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Mary Marvel, probably because of the long-term coma, is a tad out-of-date on who's who in the DC universe.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?
