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Well, here we are: the final issue of Countdown.  51 weeks ago, DC promised that this book would become the spine of the DC Universe.  Instead, lackluster plots, incredibly decompressed storytelling and irrelevant crossovers paralyzed the series.  Countdown rapidly became the train wreck of the DC Universe.  About half way in, the series was changed from Countdown to Countdown to Final Crisis and a glimmer of hope appeared to fans that the series could redeem itself.  Now, with the final issue, I am sad to report that it has not. 

Is the problem that Countdown was bad?  Not really.  If Countdown was done as an ongoing series, I’m sure it would have been better received.  Despite some sloppy characterization and hit or miss art and writing, Countdown had some pretty good issues (the Flash’s funeral and the Myxlplik issues come to mind).  Each month, the back-up origins for the villains were expertly written and illustrated.

Unfortunately, Countdown was not an ongoing series; it was maxi-series.  As a result, Countdown should have told a complete story. That means that there should have been a beginning, middle, and an end.  Instead, Countdown contained numerous beginnings, several middles and virtually no end.  For example, Salvation Run began in the pages of Countdown (and was the catalyst for the Piper/Trickster storyline) but never finished or was mentioned again.  Likewise, Amazons Attack weaved in and out of Countdown and actually revealed the identity of a major player months before their identity was revealed in Countdown. The same can be said for the Death of the New Gods miniseries, which was not an official tie-in but arguably ended in the pages of Countdown # 2 with some major deaths.  On the other hand, several characters were introduced (Bob the Monitor, Forerunner, and Lord Havok) that served no purpose other than to sell tie-ins like Countdown to Adventure, Lord Havok and the Extremists, and The Search for Ray Palmer.  There was an overarching senselessness to Countdown.  Mary Marvel took thirty issues to become evil, ten issues to find redemption and then became evil again over the course of a single issue.  The Challengers storyline dragged on and on until Green Lantern could finish up his appearance in The Sinestro Corpse War and join the team.  Jason Todd inexplicably became Red Robin and then stopped for no reason whatsoever.  Finally, a giant Jimmy Olson destroyed most of Metropolis in a fight against a giant Darkseid, while Superman casually watched.  Readers hoped and believed that there must have been some overarching story connecting these random characters and event.  There was not.

Countdown Issue 1 attempts to provide an epilogue of sorts to the series.  Arguably, Countdown told the story of several heroes and villains.  This epilogue shows what happened to each of them (except for Karate Kid and Una, both of who suffered a horrible, senseless and unnecessary deaths). Some (like Piper) grew from their adventures; some (like Mary Damn Marvel) regressed; some (like the Challengers) assumed new responsibilities; some (like Jimmy Olson, Jason Todd, Harley Quinn and Holly Robinson) stayed exactly the same; and some (like Buddy Blank, Brother Eye and Kamandi) just ended bizarrely.  Unfortunately, Countdown leaves us with more questions than answers. For example, what happened with Monarch? Where is Superman Prime? What happen to the virus that was so very important five issues ago and what was the point of all of those atom shaped inoculations?  And what was the real deal with Orion last issue?  Apparently, these questions will need to be addressed elsewhere.  Through most of this series, the readers waited for something to happen. Unfortunately, I guess we have to wait a little longer.

So, why was there a Countdown at all?  Perhaps it was to set up Final Crisis by establishing the New Challengers as the Monitors of the Monitors or to make Kamandi the Last Boy. Or even to turn Mary Marvel as the big damn bad.  If this was the case, DC could have accomplished this an oversized special (or one or more short mini-series) rather than a year-long event. 

Dan Didio all but acknowledged Countdown’s failings at the DC Nation panel at the New York Comicon.  Sometimes things work, sometimes they don’t. Didio requested that we not lose faith in DC.  And he is right. DC has given readers a great continuous story from Identity Crisis through the Infinite Crisis series and mini-series and into 52, arguably the best series in years.  Yes, DC lost some footing with Countdown. I have no doubt this will be rectified in DC Universe 0, Final Crisis and Trinity.  It is a great time to be a comic fan.

Countdown to Final Crisis 1
“Loose Ends”
Head Writer: Paul Dini
Story Consultant: Keith Giffen
Penciler: Tom Derenick
Inker: Wayne Faucher
Colorist: Pete Pantazis
Letterer: Swands
Cover: Andy Kubert, with Pete Carlsson

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