Author: Chris Clow
Wednesday, June 6, 2007

EDITOR'S NOTE: COUNTDOWN consists of 52 issues, published weekly for one year, and will act as the "spine" of the DC Universe. This multi-series will consist of 52 issues numbered in reverse order. The first issue is numbered "51" and the final issue -- which will be released in 2008 -- is numbered "0".

In COUNTDOWN, each issue represents one week. Consequently, every four issues will equal a month in the DC Universe. Our reviews/summaries will indicative of this "month" in the DC Universe.

The main characters of COUNTDOWN include: Donna Troy, Karate Kid, Kyle Rayner, Jason Todd, Jimmy Olsen, Mary Marvel, The Pied Piper, and The Trickster among others. - Jett

FINALLY!

After fifty-two long weeks of an awesome story, we've finally wrapped up the missing year in the DCU. All the holes have been filled. And we can finally have a small break focusing on maybe a crossover or two, instead of these mega events which seem to engulf us whenever they come along.

Oh, wait.

On the heels of 52, we have Countdown. We don't know exactly what it's counting down to yet, but it's liable to be a…

…guess what?

A mega event which will probably engulf us.

Negativity was my first reaction. Not only at that, but having read the entirety of 52, I was also disappointed that DC raised the weekly comic price from $2.50 to $3.00. Now I've heard a lot of people just say, "Lighten up, it's not that much!" While it's not an enormous deal, I still feel a little bit bad about this. That's a full $26 increase in the yearly arc. I could get a UFC pay-per-view, or nine other comics for that. It's more money. So, I was ready to let this one pass by. That is, until I read #51.

So far, we've just gotten past the four issue mark with this series. There was an unexpected death (although the impact hasn't been big yet), Jason Todd is seemingly reforming himself, and Jimmy Olsen might have a taste for Gingold. On top of all that, Mary Marvel might be warming up to Black Adam. Yikes!

So, after the first month of story, and settling all the other qualms I had, I'm enjoying this book so far. It's awesome how it's weaved in and out of the JLA/JSA crossover, and we get a chance to see more of the characters that haven't been around for awhile. Although it's hard to give a full classification since we're 1/13th of the way to the end, but Paul Dini at the helm means that wherever the story ends up going, we're in for a wild ride.

NEXT: Issue #47-#44

JETT'S TAKE: I’ve said it many times over the years that when it comes to comics, I’m pretty much a “Batman Guy” only. Growing up -- and still today -- my comic book reading was and is fairly exclusive to Batman. With that said, I am a “DC Guy” too and I am familiar with the various characters that make up the DC Universe.

While I read INFINITE CRISIS, I did not when it came to IC‘s follow-up, 52. Due to the fact that 52 got such rave reviews, I decided that I would buy and read DC’s next year-long and weekly multi-series, COUNTDOWN.

So far, so good is how I would explain my take on the first “month” of COUNTDOWN. I’m particularly interested in seeing what happens with Jason Todd, who is one of the main characters. The Batman has shown up -- albeit briefly -- and how The Dark Knight and his world will ultimately fit into this story does peak my interest.

Also, will the events of COUNTDOWN spill over into the regular monthlies? We shall see.