be rather curt with his old pal. or its Wally. Who knows.

There are spoilers all over the net over Supernova's identity which will be revealed tomorrow. Other than forgetting that the device that Supernova is using was still in continuity, the reveal actually makes sense to me. Imagine that, a big event with a satisfactory payoff to one of its mysteries.

I've just been ignoring the extablishing time captions as I agree they don't make any sense. It's a gimmick, nothing more, and it doesn't work. They'd be much better off with fluid "comic book time" than trying to tie it to real time.

That said, I like the weekly format as they're using it. Cliffhangers, mysteries, and wild emotional swings. From the sounds of it, tomorrow's issue has all of that.

And just speculation on who the primary writers are on each story arc:

Steel & Black Adam: Geoff Johns
Dibny & Skeets: Mark Waid
Montoya/Question & Batwoman: Greg Rucka
Mad Scientists & Space Heroes: Grant Morrison

Yeah I don't want to even check for spoilers...comic shop tomorrow after work it is. lol

Here's a spoiler. It's not Barry Allen. Sorry, Sherlock.

Always look for the most obvious solution to a mystery.

Hey, I figured I was probably off-base. I'm glad though since Barry would have been way out of left field in most regards.

So, um, who is it?

Click here for the reveal. It's on the cover.

Well without spoiling it, its the satisfying and simple reveal.

yay.

still my Barry Allen theory wasn't complete crap...lol

I think Week 37 might be the most satisfying issue of the series to date. We get a major revelation and instead of going for the out of left field, bet you never saw that coming, choice they went with the somewhat predictable but logical and satisfying choice. They upped the stakes with Skeets, what the hell is he?, and then they went deep into the past for a truly surprising ending.

They're going to have to hit this level about 4 or 5 more times before the series is over to justify the size and amount of setup in the series, but this issue is a good sign.

Issue is out everywhere, spoilers.


I LOVED the ending.

In many ways, the space saga has been compared to The Odyssey...and now we truly have an Odysseus.

Maybe Lost in Space will come back as an ongoing with Buddy as the lead? Cause I'd buy that.

Speaking of cool reveals, holy hell was the Sobek reveal brutal! Nice also to see Buddy Baker really upgrade his power levels.

Nine issues left and about 5 plotlines to wrap up. Intergang/Montoya/Batwoman, space heroes, Supernova/Skeets, Four Horsemen/Mad Scientists, and Black Adam/Isis/Fate of Kahndaq. Plus there's obviously more to the Dibny story and fallout from the Luthor/Steel story. Lots of story and not much room for fooling around.

It had been predicted a while back that Sobek was the 4th Horseman and it really does fit

- Sent out early
- Gained the Black Marvel Family's trust
- Showed up at the Sivana household
- Sivana knew the most details about the 4th Horsemen and obviously had access to his own home


So now we know that Sobek is Death. I'm wondering if Isis is going to make it thru 52 now, I frankly like her character as she's you know developed unlike a certain lipstick lesbian that was so over-hyped.

I'm in the other camp. Skeets is one of the Four Horsemen. Skeets is the one with the technological background. Sobek is a mutated Mr. Mind.

Maybe it's a fake out, but it's worth noting that in the original Monster Society of Evil and the Jeff Smith version, Mr. Mind has talking crocodile henchmen.

it was stated that the 4th Horseman was already in Khandaq, Sobek was. Skeets has had ZERO involvment with Black Adam....

However, I present the reversal of your thoery. My money is Mr. Mind is piloting Skeets.

Yeah, it's pretty much stated by DC today that Sobek = Famine.

I just love the idea of Mr. Mind driving Skeets around.

yea I caught that, I just swore that Famine had already been introduced...and everyone in Khandaq was starving, etc...Course maybe Sobek was just waiting to unleash that power?

and Yeah is Mr. Mind pops out of Skeets at any point, I'll be pysched.

I'm curious to what happens with Supernova post-52...will Booster take back his old costume/codename or resume being Supernova? Considering Supernova's mass appeal, it'd make sense....plus way back in the first Action Comics OYL, there was a mention of a Supernova sighting...

I loved the big Sobek reveal.

Now, I'm just waiting to see what happens to Animal Man.

I have a feeling Buddy's still going to be out in space for the forseeable future. (grrr)

52 - #44 Spoilers

SPOILERS AHEAD
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Well so much for Isis.

But at least we get to see Black Adam to now tear through the entire world and start a world war.

spoiler

Well holy shit.

Yes, but we're now confronted with the grim spectacle of a "Grim 'n' Gritty" Mr. Mind. The basic idea is kind of clever, but the reveal was laughable.

Oh well, at least it looks like we're finally getting the return of the multiverse.

So it's all wrapped up.

Booster Gold and Rip Hunter saving the Multiverse was actually a strong ending. I certainly wouldn't have predicted that in the first couple of weeks, especially since they basically did it alone. It leaves open some good possibilities for the character and for larger stories. I don't really care about Earth 2, etc. coming back, but it's nice to see that there's a place for DC to publish stuff like Atomic Knights, OMAC, and Kamandi again.

Buddy Baker seems to be reintegrated into the DCU. That's nothing but a plus, IMO. The space heroes stuff was o.k. and Lady Styx has some promise, but Buddy Baker was the best part of that storyline.

I'm underwhelmed by Renee Montoya as the Question and lesbian Batwoman.

Steel, the Oolong scientists, and Doc Magnus are in better places. Now it's up to DC to do something with them.

I thought the introduction of the Great Ten worked as well as the reintroduction of Nanda Parbat. It's good for storytelling if things don't revolve entirely around Gotham and Metropolis.

I don't know about Ralph and Sue Dibny, Ghost Detectives yet. It partly fixes the mess that Identity Crisis made with the characters, but I can't see this working long term. I give it 2 or 3 mini-series, max, until they're resurrected.

I don't see what there's left to do with Black Adam. There were some good moments, but WWIII underwhelmed me. Especially since they couldn't resist more gratuitous death.

I was annoyed by the "Infinite Crisis" recap that Rip gave to Booster. Booster was THERE, he should fucking KNOW this already. And did he steal the scarab from Ted at the end of the first Crisis? I couldn't figure out what the super-neato power source he went back and nabbed was.

Yeah, it was the scarab. As far as I know (not that I've been keeping track of this...God, no), Ted was never really shown as having the scarab post-Crisis 1 until shortly before he died. So it fits that Booster stole it in the past.

I've read interviews with the 52 writers about the "new" 52 universes, and how their existence opens up limitless story possibilities, and that they resisted attempts at DC to try and catalogue all 52 Earths because it went against the whole "limitless story possibilies" angle they were fishing for...and to me that makes no sense. Why llimit it to 52 alternate universes, then? That's practically begging for cataloguing. If you want limitless possibilities, why not just go the pre-Crisis 1 route and have seemingly-limitless universes again?

Hell, there's people online who are already trying to catalogue these 52 Earths based on that one issue alone.

A cool interview with Morrison about 52. I guess everyone knows the space adventure and the Oolong island stuff was his, but I was pleased to see that the Great Ten were his invention as well. Also: