29 and counting...

One page? ONE LOUSY PAGE? You can see the cover to this issue, over there to the right. Notice it features Karate Kid? Attacking Brother Eye? So, HOW MUCH space does it get in the book? One grifing page!

And yeah, my earlier HAL-9000 comment was pretty much dead on.

The Challengers are now on Earth-8. They're captured, the 'evil' monitor meddles, resulting in their escape, and the Jokester is killed. Monarch shows up to recruit someone or other.

The Jokester's death is a shame. He'd been developed as an interesting character, and I'd have liked to see him hanging around for a while, to further explore him and the differences from the Joker.

Jimmy Olsen meets the Newsboy Legion in the sewers. He's happy because he's finally among friends.

Maybe. They say they're in the sewers looking for Jimmy, thinking he's gonna need help. The main flaw in this is that he's only been in the sewers for five minutes. Truly amazing they could find out about his 'escape' from Cadmus and get there so fast.

I'm reminded again of a major theme of the title: Not everyone who opposes you is your enemy; not everyone who helps you is your friend.

Holly Robinson is still fighting sea serpents. Um, last issue wasn't she fighting sharks? Was there a timeslip between issues? Remember, "Time is broken."

Piper and Trickster are having lunch at a truck stop with their new friend. It turns out the threat to slit Piper's throat was just, um, a misunderstanding. Yeah, I can't explain it, either.

Mary Marvel, well, she's getting good at abusing her power. That's about all need be said about her this issue.

Recent issues have been pretty good, and this week was quite a disappointment. There seemed to be lots of continuity glitches this week. I'll be back next week when I'll hopefully find something worth writing about.

30 and counting...

The numbers are getting smaller, and the stories are getting bigger. In another month we'll reach the halfway point, and at that mark the title changes to "Countdown To Final Crisis". The storyline is getting more cohesive, less a random series of events and more a story that's going somewhere. If only the book had started this way.

Jimmy Olsen is still being tested by Cadmus, and things are still out of control. He seemingly splits in two -- Stretchable Olsen and Giant Ghostly Olsen. They're both sharing the same mind, but the stretchable one feels he has to escape, and leaves via the sewers. Big Immaterial Olsen confirms that it's as gross as it sounds.

The big Ghostly Olsen just jogged my memory. DC once had a feature called "Cave Carson - Inside Earth". One of the stories dealt with people being split, the ghostly half looking much as Jimmy does here. I'm wondering if the writers might have delved back that far and connected this to that? If so, kudos.

I'm wondering how he could so easily escape through the sewers. First of all, you'd think they'd have precautions against just such a thing, and second they'd want to avoid infiltration through the same means. It's been obvious for decades that Cadmus has crappy security, but I had no idea they were this sloppy. Three million dollar robot guards and yet they leave the drains uncovered. Sheesh!

Karate Kid and Una are taken to Brother Eye by Buddy Blank. Brother Eye (who comes across in this incarnation as somewhat like HAL-9000) immediately diagnoses the problem. Val (Karate Kid) has been infected with the OMAC virus. It's in an incomplete form, but still enough to prove fatal. However, there's a second virus there, which seems to be interacting. Brother Eye closes with an enigmatic "It seems the great disaster has come to me."

It's probably worth noting that I'm somewhat irked as I write this. Due to my computer doing a choke-n-puke, I lost everything I'd originally written beyond this point. Ah well, such is life.

Holly Robinson reaches Themyscria at last, or at least almost reaches it. The warrior candidates end up having to swim for land while fighting a school of extremely large, vicious, eyeless sharks. I know Holly has been suspecting that something is off-kilter, but this, if naught else, should be a flare-lit tip off that something is seriously wrong.

Piper and Trickster are hanging around the battle between the Justice League and the villains, mainly to make sure the league took their warnings seriously. Foolhardy at best, they manage to do some good when they destroy the Joker's plan for ruining the wedding while they get their revenge on Poison Ivy.

In making their getaway, they are taken by the Ace Of Spades from the Royal Flush Gang. He's apparently a fan of Dexter, since he copies a scene from the very first episode of the series. Good taste in television, not that it's likely to please Piper.

Which brings us to the last storyline seen this week. The Challengers have now reached Earth-15, where they meet other versions of themselves. This world appears to be what we once all envisioned for the future of the DC Universe, back in the days when everything seemed simple.

Donna Troy has become Wonder Woman, and Jason Todd has grown up to be the Batman. (By the way, this version of Jason is a prick, too, though it works better with the Batman costume.) Ray Palmer's daughter (?) has become the Atom, and Kyle Rayner is, um, Green Lantern. This is pretty much back in the seventies how we thought the future would unfold .

Seeing this, there's a bit of nostalgia for what never was, and I'm glad that somewhere there's an earth where the dreams from a more innocent time came true.

31 and counting...

Countdown 31... and I am feeling better, thank you very much.

We begin this week, with the Challengers. Now on Earth-3 and looking for the long-missing Ray Palmer, they immediately run into the Crime Society.

The Crime Society is an intriguing new version of Grant Morrison's Crime Syndicate, itself an update of the old Earth-3 Crime Syndicate. All these, of course, are alternate versions of the Justice League.

They fight the Society, and spend about as much time bickering amongst themselves, finally leaving when "Bob" determines that Ray Palmer isn't there. When they leave, they have an addition, the Jokester.

This is one time when I wish there wasn't so much advance promotion. Between the internet news sites and DC's own site, we have a fairly good idea what's coming up -- heck, I've already read next week's Challengers segment, where they visit Earth-15. The problem with all the promos and advance peeks is that there's very few surprises left. We know the broad outlines of what's coming, and just wait for it to play out.

The Jokester could have been quite a delightful surprise dropped into the mix, but we already know he's a 'good' version of the Joker, going to join the team, and the father of the late, lamented, Duela Dent (aka The Joker's Daughter also aka Harlequin). Kinda takes the edge off those revelations, doesn't it?

I'm not suggesting going back to the old model of telling us nothing until the book is released, but there has to be a happy medium. Doesn't there?

Monarch, by the way, stops by Earth-3 to recruit the Crime Society to join his forces. Countdown: Arena tie-in?

Oh, by the way, Captain Carrot (pictured somewhere to the right if all works correctl;y) is part of the Countdown mix. I'm not sure which earth is his, but the coming Captain Carrot And The Final Ark miniseries is a Countdown tie-in.

Holly Robinson is leaving for Paradise Island. She knows something is wrong here, but can't quite put fer finger on it yet. She sends a letter containing her suspicions to Selina Kyle (Catwoman), but makes the tactical error of mailing it from the shelter's front desk, where it's promptly destroyed.

One suspects she should be a little less trusting of those whom she's suspicious. One ongoing theme buried in the subtext of Countdown is the question of "Who can you trust?". Who are your friends and who are your enemies? As we've seen amply demonstrated, everyone who helps you is not your friend, and everyone who thwarts you is not your enemy.

Mary Marvel would do well to realize this, but I'm thinking it's a bit too late for that at this point. She kills three security guards by turning them to stone. It's pretty much done without remorse and without reflection. Yeah, in theory she (or some other magic-user?) could reverse it, but that's a false argument. Eclipso makes sure one is really dead by breaking off his head with the flick of a finger.

One thing -- in comics, how can things like this be reversed? Once they're dead, well, turning their bodies back to flesh would just leave you with fleshy corpses, wouldn't it? Think of how many times the Spectre has killed using just this kind of transformation. (I'm especially reminded of the Michael Fliescher/Jim Aparo days in Adventure Comics -- what I consider pretty much the definitive Spectre run.)

Jimmy Olson is being tested at Cadmus. Ever noticed these things always go wrong?

We've got a first look-in at Mxyzptlk walking his, um, fish and chatting with his girlfriend. For those who came in late, Mxy is a resident of the 5th dimension, and has this thing for amusing himself at Superman's expense. He gets, well, sucked through the 'walls' of his dimension and vanishes.

One thing I'm trying to figure out, there once were two of him. You had Mxyzptlk and Mxyztplk, one from the fifth dimension of Earth-1 and one from the fifth dimension of Earth-2. So, nowdays are there still two fifth dimension and two Mxy's? Or is it just the one?

Karate Kid and Una find the home of Buddy Blank, and ask for information about Omac and Brother Eye. They also meet (and scare) his grandson. The grandson looks suspiciously familiar. Suppose he might be the once-and-future Kamandi?

Finally, the Monitors meet (or, conceivably, are still meeting. Don't these folks ever go to the bathroom?) and discuss the Jokester's joining the Challengers. I dunno, though. I've been wondering about the Monitor who has this monomania for stopping the Challengers and the "aberrations".

I think he's one of two things: either a proxy for Darkseid, or a new (alternate?) incarnation of the Anti-Monitor.

Dexter... (aka 32 and holding...)

My review and comments on Countdown 31 will be slightly delayed because of health issues. In the meanwhile, here's a little plug for Dexter, a great TV series airing on Showtime. The first episode of season 2 will be on this next Sunday evening. Check it out!

32 and counting...

Welcome to the batchelorette party... But first:

Mary Marvel discovers she can't trust Klarion. Why she jumped to the snap decision that she could in the first place is a mystery, considering she just met him moments before. Her emotional reactions have, as we've seen, been regressing from a reasonably mature level towards those of a small child... Or, to put it into somewhat politically incorrect terms, those of a severely emotionally retarded person.

Now, having seen in the past how Black Adam (the source of her powers) viewed the world in stark black and white, and was always hyper-sensitive to taking offense at the least provocation, one can't help wondering if this emotional immaturity is endemic to this version of the powers? Somewhere, I'm thinking, one of the "gods" who contributes their powers isn't quite what (or who) we've been led to believe.

Eclipso finally reveals herself, and I'm guessing she knows more about the nature of Mary's powers than anyone else. How? Not sure, though since Eclipso's powers themselves are rooted in God's powers, it may be a carry-over from that. I don't usually comment on the back feature, but in this case it (the backstory of Eclipso) it's quite pertinent. And, I'll note, it does go into some depth on the Godly source of Eclipso's abilities.

Jimmy Olson, who's looking increasingly frazzled, winds up at our old friends The Cadmus Project (another Jack Kirby creation). He starts to unburden himself of the reasons he wants to be a super-hero. You can feel the earnestness, and the feeling that he's an outsider wanting to join the fraternity. It's interesting how his storyline here careens between low humor and pathos. I'm sure it's on purpose, but it certainly complicates getting a handle on his storyline.

The Challengers of the Undefined take a wrong turn at Albuquerque and end up on Earth-30, in which there's a Soviet-era Superman. They get out of there posthaste, and end up on Earth-3, the home of the Crime Syndicate. This is the world where their equivilant of our heroes are evil and rule the world.

Of course they immediately run into the Syndicate.

When did Kyle Rayner change from the Crab-Face to the more traditional Green Lantern garb? One suspects there was a degree of miscommunication on the art side. Either that of there's been a degree of miscommunication on the reader side. Isn't this why there's supposed to be editors? Perhaps they should be less involved in the plotting of the story (Leave it to the writers? What a radical idea!) and more involved in making sure the product is ready to go out the door?

Pied Piper and Trickster manage their escape from Zatanna's house, but in the process they manage to create a fair amount of pandemonium at Black Canary's batchelorette party. I wonder whose Porsche they stole?

At to the party itself, there's way too much going on for me to even begin to summarize. The highlight for me was Supergirl and Stargirl's attempts to get their hands on some alcoholic beverages. Heh.

Buy it. The party itself is worth the price of the issue.

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Now playing: Bread - Mother Freedom
via FoxyTunes

33 and counting...

Starting with the cover, there's a new element in Countdown 33. Kyle Rayner is on the cover, and he's back wearing the 'crab-face' version of the Green Lantern uniform. Am I the only person who liked the crab-face mask? Back when he was the only Green Lantern, and his original costume didn't match the traditional Hal Jordan version, there was a lot of flack tossed DC's way. I liked the different costume. It looked good, and in the time-travel issues (where Kyle fights side-by-side with a young Hal Jordan) Kyle's design stood up well against the traditional model.

Inside? Yes, it's Kyle! The Challengers Of The Whatever are trying to get Donna Troy back from the evil Queen Belthera, and failing, when Kyle drops from the sky seemingly out of nowhere (durn, the Guardians Of The Universe really are omniscient!), he grabs right into the portal and drags Donna back.

It seems Kyle has been sent by the Guardians to tell Bob The Monitor that Ray Palmer (the previous iteration of The Atom) has left the nanoverse and headed out into the multiverse. Given that Bob is a Monitor, and the departures don't seem to have been all that recent, Isn't Bob supposed to know all this already? After all, monitoring things is supposed to be what the monitors do best. Between Bob and the rest of the Monitors, there certainly seems to be a pronounced lack of omniscience. Good thing the Guardians are on the ball.

Kyle seems awfully friendly to Donna Troy, considering that, last time I looked, he was her ex-boyfriend. Gee, it's nice to know they still get along so well.

Ryan Choi (The.. oh, you know who he is.) get snagged up by a giant hand. Where the hand might be coming from, I dunno. Considering they're in the nanoverse, at least two levels deep, it can't be someone from "our" level of reality. They've not bug sized, they're sub-atomic in scale. So where's the hand coming from? More importantly, who? If not for the bare skin on the hand, I'd almost suspect The Spectre. But no, despite the Neal Adams-inspired art this issue, I seriously doubt he'd be brought into this mix, especially at this late date.

Once The Atom is taken, the majority opinion is to forget him and move on in the search for Ray Palmer. I understand how important finding him may be, but I tend to agree with Kyle that one doesn't just leave a man behind. For good or ill, it comes across as much too cold. It definitely tends to prejudice me against the team. I thought a big part of the reason for the series of crises was to remove the moral ambiguities from the heroes, and let them be heroes again. This certainly isn't helping.

The art, by the way, has picked up in the last week or two, and the Neal Adams style rendering isn't bad, though there's a few panels with some clumsy interpretations of Keith Giffen's layouts. All-in-all, though, they're improving greatly in the art end of things.

Turning away from the sub-atomic realm, Wally West (The Flash) is still dealing with Trickster and Pied Piper. He becomes convinced of their innocence, takes them to a safe place, and warns them to stay put -- or else. Of course, Trickster's first instinct is to escape, and, well, that turns out about as well as anything else he does.

Mary Marvel and Klarion -- I'm having some trouble following just what happened here. Mainly what I got from it is that he's being controlled by Eclipso.

Jimmy Olsen is running for his life from folks who turn out to (arguably) be his friends. Not much more to say here.

The editors are finally throwing us a bone with a page of notes on story crossovers so far. It's a big help in finding where stuff is going on that's not shown in the book. I'd still like to see embedded editor's notes or a regular page of notes, but this is at least a big step in the right direction.