DC COMICS
WRITER: Keith Giffen
ARTISTS: Pat Oliffe, Drew Geraci
COVER: Pat Oliffe

The "Four Horsemen" who brought about the destruction of the nation of Bialya in the "52" miniseries are still alive and are biding their time before deciding to strike again. The big three-- Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman-- arrive at the ruins of the Four Horsemen's rampage but even they don't realize the full extent of the threat. The cover makes it seem like this will be a non-stop action epic but instead, the creative team try to open it like a horror story with the monsters revealing themselves slowly. This approach however does not work too well. The story drags as too much time is spent on Giffen's trademark "witty" dialogue. Instead of just explaining everything to each other (and the readers) clearly and concisely, Supes, Bats and Diana exchange one-liners, making themselves look careless and giving the villains a chance to come back to life. At one point, one character makes a sarcastic reference to Dennis Miller. Maybe Giffen should take that as a cue to make his dialogue more accessible and more integral to the story and not just a display of his cleverness. The art is a bit dry. It tells the story well but none of the characters is particularly eye-catching. Even the big "shock" scene, where the horror of the villain is revealed, comes off as a routine bit of funnybook gore. This issue gets three stars out of five but only because it still has the potential to be a great story.