"Shazam." - Black AdamWeek TenPreviously in 52...

Steel is just that, and his neice shows him what having powers is really all about. Our space travelers might have found a way off planet, and The Question outlined just who was making a play for Gotham. Oh yeah, there was some chick in a bat costume lurking around, too.

The Key Players

Black Adam, Booster Gold.

Guest appearances

Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Will Magnus and T.O. Morrow, plus a host of new foreign superpowers. Also, this new Supernova chap is on the scene.

Highlights

It's Week Ten on the 52 Clock, which begins with Black Adam hosting a meeting of the super-powered minds in Kahndaq, offering the countries of the world an ally in himself and as a moderator of conflicts. His little world summit is interrupted by the young woman Adam freed from Intergang oh-so-many weeks ago. A stubborn little minx, she tells Adam flat out that there's no way he'll change the world, and they trade insults back and forth until she stuns him by reminding him that he is alone. This was made only more true by the fact that the magic word of "Shazam" no longer has any affect on him.

Clark Kent, on the verge of being fired from the Daily Planet for being a crappy reporter, decided to take a page out of his lovely wife's playbook, hurling himself out a window to draw the attention of Metropolis' newest hero, Supernova. The new hero saves Clark and prevents another disaster, allowing Clark to get the first interview with the newest media darling, saving his job and earning him a raise, to boot. When Clark talks to Lois, he notes that Supernova seems too experienced to be a rookie. Meanwhile, booster Gold is irritated by the appearance of this new marvel, who he blames for costing him his endorsements. With no record of this guy in Skeets' personal history databanks, the idea that time is truly off the rails becomes even more certain.

Will Magnus visits T.O. Morrow to show him something that was found in Sivana's lab: the coccoon of some small organism, and the two ponder what it might have been.

The "History of the DCU" sums up the preludes to "Infinite Crisis," just in case you somehow missed it.

Justin's Thoughts and Concerns

What a goofy looking bunch the foreign superheroes are, eh? No offense to any loyal foreign readers, but those guys look less than interesting, but maybe something will change my mind about them sometime soon.

Adam and the Egyptian girl? Do I smell a lightning-infused booty call sometime in the future?

So who is Supernova? A friend tried to drag me into a debate about the character's identity, since it's likely to be an old hero with new powers. Unfortunately, if you check your DC Encyclopedia, that means roughly a zillion possibilities. Thus, I refuse to speculate at this point, but feel free to toss out your own ideas.

And did anyone really like the way Clark handled that whole scenario? I didn't.

And is anyone else screaming for Booster to get off his butt and do something productive?! I stand by my point: if the world's greatest time traveler blamed me for the end of time itself, I'd be out there trying to stop it.

A "Sivaniam" robot? Sweet.

Predictions

Look for a wedding in Black Adam's future, but to what end I don't know. And that little coccoon (which probably held Mr. Mind worms) is still tied into the Kryptionian cult, if you ask me. Also, be sure to get out to your shops this week and make sure you're on the list for next week's issue, as this will mark the so-called first appearance of Kate Kane as Batwoman.

The Daily Planet

There's a preview of "Comicon Sub Diego" up at www.52thecomic.com. Go see for yourself. I can't even begin to describe this one.

Panel of the Week

Nothing says Pulitzer like being canned by your boss, huh?