As If I Needed It, Another Reason to Hate Countdown

Recently I discovered an interview with Grant Morrison over at Newsarama. He discussed his plans for Final Crisis and the DCU and even addressed some of the complaints that have surfaced about Final Crisis #1 not jiving with Countdown or the Death of the New Gods mini series. You can read the whole thing for yourself but here are a few of the bits I found interesting...

"GM: Well, the way it worked out was that I started writing Final Crisis #1 in early 2006, around the same time as the 52 series was starting to come out...Final Crisis was partly-written and broken down into rough issue-by-issue plots before Countdown was even conceived, let alone written. And J.G. was already working on designs and early layouts by the time Countdown started. There wasn’t really much opportunity, or desire, to modify our content at that stage...so when Countdown was originally being discussed, it was just a case of me saying ‘Here’s issue 1 of Final Crisis and a rough breakdown of the following six issues. As long as you guys leave things off where Final Crisis begins, we‘ll be fine.’ Obviously, I would have preferred it if the New Gods hadn’t been spotlighted at all, let alone quite so intensively before I got a chance to bring them back but I don’t run DC and don’t make the decisions as to how and where the characters are deployed...J.G. and I had no idea what was going to happen in Countdown or Death Of The New Gods because neither of those books existed at that point. The Countdown writers were later asked to ‘seed’ material from Final Crisis and in some cases, probably due to the pressure of filling the pages of a weekly book, that seeding amounted to entire plotlines veering off in directions I had never envisaged, anticipated or planned for in Final Crisis. "

So Countdown and its ever abundant spin off mini-series and one shots were conceived and written after the die had already been cast for Final Crisis? Really? And still no one bothered to make sure everyone was on the same page? No one made sure Morrison knew about what was going on in the lead in to his series? No one made the other writers aware of what Morrison was doing? There were not just months, but years of lead in time to make sure everything went smoothly for what is unquestionably the most high profile book on DC's schedule this year and still something slips by the editorial staff? Are you kidding me?

Isn't Final Crisis supposed to be the series that solves DC's continuity mess and creates a sense of order and cohesion for the universe? Actually, isn't that what Infinite Crisis before it and Crisis on Infinite Earths before that were supposed to do? If you're writers and editors aren't on the ball to make sure everyone's working toward the same end then any sense of order and cohesion goes right out the window.

And another thing about the disconnect between Final Crisis and Countdown...

"GM: The way I see it readers can choose to spend the rest of the year fixating on the plot quirks of a series which has ended, or they can breathe a sight of relief, settle back and enjoy the shiny new DC universe status quo we’re setting up in the pages of Final Crisis and its satellite books. I’m sure both of these paths to enlightenment will find adherents of different temperaments."

Call me crazy, but I interpret a major part of this interview as Morrison washing his hands of Countdown, saying he doesn't care what happened in it, and giving a big middle finger to all the fans who spent well over $150 to read Countdown as a lead in to his Final Crisis. So the responsibility falls on Morrison for only caring about what happened in his seven issues, and then on Dan DiDio and the editorial staff for giving Morrison free reign and not making sure Countdown and the rest of the DCU fell in line.

This is not the way to build an orderly, cohesive universe. This is the way to make the "C" in "DC" stand for clusterfuck.

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds announced

Geoff Johns 3 Legion story has been something that he's been talking about vaguely for quite a while. Since the current Action Comics Legion story was first being talked about. I had always just assumed that it would be an Action Comics story, but that assumption was destroyed yesterday when Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds was announced.

I can hear the groans from here. Why is DC having one mini-series tie-in to another? Honestly, that is just the way things are. A company has an event, there are going to be extra books that tie-in to it. This is not something unique to DC. If it was, then you would not have had Civil War: Frontline, World War Hulk: X-Men, etc. Tie-ins are not necessarily a bad thing, so long as they remain only tie-ins. It is when a tie-in becomes an essential part of the story that there is trouble.

A tie-in should be supplemental to the main st experience, Marvel has done a decent job with this. DC, not so much. In the lead up to Infinite Crisis, DC had 4 mini-series going on. ory. From myOnce Infinite Crisis started, each of the minis had one special. These specials turned out to be necessary parts to fully understand Infinite Crisis, especially the Villains United special. DC appeared to have learned their lesson with the 52 tie-in, World War 3. While this event was a tie-in, and represented in 52, you did not need to read one in order to read the other. Unfortunately, DC showed they had not learned anything with the Countdown family of titles. But that is for another entry.

Too make a long story short, (too late) there is a way to write a successful tie-in, even if it is going to be a big event on its own. From interviews that I have read with Grant Morrison about Final Crisis, and Geoff Johns about Legion of 3 Worlds, it seems that they understand how to be successful. Grant has said that you do not need to read anything else, to understand Final Crisis. Geoff has said that while there is a launching point within Final Crisis, you do not need to read it to read his Legion story, and vice versa. So long as they stick to this plan, then things should go well.

Countdown: Arena

I can sum up my reaction to hearing that this mini-series was going to be made with one word: enthusiasm. I can also sum up my reaction to the mini-series after reading the fourth and final issue: disappointment. Now, disappointment does not necessarily mean that this was a bad mini-series. I have read much worse. But for me, the actual story did not live up to the concept.

Having heroes from different Earths fight each other sounded like a great idea. Monarch is going to use the winners in his army? Still a good concept. Have the captives team up to fight Monarch, thus taking away from the battles? Starting to lose me. Have the the captives fight, and a calvary come in, only to get demolished? Now you've lost me.

Monarch has already been established as a serious force. A mini-series was not needed to drive this point home. All it did was take away from the selling point of the mini-series. I bought the book to see three different versions of the same character fight it out for supremacy, not Monarch plow through everyone. After finishing this, it seems like they could have just put this into Countdown. Or maybe an 80-page special one-shot.

Keith Champagne's writing was not bad. The actual script was an easy read, and flowed smoothly. I know it is odd to not like a story and be okay with a script. It is possible for a bad story to be executed well, and a good story to be executed poorly. Here, Champagne does the best with the story he's been given. I am not a fan of Scott McDaniel's art. If you are, that's fine. It's just not my thing.

If at the end of Countdown, I am proven wrong, and this was necessary, I will come back and write a correction.

The Countdown Countdown

One Week Left...

Another week on the Countdown, another week of the stories casually milling around. (Jimmy Olsen is still deciding whether or not to go with Forager, even though it appears that was decided last week.) Well, that's not entirely true. Some of the stories leap forward to another chapter with little or no explanation. (The confrontation between Mary Marvel and Shadowpact that was set up in the last issue is already pretty much over by the time we get to it in this issue.) There's also the continued trend of characters dropping by to say hi and having no real impact on the story. (Two-face, anyone?) There was one thing that stood out in this issue, though: Jason Todd's turn. Him turning his back on his travel buddies to join Monarch's army was an actual exciting twist that came out of nowhere. And not the cheap, illogical "out of nowhere" that a lot of other things in this book have come from. Could this be the thing that saves the book for me? The follow up had better be good since next week is their last chance.

The Countdown Countdown

Two Weeks Left...

This week's Countdown #28 was actually a huge improvement over the previous week's, but that's not saying much. Aside from a small child using "I'll be your bestest buddy" to stop a crazed Brother Eye, there wasn't much to insult the intelligence like last week's installment. There was even some semblance of a couple stories actually starting to inch forward with Shadowpact looking to take down Mary Marvel and Jimmy Olsen finally having a purpose in investigating the deaths of the New Gods. But I have to say these new developments feel like part three of a story. Part one took place in the first few weeks of Countdown but we never got part two. How is Jimmy Olsen ready to go for a big time super hero mission when we don't even know why or how he has powers yet?

Could we really be leaving the Newsboy Legion behind so soon after meeting them? Like the Jokester and the majority of the characters from the other Earths, they just seemed to pop their heads up and say "Hi, we're in this book." and then fade away.

And would it kill DC give the reader a little heads up on whats been going on in the DCU between issues of Countdown? Marvel uses recap pages at the beginning of many of their books that make it possible to know what's going on in the event that you missed an issue. If ever a book screamed for that feature, it's Countdown. At the very least and check list of books you should read before reading this week's issue would help immensely. Then you wouldn't be spoiled on things like Big Barda's death in Death of the New Gods #1.

Countdown Advice

Unlike my distinguished colleague here at Comicdom Wrecks, I am enjoying the series. Don't get me wrong, I still think it should not have been done, but I'm not gonna stop buying it. Being a weekly series, it is getting compared to 52, but this is an unfair comparison. 52 was a stand alone series, that anyone could pick up and read. Countdown is not. Countdown was not advertised as such. It was advertised as the "spine" of the DCU, meaning that it was going to tie-in to everything. With that being said, there are 3 ways for someone to enjoy Countdown.

1) Buy every book DC puts out. This the most expensive and time-consuming of the ways to enjoy Countdown. If you buy everything, then you are guaranteed of not missing anything.

2) Find spoilers for the tie-in books. Somewhere, someone online is putting up spoilers for what has happened in the tie-in books. It should be DC, but unfortunately, they are not. Not sure why. They did it for Countdown to Infinite Crisis, and Infinite Crisis. But the message boards on DC's site probably have something. Or there's always Wikipedia.

3) Just accept it. By "just accept it," I mean that just accept that there are a ton of books that are connected to Countdown, and accept that what has happened between issues has happened.

Now, if you can't do any of these 3, then just don't read Countdown. All it will bring you is frustration.

The Weekly Pile

The Top of the Pile

Justice League of America #14 -4 out of 5- by Dwyane McDuffie & Ed Benes

Dwayne McDuffie's "Unlimited" story continues. This issue seemed more like an issue of Superman or Action Comics, than JLA. Which isn't really a bad thing. I just make the comparison because the issue is driven by the drama between Superman and Luthor. Something I haven't seen enough of in the Superman titles. But the Superman books are a rant for another day. Back to the League. I like the teaming of Black Lightning and Superman in this issue. I think it's a good thing for a team book like this to pair the minor characters with the major ones. But more importantly, to make them have just as much of a positive role in the action as the major players. This is important to building up the lesser known characters, so that one day, the Big 3 (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman) may be able to leave the book.

There's nothing complex about McDuffie's writing. It's just enjoyable. It was also nice having Ed Benes back to draw the issue. However, I don't think he's going to be around much longer. Thought I saw someone else solicited for the next story arc.


Rest of the Pile

Countdown #28 -3 out of 5- by Tony Bedard & Al Barrionuevo
See future article.

The Countdown Countdown

I mentioned in a previous post that I would only be giving DC's Countdown four more weeks to convince me to keep reading. For those four issues, I'll be posting a special review of them that I'm calling The Countdown Countdown. Enjoy.


Three More Weeks...

Let's see...a lot of other stuff has gone on with this series' characters since the last issue, so I'm kind of at a loss for some of it... I can barely handle the excitement when Jimmy Olsen teams up with the Newsboy Legion, who claim that they recognized "their old pal" Jimmy as Mr. Action even though his costume features a mask. I'm only bringing that up because it makes Olsen and everyone else look like an idiot for not picking up on Superman's secret identity when his costume is a pair of glasses...Piper & Trickster wanted for murder of one of the world's most beloved heroes, waltz into a diner during the day, in costume and claim to have passed themselves off as singing telegram guys...The Jokester dies after serving his purpose of, um, well nothing really. He was just sort of there to crack wise for a couple weeks.

Not only did nothing substantial happen, but the book was filled with enough flawed internal logic to choke an elephant. Better luck next week.

Book of the Week - 10/10/07

Booster Gold #3; rating 4 out of 5

Booster Gold and Skeets continue their mission of protecting the timeline. This week, they find themselves in the 1800s, in the company of the gunfighter Jonah Hex, protecting Superman. Someone is trying to alter the history of Jonathan Kent, so that him and Martha are not around to find the baby Kal-El. Another problem at hand is that someone has stolen the Supernova suit from Daniel Carter.

Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz did a fine job with the script. But then again, when Johns' name is on the book, the quality of the story is never really in question. The pacing of the story makes it a quick read. The dialogue moves nicely, and exchanges between characters is always enhancing the relationship between them.

Dan Jurgens artwork does nice job of adding to the story. The facial expressions just enhance what the characters are saying.


Rest of what I read:

Superman #668 by Kurt Busiek and Rick Leonardi; 3 out of 5; "The Third Kryptonian" story starts of with an adequate issue, setting up the rest of the story.

Countdown #29 by Adam Beechen and Manuel Garcia; 3 out of 5; Finally, Countdown seems to be going somewhere with this issue, which is much better than the last few.

Counting Down What's Left of My Patience

A little over eight months ago a friend convinced me to start reading 52, DC's weekly series that was supposed to chronicle what happed between Infinite Crisis and the One Year Later story jump. Issue #41 had just come out, so I sat down with a huge stack of books in front of me and cracked open issue #1. About three days later I was caught up and in love with the story. Now, I've never been a big DC fan but the story arcs contained in 52, particularly that of Booster Gold, enthralled me. I bought the last eleven issues of 52 myself and they didn't disappoint. That's why when DC announced that another weekly series, Countdown, would begin immediately following 52 I was excited. Here was a series where I could get in on the ground floor and if it was going to be anything like 52 I was in for a treat.

Fast forward twenty-one weeks and I'm still waiting for my treat. The first few issues of Countdown were interesting enough but the book has been spinning its wheels ever since. Here's what's happened in some of the storylines:

-Mary Marvel gets Black Adam's powers then starts to get bitchier by the week. She seeks help from Zatanna but thinks she's trying to steal her powers. The two fight and Mary takes off. She then accepts the help of Klarion the Witch Boy, who actually was trying to steal her powers. The two fight and Mary takes off. Now she's working with Eclipso and one can only wonder how that will turn out.

-Piper and Trickster were on the run because they weren't trusted by the rest of the Rogues, then they were on the run because they were accused of killing The Flash (Bart Allen). Now they're on the run because they escaped after The Flash (Wally West) caught them. They don't like each other and they're chained together. Hilarity ensues.

-Jimmy Olsen is somehow exhibiting random super powers. He can't control them and doesn't know how he got them or why he has them.

-Donna Troy, Jason Todd, and Bob the Monitor went searching first the Palmerverse (the microscopic civilization that exists all around us discovered by former The Atom, Ray Palmer) then the multiverse for Ray Palmer, who's been missing since the end of Infinite Crisis. Each week they seem to be on the trail only for someone to tell them that Palmer was here but he's gone now. Sorry Mario, but your princess is in another castle.

-There's supposedly a "great disaster" coming and absolutely no clues have been provided as to what it could be.

Now all those things, at their core, are interesting enough ideas. And if all these things were going on in, let's say, week ten that'd be fine. But this is week twenty-one. One more month and the series will already be half way over. We're still no better off at understanding what any of these stories mean, where they're headed, and how they're related to each other than when the book started. The series is progressing at a snail's pace. It's as if they know they don't have enough story to fill out fifty-two issues and they're producing filler. What this reeks of, I hate to say it, is DC wanting to cash in on the success of 52 with another weekly series. And that's a sound marketing strategy, so more power to them. But the readers will only continue to shell out the extra three bucks as week as long as you continue to produce a good product.

And that's what the point of this entry is, me deciding if I want to continue shelling out that extra three bucks as week as long as Countdown's going nowhere fast. And here's what I've come up with: DC, you've got me until week twenty-six. Four more issues. That's the exact half way point of the series. If there hasn't been at least one major development by then, I'm done. No more for me, thank you. The book's not bad, it's just not interesting. As I said I'm not a big DC fan, and maybe that's part of it, but I'd like to read more. So come on...give me a reason to keep reading Countdown.