52 Vol 1 5
From DC Database
It's coming! 52! 52! 
- -- Herald
Appearing in "Stars in Their Courses"
Featured Characters:
- Adam Strange
- Animal Man
- Doctor Mid-Nite (Pieter Cross)
- Green Lantern (Alan Scott)
- Starfire (Koriand'r)
- Steel (John Henry Irons)
Supporting Characters:
Villains:
Other Characters:
Cameo appearances for the following characters
- Clark Kent
- Cyborg (Victor Stone)
- Devilance the Pursuer
- Firestorm (Jason Rusch)
- Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders)
- Lois Lane
- Renée Montoya
- Shining Knight (Sir Ystin)
- Skeets
Flashback appearances for the following characters
- Bumblebee
- Cyborg (Victor Stone)
- Firestorm (Jason Rusch)
- Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders)
- Red Tornado (John Smith)
- Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)
- Ali Ka-Zoom (Single appearance) (Newsboy Legion)
- Unidentified metahuman/medical worker (Single appearance) (see Notes, below)
Locations:
- Gotham City
- Metropolis
- Unnamed Planet
Items:
- None
Vehicles:
- None
Synopsis for "Stars in Their Courses"
Day 1:
Ellen Baker is taking down a banner that was put up to welcome home her husband, Animal Man. Green Lantern (Alan Scott) arrives and gives her the news that her husband is still missing in space. She still holds onto the hope that he will come back.
In Metropolis, Lex Luthor announces plans to offer ordinary people super-powers. Around the city, people are shown watching as news stations cover this announcement.
Steel goes to St. Camillus Hospital to help the heroes who have returned from space, and meets there with Green Lantern and Dr. Mid-Nite. Steel is taken to a room in which he see Cyborg and Firestorm, fused together, and Mal Duncan, who is in a coma with a part of Red Tornado fused to his chest.
Alan Scott reveals what happened to the heroes who went into space during Infinite Crisis, and talks about those still unaccounted for: Red Tornado was destroyed, Supergirl disappeared, and Animal Man, Adam Strange and Starfire are presumed dead. Mal Duncan suddenly goes into cardiac arrest.
Maggie Sawyer pays a visit to Renée Montoya to get some answers regarding what happened at 520 Kane Street. Renée won't reveal much, so all Maggie can do is warn her to stay out of trouble. After Maggie leaves, Renée pulls out the strange gun she picked up at the warehouse and says, "Don't worry about that."
At the hospital, one medical team is attempting to subdue the now-25-feet-tall and convulsing Hawkwoman while Steel attempts to revive Mal Duncan, who wakes briefly, but only to utter two phrases:
"It's coming! 52! 52!" These, Alan Scott notes, were Red Tornado's last words.
Day 7:
On an unnamed planet, three of the missing heroes are revealed to be alive and living in paradise -- at least for the moment, since their spaceship is in disrepair. Adam Strange has lost both of his eyes. Starfire takes time to relax. And Animal Man begins to worry as he starts to sense something on the planet that isn't quite right...
Appearing in "The History of the DCU (Part IV of X)"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- None
Villains:
- None
Other Characters:
The following characters all appear in flashback
- Alexander Luthor
- Anti-Monitor
- Batman
- Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)
- Captain Marvel
- Firestorm
- Flash (Barry Allen)
- Hawkman (Katar Hol)
- Hourman (Rex Tyler)
- Kid Flash (Wally West)
- Lois Lane (Earth-Two)
- Legion of Super-Heroes (Pre-Zero Hour)
- Brainiac 5
- Mon-El (a.k.a. Valor)
- Sun Boy
- Ultra Boy
- Wildfire
- Obsidian
- Pariah
- Psycho-Pirate
- Spectre
- Starfire
- Supergirl (Earth-One)
- Superman (Earth-One)
- Superman (Earth-Two)
- Weaponer of Qward
- Wonder Woman
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
- None
Synopsis for "The History of the DCU (Part IV of X)"
Donna Troy recalls the final events and legacy of the Crisis on Infinite Earths: The deaths of Supergirl and the Flash (Barry Allen); the intervention of the Spectre; the collapse of the Multiverse; the self-exile of Superman (Earth-2), Lois Lane (Earth-2), Superboy (Earth-Prime), and Alexander Luthor; and Wally West becoming the Flash.
Notes
- This issue shipped on June 7th, 2006.
- This issue is reprinted in the 52, Volume 1 trade paperback collection.
- This issue features the first mention of "52" as a plot element and not just the title of the series. Its true significance will not be revealed until the final issue of the series.
- This issue features the return of Animal Man, Starfire, and Adam Strange.
- Can anyone identify the metahuman/medical worker on story page 16 who is flying above Hawkwoman and zapping her chest with some sort of purple energy?
- There are several other characters who appear in the flashbacks in the "History of the DCU" segment... however, they're not drawn in detail and therefore are probably unidentifiable.
Trivia
- The ticker-tape at the bottom of the cover reads, "Return of the Space Heroes... Starfire, Animal Man, Adam Strange - Dead?"
Related Articles
See Also
Recommended Reading
Links and References
- 52: The Comic
- 52 article/interview with editor Stephen Wacker
- 52 series index at the Grand Comics Database
Warning: Default sort key "52 05" overrides earlier default sort key "52 Vol 1 0005".
