Special Crossover-Fatigue Edition (Countdown/52/Infinite Version):
Countdown to Final Crisis #26 — Writers: Paul Dini with Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti; Art: Scott Kolins
At the halfway point, we get a title change and a style change, as the story (at least for this issue) becomes more linear: the Monitors gather, review what’s happened so far, and vow to actually, you know, do something. If you haven’t been buying this, it’s a midseason clip-show summary to get you caught up, but it’s still got portentious dialogue, tons of characters from alternate universes, mediocre art, and six long months to go.
Countdown Presents: Lord Havok and the Extremists #1 — Writer: Frank Tieri; Penciller: Liam Sharp; Inker: Rob Hunter
Like a bad ’90s Image flashback: scratchy art with lots of gritted teeth, posing and punching; a clever-but-socially-retarded 14-year-old’s idea of comic-book dialogue and sexual relationships, and lots of people you’ve never heard of doing confusing and unpleasant things for no good reason. Oh, and it ties into the Countdown that shipped four issues ago, so it’s actually a flashback. This book might be best seen as an historical artifact: it sums up most of what’s wrong with DC right now.
Countdown to Adventure #3 ( of 8 ) — (First Story): Writer: Adam Beechen; Pencils: Eddy Barrows; Inks: Julio Ferreira; (Second Story): Writer: Justin Gray; Art: Fabrizio Fiorentino
The Lady Styx virus starts to infect the populations of both Earth and Rann, turning them homicidal, so we get to see Buddy’s son stabbing Starfire like something out of a bad horror movie, and Adam Strange getting lots of blasters pointed at him by people dressed in his old costume. Also, Ellen accuses Buddy of having the hots for Kory, in a remarkably bad soap-operish turn that I’ll bet was mandated by DC editorial. The back-up Forerunner story has more interesting art, and an alternate-Earth Gotham City where everyone’s a sorcerer, but it’s not worth picking up this book for.
Countdown to Mystery #2 ( of 8 ) — (First Story): Writer: Steve Gerber; Penciller: Justiniano; Inker: Walden Wong; (Second Story): Writer: Matthew Sturges; Artist: Stephen Jorge Segovia
This is the best of the four Countdown tie-ins this week, since Gerber knows how to set up a story, and his novice Doctor Fate at least has a brain and actual characterization (plus, the Paul Gulacy cover, although overcrowded, is nice to look at). Still, the novice-Doctor-Fate bit has been done so often that it’s hard to care, and the art is just OK. The Eclipso-Spectre-Plastic Man-Creeper backup story inverts the problem: the art is interesting, but the characters commit actions (i.e., Plastic Man becomes a bad guy) solely because they have to get from Point A to Point B before the Final Crisis thing starts, whether it makes any sense or not.
52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen #3 (of 6) — Writer: Keith Giffen; Pencils: Pat Oliffe; Inks: John Stanisci
Fairly standard stuff, as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman square off against probably the least interesting characters from The Weekly Series Before Countdown. Giffen’s strength is his dialogue, and his plots aren’t stupid, but when you’ve got the Big Three fighting apocalyptic agents of destruction, and your most interesting character is Snapper Carr, you’ve got a problem.
52 Aftermath: Crime Bible: Five Lessons of Blood #1 (of 5) — Writer: Greg Rucka; Art: Tom Mandrake
Oops — how did this get in here? It’s an actual stand-alone story, with the new Question, and it has both a good script and good art. Never mind; this one, I’m actually buying.
Infinite Halloween Special #1 — …
13 stories, so if you think I’m listing the credits you’re crazier than the Arkham inmates in the framing sequence. This belongs here because DC put “Infinite” in the title for no good reason. As a horror anthology, there are a lot more misses than hits; interestingly, the stories that look good on paper (a Paul Dini Zatanna offering, a Kelly Jones-drawn Red Rain episode) don’t pan out that well, but there are some unexpected pleasures (a Steve Seagal/John Paul Leon Smallville strip is the most chilling, and Ian Churchill offers some good art on an otherwise one-joke Dan Didio script). Even with over 25 different creators, I couldn’t find enough I liked to justify the $6 price, but your mileage may vary.
Phil Mateer
