DCU Comic Book Reviews

COUNTDOWN #51 (9-May-2007)

Look To The Skies

Written by Paul Dini

Pencils by Jesus Saiz

Inks by Jimmy Palmiotti

Cover by Andy Kubert

Synopsis

Darkseid senses at time fast approaching when existence will be recreate and he will be the architect.  Elsewhere, the Joker’s Daughter kidnaps a famous singer.  Before a ransom demand can be made, the Red Hood rescues the singer.  Duela, however, is able to get away.  Meanwhile, Mary Marvel is finally released from the hospital with a note from Freddy Freeman tell her not to search for him.  Elsewhere, the Flash’s Rogues are planning a big get together.  Later, Duela is still running when she is attacked by a Monitor.  The Red Hood tries to stop the Monitor, but fails as the monitor kills Duela.  The Monitor then plans to kill the Red Hood, but is stopped by another Monitor.  At the source wall, the second Monitor seeks answer to what is happening.  He receives a message of “A Great Disaster.”  When he asks what the solution would be, the answer is “Ray Palmer.”

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

For a first issue this was fairly underwhelming.  I am not sure what I was expecting and I conceded that after the ending to 52, perhaps I was expecting a little bit more.  Some of this feeling may have to do with the fact that there are two scenes (Rogues and Mary Marvel) that really don’t do much for the story other than to say, “look these two are important.”  Even Duela’s death was underwhelming. When she died, I had a slight, “uh” attitude and kept on reading.  However, I get the feeling that the who is less important than the why, but that really did not become clearer until the ending.

The core of this series seems to revolve around the multiverse and the monitors who are now considered to be continuity cops.  They wander around the various universes to make sure no one makes a jump to another universe.  Given the fact that the first Crisis created such an upheaval in terms of character continuity (Power Girl, Hawkman), it will be interesting to see how this ideas plays out in the next year. 

The last time Duela had been seen in the DCU, she was rejecting Deathstroke and the Titans East to join the Teen Titans.  The last time the Red Hood was seen, he was in Star City, running guns and fighting against Green Arrow and Batman.  Essentially, both characters are now acting opposite what I would expect them to act.  Red Hood is not a vigilante.  While he might stop Duela from kidnapping the singer, he would do it for his own personal benefit, not just to rescue her and hand her over to the cops.  Duela might go back to a life of crime, after all she is a little bit on the crazy and unpredictable side of things, but it is still jarring to see her acting differently than what I last remember.

I think the success of 52 has affected Countdown and I am not sure this is a good thing.  Remember, the idea of 52 was to take low-level characters and use them to view the DCU in that missing year.  In the process what 52 managed to do was elevate these characters and make them bigger than they were to the point that they will star in their own books.  Because of this, Countdown has taken its own share of low-level characters and will attempt to elevate them.  What Countdown forgets is that 52 had to take low-level characters because not only were the big guns missing but all of the major characters were had gone through One Year Later changes and thus were not available as well.  Let’s face it, Steel and Booster Gold were picked because the writers had to.  Red Hood and Mary marvel were picked because editorial wanted them.  There is a big difference, with Countdown feeling more calculated than 52.  That’s not to say this book won’t work or the character’s won’t work, but for this issue I feel like the story is secondary to the editorial dictates of plot, a feeling I never felt during 52. 

Comic Connection

The Joker’s Daughter first appeared in Batman Family, issue #6 (1976) and became a member of Teen Titans at the end of the original series in the late 70s. 

Jason Todd first appeared before the first Crisis in Detective Comics, issue #524 (March 1983).  He became the second Robin in Detective Comics, issue #526 (May 1983).  The joker killed him in Batman, issue #428 (1988).  Jason Todd's return from the dead was first seen in the "Hush" storyline and then completely in the "Under The Red Hood" storyline beginning in Batman, issue #635.  The explanation for his return from the death was in Batman Annual #25 (2006).

Mary Marvel first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures, issue #18 (December 1942).  The explanation for Mary Marvel being in a coma occurs in Brave New World and then in the Trials Of Shazam.

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