Reviewer: Iain Burnside
Story Title: N/A
Written by: Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka & Judd Winick
Penciled by: Rags Morales, Ed Benes, Jesus Saiz, Ivan Reis & Phil Jimenez
Inked by: Michael Blair, Ed Benes, Jim Palmiotti, Marc Campos & Andy Lanning
Colored by: Moose Baumann, Hi-Fi, Paul Mounts, Guy Major & Steve Firchow
Lettered by: Nick J. Napolitano
Editor: Dan DiDio
Publisher: DC Comics
Starting in October, DC will launch a seven-issue limited series by Geoff Johns & Phil Jimenez called INFINITE CRISIS, which will be a sequel of sorts to the infamous CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS series that restarted DCU continuity. The existence of this new Crisis has been rumoured by fans for years – pretty much ever since the Perez & Wolfman story wrapped back in 1986 – with the anticipation increasing tenfold over the past year. Little known to the casual observer, Dan DiDio, DC’s Editor-in-Chief, sat down with the writing team of this book – Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka and Judd Winick – along with a few other select individuals just over three years ago and began planning exactly what was to happen in the run-up to the main event.
Ever since that first meeting, those plans have been busy coming to fruition in the background of nearly every mainstream DCU book that the company has been publishing. No matter what characters you may prefer to read about, they have all been playing an unwitting role in the greater scheme of things. From Wonder Woman to Power Girl, Superman to Adam Strange, Batman to Blue Beetle, they have all been pieces on the giant chessboard that is the DCU, slowly being moved into position for an attack they do not yet realise is upon them. The most striking example of this did of course arise in last year’s controversial IDENTITY CRISIS murder-mystery by Brad Meltzer & Rags Morales.
In it, several controversial revelations about *ahem* sins past of several heroes and villains came to light. The repercussions of that series are still being dealt with in several titles but nowhere more candidly than right here in COUNTDOWN, an 80-page, US$1 one-shot designed to offer an easy jumping-on point for new readers as DC begins to pull all of their carefully-constructed threads together in preparation for October. The aforementioned writing team works with five separate art teams, one for each chapter of this book, as they take us on a whistle-stop tour of the DCU. But what’s it all about?
Well, if IDENTITY CRISIS was the murder-mystery then COUNTDOWN is the crime-drama and our protagonist is none other than Ted Kord, a.k.a. the second Blue Beetle. It’s a good choice, certainly. Not only is Beetle a character that could believably have relationships all throughout the DCU, but he is essentially just a regular guy. An incredibly bright and brave guy that dresses up in a costume to fight crime, sure, but when the rest of the cast includes Martian telepaths and the offspring of Greek Gods then he may as well be the guy behind the counter in your local convenience store. If they were after a hero that long-term fans could care about while newcomers could relate to then they would have struggled to make a better choice. In fact, once you peel away the added layers of this story, Beetle’s character is very much the core not just of COUNTDOWN but of everything that is to follow in months to come…
First of all though, let’s take a look at the DCU through ol’ Ted’s eyes. As those who have been reading Winick’s BATMAN will know, Kord Industries has been having severe financial difficulties that have left it on the verge of bankruptcy. They will also no doubt be aware that one hundred pounds of Kryptonite (from the arrival of Supergirl, as seen in Jeph Loeb’s SUPERMAN/BATMAN) has gone missing. Those who weren’t in the know are quickly brought up to speed here as these problems are expanded further. As it turns out, several million dollars has been siphoned off of Kord Industries through WayneTech and into several smaller accounts, with the receipts implicating the involvement of something called the O.M.A.C. Project. As for the Kryptonite, well, it had been left in the care of Kord Industries to be safely disposed of alongside S.T.A.R. Labs before being stolen. Yes, there is no doubt that Beetle has a lot on his plate here… And that’s not even taking into account his concerns over the emotional and physical wellbeing of “the best friend [he] ever had”, Booster Gold; or the magical scarab of the original Blue Beetle suddenly glowing; or the shocking and repeated attempts on his life; or, perhaps most importantly, his deep-rooted uncertainty over his place in the grand scheme of things when surrounded by such larger-than-life superheroes.
What is interesting is how the heavy-hitters in this universe are presented to us. Batman, never exactly the paragon of social grace at the best of times, is seen as more paranoid and unbalanced than he has been in a long time, struggling as he is to come to terms with the realisation that the Justice League took his memories in IDENTITY CRISIS. Green Lantern is portrayed as a beacon of light even more inspiring than the Olympic Torch… in this case the bearer is Hal Jordan, but that’s not the point – it is the ring that is the important thing here. Superman is aptly described by Beetle with the, frankly, genius line that “he makes you feel useless and important at the same time.” Wonder Woman fares just as well in that regard – as Beetle puts it “…she knows you, knows everything about you, the best and the worst… she knows and she loves you anyway.” We have one of the greatest non-super powered detective minds on the planet clouded with rage and doubt, a reassuring glimpse at the greatest weapon in the known universe, and two Gods walking the Earth. It is quite the combination.
Of course, they are not the only people to come into contact with Beetle over the course of these 80 pages, and much has been made of the manner in which many of these superheroes ignore his cries for help. Certainly it is hard to stomach that in this day and age of wooly timelines and patchwork continuity, every available hero would be too busy with their own problems to lend more than a cursory helping hand to Beetle yet those are the cards dealt here. Some of them are easier to understand than others, such as J’onn J’onzz giving priority to an urgent distress call from Adam Strange over Thanagar’s armies invading Rann; or the Wizard Shazam having sent Captain Marvel to deal with the pressing matter of a now host-less Spectre. Some are more bitter and harder to understand, none more so than the Oracle flat-out ignoring Beetle’s calls for help as he zeroes in on the manipulative source behind all of his troubles.
Who or what is that source? Well, that would be telling. Suffice it to say that it provides an even bigger mystery than it resolves. Still, considering the very nature of the book, it would be churlish to expect absolutely everything to be neatly wrapped up within these 80 pages. This is the jumping-on point, not the entire journey. It is the movie trailer for the feature presentation that will be INFINITE CRISIS. Like all good trailers, from Star Wars to The Matrix and beyond, its job is to wet the audience’s appetite by giving them an indication of what is to come. Some of them may well hate that indication but that is not the point, the point is to ensure that they’re on the internet within minutes to register their disgust or pleasure with like-minded people across the planet. In that regard, COUNTDOWN has been a complete success. Whether or not INFINITE CRISIS will succeed in the far trickier task that awaits it is an entirely different matter altogether. It is entirely harder to judge as well, for it is still not altogether clear what can be expected from it. For that, DC will be releasing five stepping-stone mini-series over the coming months (namely – VILLAINS UNITED, DAY OF VENGEANCE, THE O.M.A.C. PROJECT, THE RANN/THANAGAR WAR and THE RETURN OF DONNA TROY), aiming to provide a better understanding of the DCU’s future.
Certainly, since COUNTDOWN is meant to set the pace for what is to come, this will be a good indication of whether or not readers will want to be a part of what is to come. Many will probably choose not to be, as this tone is far darker than what many readers would prefer to see. In this day and age, however, does the comic book world really need or want another over-the-top, remote and incredible threat from a far from remotely-credible villain from the far-reaches of space and/or time? Would it not be more prudent to base a Crisis in a more grounded and understandable setting – something that fans can relate to just like they can relate to Ted Kord here? Judging by the self-deluding explanations offered up by Ted’s secret nemesis, it seems like the true problem lies in humanity deciding how to deal with changes within itself in preparation for their future. That the real villains are not really villains at all but people taking matters into their own hands to ensure that humanity does not succumb to the “roughly one point three million” metahumans on Earth – and in particular the aforementioned heavy-hitters.
This is the ultimate grey area and there can be no turning back from it now. It is the same sentiment that made the non-super powered Batman into DC’s most profitable franchise. It is the same premise that has fuelled countless Lex Luthor stories over the years. It is now being taken to new extremes that will test the patience of some of the most stringent DC fans, yet they should know better than most that there is always hope. That the brightest days and blackest nights are not always so far removed from one another. They should also remember this simple statement from Dan DiDio – “Comics are a medium to be enjoyed by all. Remember, buy what you read, and read what you love.”
So, is COUNTDOWN worth getting? Of course it is. For this price-to-page ratio you would have to be doing something illegal to get a better deal. Also, no matter what you may think of DC’s current direction, the chances are that you probably owe it to them to check this out. Think of how brave they are being in carefully constructing this narrative in the background of so many titles over the past year, of the passion the talents involved clearly have for their work (and let’s hear it for the superb artwork in this book, which has regrettably been largely overlooked in this review in lieu of The Bigger Picture), and of how they could have played it safe and offered up the Anti-Monitor II or some such nonsense instead. If you have ever enjoyed a comic that DC has published then it’s time to repay the favour and see what they are up to. Despite the flaws that will be found inside – and they vary from person to person – there is a chance that you just might want to stick around…
