40 and counting...

And Keith Giffen finally arrives. It's noticeable, and a definite step up for the art.

Countdown 40 is again moving the plot forward. Whatever caused the stagnancies in the early issues appears to have gone. My presumption is that the difference is the change from Mike Marts to Mike Carlin in editing. Mike Marts is a good editor, but he doesn't seem to have had a good handle on how to do either a weekly comic (the pacing) or a crossover event (what to include where). Mike Carlin has experience with both, and it shows in the finished product.

Way down in the, um, Palmerverse, we've got Donna Troy, Jason Todd, Ryan Choi, and "Bob" the Monitor in what's similar to, but not the same as, the Amazon jungle from Sword Of The Atom. Confused yet?

After a fight with the locals, they discover they're all on the same side (gee, where have I heard that plot before?) and they get some leads on where to head next to find Ray Palmer. Plus, here's the first real substantial connection back to Identity Crisis. I'm hoping they'll develop this further. Otherwise, the motivations behind his actions seem pretty empty. Why did he vanish? Grief? Despair? Embarrassment? So far we don't know. I'm looking forward to finding out.

Mister Action's uniform still looks kinda doofus to me, but based on his first outing, this might just work. Jimmy Olson is obviously trying to base his costumed persona upon Superman, but we'll see how effective is imitation. And Lois is right when she says "So it's true-- all the good names are taken." Jimmy could have been a bit more imaginative in choosing a name. Oh, I know it's because in a previous incarnation of the DC Universe he was "Mister Action" for (if I remember rightly) WGBS News, the station's sort-of-ombudsman.

We have a look-in on Mary Marvel, who's looking for help from Zatanna. Mary really does have some serious anger issues, though I have to admit having shared similar feelings towards hecklers.

Holly Robinson is getting a bit uncomfortable with some of the policies of the Athenian Women's Shelter. We're starting to see a few cracks in their facade -- just what is their real agenda?

Darkseid is making a bit more of an appearance here. He shows a few unexpected depths, though he really doesn't want anyone to know. I mean, he really doesn't want anyone to know. Plus, we see someone whom I think is Bug, though I had thought he was killed a few decades ago. Then again, on "New Earth", who knows?

Piper and Trickster follow through on their idea to enlist Penguin's help in hiding -- at least briefly. We get a connection (finally!) to the events of 52, as well. Where's that going to lead? Well, that's the question.

41 and counting...

"Seriously. Nice work."

That's the opening line to Countdown 41, and it's also a fair review of the issue, as well.

At last, as we've seen in the past few issues, the story is finally starting to move forward.

Trickster and Pied Piper find a (somewhat damp) way out of their predicament, but find themselves in a bit of a different pickle, ending up in Gotham City. They're (as they put it) "public enemies numbers one and one-A!" Trickster seems to have an idea, though, as to where they can go for help. Seems he's buds with the proprietor of the Iceberg Lounge.

Jimmy Olson is trying to implement his idea -- to become a superhero -- and, by this point it seems like he's got a truly doofus plan to achieve it. I dunno, in the end it might all work out, but to me it looks like it's mainly got potential to humiliate him beyond all description.

Mister Action?

Mary Marvel just gets a look-in here, as she questions the changes to her personality since she gained Black Adam's powers. She's not as oblivious to what's been happening as it's appeared. It looks like she's about to pick up a mentor, welcome or not. Can anyone say Eclipso?

Donna Troy, Jason Todd, and Ryan Choi, along with Bob the Monitor (you had to be there), have left for the Palmerverse, in search of Ray Palmer. First stop, the jungle land from the long-ago Sword of the Atom.

Back in Gotham, at the Athenian Women's Center, Holly Robinson has to restrain Harly Quinn from trying to demonstrate their peacefulness by breaking a few heads. While she might be off her infatuation with Joker, she certainly hasn't lost the violent edge she had as his girlfriend. Question is, is she still homicidal?

Finally, the Legionnaires tell Karate Kid that he's not to return to the 30th Century. This is the 30th Century Legion, right? Doesn't look much like the 31st Century one. Then again, there's been so many reboots of the Legion that I've lost count. He stays behind with Una, one of the parts of Triplicate Girl. Without her counterparts, I'm not sure just what, if any powers she has. Umm. Maybe this is the current continuity explanation of Duo Damsel?

42 and counting...

Beginning with the death of the Flash (from Trickster's dream point-of-view), Countdown 42 is finally bringing in the event that the whole "Rogues" storyline was about. I think it was a mistake having the whole rogue build-up here, and then have them do the deed offscreen (in Flash 13), and then return to Countdown without even a look-in at what happened. Not everyone who reads Countdown reads Flash, and the folks who'll later read the collected edition won't have immediate knowledge of the events of Flash 13. So yeah, I think belatedly showing what happened is a good idea.

Then we see they've been captured and handcuffed together by Deadshot and Multiplex. Who they're working for is (pardon the expression) up in the air, though they do make it clear they're working for some sort of government agency. The captured duo do manage to stage an escape, only to discover (belatedly) that they were being held in a moving airplane.

The expression "look before you leap" comes to mind.

Mary Marvel, probably because of the long-term coma, is a tad out-of-date on who's who in the DC universe. Not knowing that the Riddler is now one of the good guys, she's on the verge of taking, um, drastic action against him when she spots him in the vicinity of a robbery. Convinced to give him a chance to prove himself, they wind up fighting Clayface. Mary goes awfully close to the line... She throws Clayface into orbit, with the idea that he'll be freeze-dried, and eventually re-enter. As she puts it, "He's just dirt... and dirt will come back to earth sooner or later!"

We can see how she seems -- split -- in her reaction to what she did. Part of her is shocked and horrified at her actions, the other part takes a 'good riddance to bad rubbish' attitude. It certainly seems as though she inherited more than just her powers from Black Adam. Riddler suggests, not entirely in jest, that she find a mentor, one who specializes in dealing with anger management issues. DC has already hinted that she gets involved with Eclipso, whom I suspect isn't who the Riddler had in mind.

Batman and Karate Kid have a brief scene that -- well, I can't actually figure out what's the purpose of the scene. It doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know, and doesn't do anything to illuminate the characters. We know it's a couple of pages transplanted from another issue. So... was this just put here to fill two pages that would have otherwise have been occupied by something that was deleted? Perhaps we're seeing the first effects of the change in editorship?

Holly Robinson and Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn) have a discussion about Harley's recovery, and her recruitment by Athena. Granted that Athena is a god (small "g" type), I'd have thought Harleen was too far gone to ever break away from the Joker. So, is she posing as cured? Or, has she finally put Joker into her past?

Jimmy Olson is still working on the idea of becoming a super-hero, without a lot of success. There's not much more to be said about that, at least for now.

Donna Troy, Jason Todd, and the Monitor pay a visit to Ryan Choi (the Atom 3), enlisting his help in searching for his predecessor, Ray Palmer (Atom 2). We've been told that Ray is the key to averting the Great Disaster. We'll see.

Palmerverse?

43 and counting...

Well, it's about time!

The story is finally starting to move. Whether it's because Mike Carlin is now co-editing, I don't know, but it is an auspicious beginning to his coming on board.

So, the main thread this issue is the funeral of Bart Allen (Flash IV). He wasn't Flash for very long, but in his roles as Impulse, Kid Flash, and Flash, he was central to a lot of things going on within the DC Universe.

The Flashes are native to the Central City/Keystone City twin cities on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border (no prizes for guessing which lies within which state!), and they do seem to have a somewhat different relationship to the locals than pretty much any other super-heroes I can think of.

(On an aside, why don't se see the term "super-hero" much any more? Old timers are called "mystery men", and modern ones are "metahumans", but nobody seems to use "super-hero" nowadays.)

The first part of the issue is narrated by Jimmy Olson, who goes into some depth on the special relationship between Flash and the twin cities. Oh, by the way, isn't the Flash Museum in Central City? Or is this another of the 'discontinuities' that will be addressed in the series? (Kind of like the whole JSA/All-Star Squadron being transplanted to Washington DC thing?)

Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Bart Allen's identities are now a matter of public knowledge. Now the only Flash whose identity isn't known is Wally West. Ironically, originally he was the only Flash who was open with his identity. I know the in-story rationale is that most of the family and friends of the various Flashes are gone, but there's a few key persons left. Joan Garrick (Jay's wife), Iris (West) Allen (Barry's widow, Bart's Grandmother, and Wally's Aunt), and Linda (Park) West (Wally's wife) and Wally and Linda's twins. It's not going to be hard at all for folks to put two and two together and figure out that Wally is Flash III, and there are some nasties out there who would love a chance to do to the Flash's loved ones what they did to Flash.

The Rogues are still out there.

Two of them are at the funeral.

Pied Piper and the Trickster showed up. Piper, I suspect, really did show up to pay his respects. Trickster, moreso, because he's the Piper's friend. Nice thought, guys, but not the smartest move in the world.

Monitor (well, one of them) is there, with Donna Troy and Jason Todd. He wants them to take off right away to search for Ray Palmer (Atom II), who vanished (literally!) at the end of Identity Crisis. They know more about this than we do, but the basic idea is that Ray is the key to averting the "Great Disaster".

I'm not sure where the "Great Disaster" plot is going, but since in my (admittedly bad) memory it was supposed to have happened in 1984, I am curious to see how this all plays out.

One suspects that Monarch (aka Captain Atom) has a large hand in this, as will Sinestro and his all-new Sinestro Corps, especially as the leaders of the Corps seem to be almost anyone who's been responsible for a "Crisis" in the past decade or two. Including the supposedly dead-and-gone Anti-Monitor, responsible for the original Crisis on Infinite Earths way back in 1985!

On a (presumably) less cosmic note, Holly Robinson has been taken in at a women's shelter run by Athena (yes, the Greek Goddess), and is just starting to relax when she meets one of her fellow guests, a former psychiatrist named Harleen Quinzel. You might know her better as Harley Quinn, the Joker's girlfriend!

Definitely, the story has finally started moving forward. Hopefully now we can get some momentum going.

44 and counting... (Finally!)

Here we are, with a much-delayed look at Countdown 44. Many thanks to Piper for picking this up for me.

This week I'm not going to do a page-by-page review of the issue.

From the start, I've been a supporter of the book. It started off with what I considered a really good kick-off. The story took a character whom nobody cared about since she was created by Bob Rozakis, and made us care about her -- and then promptly killed her off.

Not that I'm happy about the death of the Joker's Daughter, but it was well-done and started the series off with a bang. And it was well followed-up upon, what with Jimmy Olson visiting the Joker himself.

There was lots of character bits and plot set-up. And it's been good. But we're about eight weeks into the series and nothing much has happened here. Oh, things have happened, such as the death of Flash IV (Bart) at the hands of the Rogues, or the revival of Flash III (Wally) at the hands of the Legion of Super-Heroes, the attack on Washington, DC by the Amazons, etc.

But they've all happened offscreen! Here in Countdown we've seen the build-up to some of it, and the aftermath of other parts, but not the actual events. Granted, the place for the death of the Flash was in his own title, but here it feels so peripheral that it hardly justifies Countdown as being the "spine" of the DC Universe.

(As an aside, the death of Flash II (Barry) was done within the pages of Crisis on Infinite Earths, but in that case the Flash Comic was being canceled, and the story there ended immediately prior to Crisis.)

The problem with Countdown, it seems to me, isn't with the writing -- everything I've seen appears well-written, but it's poorly paced, and it appears (so far) that most of what Countdown consists of is interstitial material. Nothing that's critical to other series', but material that kind of fills in the blanks from other stories.

Now, there's story throughlines in Countdown that appear to be specific to the series -- Mary Marvel, Jimmy Olson, and (possibily) Holly Robinson. Everything else, though, seems to be just filler material for other series. Even Forerunner appears to be there to provide a lead-in to her own feature.

Head writer on Countdown is Paul Dini, so the slow (some might call it "lack of") pacing seems puzzling. Paul is a much better writer than this. I'm inclined, at this point, to ascribe the problems with pacing (and ill-handled interconnecting to the universe) to the book's editor, Mike Marts. I know he's basically unfamiliar with the DC Universe, but the principles of storytelling should be pretty much pan-universal.

I know there's a LOT of dissatisfaction with the book among fans, and I'm guessing that it has translated into flagging sales for the series. Given one thing that was announced last week, it looks like the Powers That Be at DC have taken note and are doing a mid-course correction.

Starting with the next issue (this week's forthcoming Countdown 43) Mike Carlin is joining as co-editor, and over the next dozen or so issues Mike Marts is transitioning off the book. Mike Carlin is experienced at the weekly thing, since he was editor of the Superman books some years back when the franchise was run as a de-facto weekly comic. Anyone remember the "corner boxes" (actually triangles) that showed where the books fell in sequence?

No disrespect intended to Mike Marts, but I'm guessing that he wasn't well-suited to doing the weekly-comic-with-lots-of-interconnections-to-other-editors-books thing. I'm certainly expecting the pacing to improve dramatically as Mike Carlin's vision begins to have a presence in Countdown.

And, oh, by the way, haven't we had enough crotch shots of Mary Marvel? We get the idea. Lets move on.