38 and counting...

Mister Action! Robin! Hero versus Her... um. Never mind.

Once again, Jimmy manages to make a fool of himself. Oh, it's not that he doesn't have the powers, it's that he hasn't taken the time to think things through. So, he goes and applies to the Teen Titans for membership. Only thing, it didn't occur to him in advance that his powers only work when his life is in danger. So, no powers when he tries to demonstrate. Ouch.

I'm assuming his powers somehow know whether an attack is going to be life-threatening. Does that mean there's a sentience behind the powers? Otherwise, how exactly would this work?

Mary Marvel and Zatanna find their cruise ship under attack, and find themselves fighting Slig, of the Deep Six. Things don't turn out well. We do get our first glimpse of Eclipso, though. For anyone who's forgotten, she's also known as Jean Loring, the person who set into motion the whole sequence of events leading from Identity Crisis to Infinite Crisis to 52 to Countdown and, next spring, Final Crisis.

Pied Piper and Trickster have their confrontation with Batwoman and The Question, and they don't end up looking too good. On the other hand, they do get let go once The Question decides they're morons who would have been incapable of killing the Flash.

We get a brief look-in at the Monitors, who've realized that Bob, Jason Todd, and Donna Troy are missing from the multiverse, along with Ryan Choi. One of them ties this in with the missing Ray Palmer, Ryan Choi's predecessor as The Atom. For folks who are supposed to be nigh-unto omniscient, and who have theoretically been keeping their beady little glowing-red eyes on Jason and Donna, they certainly mucked this one up.

Oracle (Barbara Gordon) is simultaneously fighting the Calculator in two different arenas. First, there's the attempted hack on her database servers, and secondly there's a global virus attack (intended to sew chaos and distract her from fighting the hack). Need I mention that she shuts both down cleanly, mightily pissing off Calculator in the process.

We also get to see some of the other heroes fighting the chaos. Superman, Power Girl, and Supergirl keeping aircraft from colliding. We've got Green Lantern rescuing a space shuttle whose computers are down. The JSA recaptures escapees from "Stryker's Island" in Metropolis. Okay, Metropolis is loosely based on New York (as is Gotham City, for that matter), but is it really necessary to have stupidly named and thinly-veiled versions of New York's landmarks? Stryker's Island? As opposed to Ryker's Island in New York? Shgeesh. It's a name that might have worked in the forties or fifties, but nowadays it's enough to pull you out of the story. At least it did for me.

Oh, and we saw Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters stopping some nuclear-tipped missiles from successfully launching. It seems they thought that dropping nukes on our allies would be a Bad Idea. Silly heroes. They should have checked first with George W. and Dick C. They wouldn't have been distressed by an accidental nuke or seventeen.

Finally, we have the start of the postponed meeting between Oracle, Karate Kid, and Una. We don't find out much new, but what we do discover... if true, it's a big one.

Oh, yeah, just one more thing... Darkseid. We're starting to get a clue of his plans, and I'm beginning to think he's been a prime mover behind the scenes for several years now. He's working on something called the New Multiversal Dynasty. This sounds double-plus-ungood.

39 and counting...

Countdown 39 (from DC Comics, in case you haven''t been paying attention) doesn't flow quite as well as the past few issues, but it's still a big step above the early issues of the series.

Karate Kid and Una break into Oracle's 'inner sanctum, only to find that someone is doing a fair job of hacking her system. This is a bad thing beyond what you might expect, since she's got one of the world's most comprehensive databases of information on superheroes -- including their true identities. Ouch!

Piper and Trickster are still hiding out beneath the Penguin's Iceberg Lounge. After a nice meal (courtesy of Penguin) they're interrupted by the Suicide Squad. Plus, Trickster suffers another attack of homophobia. Their squabble ends abruptly when they're confronted by the Question and Batwoman.

Traveling deeper into the, um, Palmerverse (no ego problems there, either, I guess), Donna Troy, Jason Todd, Ryan Choi, and "Bob" end up in what looks a lot like Frank Brunner's version of a Doctor Strange dark dimension. I guess they shoulda taken a left turn at Albuquerque.

Mister Action seems able to handle street-level crime easily enough, but he's not really too attentive to the details. Getting distracted by the grateful -- and somewhat passionate -- thanks for saving a woman's purse, he begins mulling joining a team. In the process he forgets about the perp, who rapidly (and cautiously) slinks away. Jimmy's got hero potential, but he's also got potential to become a joke.

Holly Robinson is starting to see through Harley Quinn's facade. Yes, she's no longer idealizing the Joker and emulating his behavior, but she now seems to be devoted, in the same unhealthy way, to Athena.

Athena explains to Holly that her facility isn't designed to be able to handle persons with family responsibilities. Holly's "somewhat dubious" about all this, and Athena invites her to sit in on a "self-esteem workshop". I'm wondering just what goes on in the workshops. I guess we'll find out shortly.

By the way, as you may have notices, I'm generally not covering the back feature, the serialized History Of The Multiverse. Mainly this is because it's not really a story. It's basically an illustrated discourse on how we got from the original Crisis On Infinite Earths to the present. As such it's a fairly good precis. As a story, though, well, it's a dead zero. The way it's structured we have the Monitors standing around telling each other what they already know. It's pure exposition with no real story attached. As such there's nothing really to go over. I'll probably mention it if there's anything new that's worthy of note. It'll be ending soon, anyways, as the back feature turns to biographies of the villains.

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.