I have really enjoyed 52. It’s an amazing comic. In fact, I don’t talk about it enough in this blog. With only 10 weeks left things are starting to draw to a head, and week 42 was a great issue.

(Warning: Lots of spoilers to follow).

Ralph Dibny (the Elongated Man) has played a major role in the entire series and this issue was his swan song. I was very happy with Ralph’s character throughout the comic. I loved him when he was an obsessive, suicidal drunkard, lamenting his wife’s murder. I loved him as an overly determined adventurer trying to bring his wife back from the dead, and I loved him even more when we found out that he’s not an obsessive, suicidal drunkard or an overly determined adventurer.
I love the shocker that his flask has been filled with Gingold rather than whiskey. I love the way he was drawn in week 42 during the magic ceremony as a worn down, thinned out shell of a man, overcome with grief, and I loved it even more when he showed his true colors as a detective and a hero.
I didn’t love the beardless look so-much, or the whole “Wish Gun” switch-a-roo (lame). But I did love the fact that he was willing to sacrifice his life to trap Faust and Neron.

I didn’t know I loved Ralph Dibny so much… now I can only hope that DC will bring him back as a bearded, crime fighting detective (preferably without the Gingold… I like him un-stretchy better, and drunks are more entertaining).