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*A city engulfed in flames, the sky is red and ripples outward from a center point in the sky.
*A city engulfed in flames, the sky is red and ripples outward from a center point in the sky.
*In the top left-hand corner of the page is what appears to be the Joker, a [[Martian Manhunter|green Martian]] (carrying a bloodstained knife in his right hand)), and an unidentified Catwoman. The latter two have been revealed as members of the [[Outsiders (comics)#Batman & the Outsiders (vol. 2) (2007)|Outsiders]] as reformed by Batman. The Joker holds a [[joy buzzer]] behind Catwoman's back.
*In the top left-hand corner of the page is what appears to be the Joker, a [[Martian Manhunter|green Martian]] (carrying a bloodstained knife in his right hand)), and an unidentified Catwoman. The latter two have been revealed as members of the [[Outsiders (comics)#Batman & the Outsiders (vol. 2) (2007)|Outsiders]] as reformed by Batman. The Joker holds a [[joy buzzer]] behind Catwoman's back.
*In the top right-hand corner are three different versions of Superman, each one in a different costume. One of them has a glowing yellow hand which when magnified looks to contain an atomic symbol and the third is dressed in black and silver.
*In the top right-hand corner are three different versions of Superman{{fact}}, each one in a different costume. The first has the hair colouring and costume that appeared in Kingdom Come. The second has a costume that looks like that of [[Hank Henshaw|Cyborg Superman]] as a member of the Sinestro Corps. The third has a black costume, a silver S-shield on the cape and longer hair than Superman traditionally is shown with.
*In the bottom left-hand corner are Granny Goodness, Mary Marvel, and Eclipso. Mary Marvel's right hand is extending towards the sky, glowing with energy, and her uniform is the one she received after inherting Black Adam's abilities in ''[[Countdown]]''. Eclipso's hand can also be seen on Mary's waist. Eclipso and Granny Goodness are standing behind Mary Marvel.
*In the bottom left-hand corner are Granny Goodness, Mary Marvel, and Eclipso. Mary Marvel's right hand is extending towards the sky, glowing with energy, and her uniform is the one she received after inherting Black Adam's abilities in ''[[Countdown]]''. Eclipso's hand can also be seen on Mary's waist. Eclipso and Granny Goodness are standing behind Mary Marvel.
*In the center, in front of a half-buried statue of the head of [[Darkseid]], is Lex Luthor in a green and purple outfit, on his knees, his hands stained with blood. There is also a stain on his left arm, but nowhere else on his suit. He is looking towards the sky and screaming.
*In the center, in front of a half-buried statue of the head of [[Darkseid]], is Lex Luthor in a green and purple outfit, on his knees, his hands stained with blood. There is also a stain on his left arm, but nowhere else on his suit. He is looking towards the sky and screaming.

Revision as of 05:54, 5 August 2007

Template:Future comic

Countdown
Cover to Countdown #51 by Andy Kubert.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
Scheduleweekly
Formatlimited series
Publication date2007-2008
No. of issues52
Main character(s)Donna Troy
Karate Kid[1]
Kyle Rayner
Holly Robinson
Jason Todd
Jimmy Olsen
Mary Marvel
Pied Piper
Trickster
Creative team
Written byPaul Dini
Jimmy Palmiotti
Sean McKeever
Tony Bedard
Adam Beechen
Justin Gray
Artist(s)Keith Giffen
Jesus Saiz
Jim Calafiore
Carlos Magno
David Lopez

Countdown is a comic book limited series published by DC Comics, which debuted on May 9, 2007, directly following the conclusion of the 52-issue 52. The series is written primarily by Paul Dini, who will act as a showrunner, with a rotating team of writers and artists.[2] Countdown consists of 52 issues published weekly for one year, crossing over with noteworthy and significant titles published by DC. The series covers much of the fictional DC Universe and is told in parallel narratives, through the interconnecting stories of a cast of characters, and frequently crosses over with various other DC titles.[3] Within Countdown every four issues will directly correspond to a month, allowing such creative liberties as flashbacks and cliffhangers.

The series follows the success of the previous year's 52-issue weekly "real-time" series, 52, which in contrast did not cross over with DC's other regular titles. 52 concluded with the revelation that the Multiverse (a storytelling device which posits the existence of alternate realities) exists, and the Multiverse now serves as a backdrop to several stories in Countdown. As of issue #26, the series will be renamed Countdown to Final Crisis,[4] in the vein of the previous Countdown to Infinite Crisis limited series, albeit larger. The stories taking place in Countdown are expected to set the stage for the approaching "Final Crisis" series which like its predecessors, Infinite Crisis and Crisis on Infinite Earths is intended to be a major story in the history of the publisher which may possibly restructure the DC Universe in which its stories are set.

A backup story entitled "History of the Multiverse" appears in issues #49 through #39, with the creative team of Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund. It relays the publication history of DC Comics from an in-universe perspective to the reader, detailing the first meeting of the first and second Flash in "Flash of Two Worlds" through to the preceding events of 52 and One Year Later, as told by the fictional Monitors, who appear within the main story. Beginning with Countdown #38, the backup stories will tell the origin stories of various supervillains in "Secret Origins of the Super Villains", similar to those of various superheroes told in 52.

Story (as of #39)

Apokolips

On Apokolips, Darkseid and Desaad discuss the coming of a time with existence being recreated with Darkseid as the architect. Darkseid has what appears to be a gameboard with pieces representing the Joker, Donna Troy, Green Arrow, the Flash, Holly Robinson, Batman, Jason Todd, Hawkman, Killer Croc, Martian Manhunter, Superman, Wonder Woman, OMAC, Jimmy Olsen, Nightwing, Duela Dent, and Black Adam.[5] He is then shown monitoring his armies. Desaad and one of his Concubines stand next to him. Desaad leaves and the Concubine says that she is surprised how tender his feelings are. Darkseid then kills her and tells Desaad to remove the vocal cords from the next one. Forager is shown spying on them and is attacked by a guard, then escapes.[6]

Holly Robinson

Holly Robinson arrives in Metropolis, trying to get a fresh start[7] and before long she rescues a man outside of 666 Suicide Slum when an unknown force appears to kill Sleez,[8] a New God of Apokolips. Later she is visited by an Amazonian woman who offers her a home at a womens' shelter where she meets another young woman, the reformed Harleen Quinzel. After some hate protests as a fallout from the Amazon-American war, she is outraged to find that the shelter would refuse a single mother and seeks to speak to their boss and goddess, Athena. She tells Athena of it and Athena convinces her to go on a quest.

Jason Todd and Donna Troy

In New York City, former Robin and now "Red Hood", Jason Todd is witness to the murder of Duela Dent at the hands of a rogue Monitor, who claims her presence in this world is not tolerated, as she is from an alternate Earth.[5] Jason later meets Donna Troy after the other Teen Titans later pay their respects to Duela Dent's grave[9][10] and speculates that the two of them, like Duela, may not belong in this reality either. During the Amazons' attack on Washington D.C., Jason and Donna discuss the Monitors and the original Monitor and Anti-Monitor when they are attacked by the "Forerunner"[8] who had been sent by the Monitors. Another Monitor arrives to save Jason and Donna from the Forerunners and take them to safety.[11]

At the funeral of the Flash, Bart Allen, the Monitor tells Jason and Donna that Ray Palmer is alive and lost somewhere in the Nanoverse, and that locating him is key to surviving the coming crisis.[12] Donna, Jason and the Monitor (nicknamed "Bob" by Jason Todd), meet with current Atom, Ryan Choi in Ivy Town to recruit him in the search for Ray Palmer[13]. Within the Nanoverse, they are quickly surrounded and initially attacked by armed humanoids[14] whom after battling, decide to let them continue on their search. They then hit a flux of space where Bob mentions that they are being watched.[15]

Jimmy Olsen

Superman helps Jimmy Olsen locate the Red Hood, Jason Todd and conducts an interview with him about the death of Duela. Jason tells him everything he knows. He points him towards the Joker in Arkham Asylum. Joker doesn't know anything about the death of "the Joker's Daughter," stating he never had a daughter. He also seems to allude that he knows of a larger conspiracy at hand. While calling Lois to inform her of his dead end, Jimmy is attacked by Killer Croc[16] and much to Jimmy's surprise, his body stretches, similar to Plastic Man and the Elongated Man.[9] Jimmy begins to display other powers, such as super-speed[17] and investigating if he has other powers, discovers the ability to project spines from his body,[18] but is puzzled as to why some powers only pronounce themselves in certain situations. Witnessing the mysterious death of the New God Lightray[17] and dreaming of being trapped in the Source Wall,[7] Jimmy begins investigating. Prompted to come to 666 Suicide Slum, he meets a former minion of Darkseid named Sleez there who is killed before he can give in any real information, although "So begins the end" is ominously heard.[8]

After hearing the heroes' eulogies at Bart Allen's funeral, Jimmy resolves to become a hero with his new powers.[12] A week later, Jimmy has made himself a costume and decided on a name: Mr. Action.[14] Over the course of the next few weeks He revels in his new popularity and decides to try to join the Teen Titans.

Karate Kid

Tying in with the Justice League of America and Justice Society of America crossover with the Legion of Super-Heroes, "The Lightning Saga", we see a brainwashed Legion member: Karate Kid, fight with Batman in the Batcave, eventually subdued by Black Lightning.[16][19] After being held prisoner by the League for some time,[8] Starman then comes to talk to him. When he is released, he is joined by Dream Girl, Starman, and Doctor Mid-Nite on the Satellite. Dr. Mid-Nite informs the Legion that they are trying to locate their friends, and until then, they are not allowed to leave.[11] After being left in the 21st century by his Legion, Karate Kid is approached by Legion member Triplicate Girl with another mission.[13] Triplicate Girl, now called "Una" takes him to the Oracle's home, to which she knew the location, where they discover that someone is trying to steal the secret identities of heroes everywhere, which Oracle is attempting to prevent.[15]

Mary Marvel

Mary Marvel awakens from her coma after the events of The Trials of Shazam where she lost her powers mid-flight. Still without her powers, she leaves the hospital planning to find Freddy Freeman, who paid for all her hospital bills.[5] Madame Xanadu cannot locate Freddy for her, but warns her not to go to Gotham City, which Mary ignores. Chased by thugs through the Gotham subway, she finds the same tunnel where Billy Batson first met the wizard, Shazam, with the statues of the Seven Deadly Sins. Black Adam appears fully powered and saves her, before being rid of his powers, transferring them to her.[7] Mary believes that she has acquired the powers of Black Adam and the entire Black Marvel Family, including Isis. While battling a demon,[8] she is summoned to the Rock of Eternity by Captain Marvel who tells about his replacement of the wizard Shazam and Freddy's trials to become the new Captain Marvel. He scolds her for taking Black Adam's powers despite her protests that she will use her powers for good.[18] In Gotham, Mary comes across the Riddler at a crime scene and accuses him of the robbery that has just been committed. The Riddler claims he's innocent and reveals he is now a private contractor that was inspecting the crime scene. After apprehending the real criminal, Clayface with excessive violence, she fears Black Adam's powers have changed her and Riddler suggests she seek a mentor[13] as Eclipso watches with interest.[14] She goes to see Zatanna, a potential mentor, who can sense the new darkness in her powers.

The Monitors

After the death of Duela Dent, a Monitor consults the Source Wall as to the cause of rising tension in the Multiverse. After receiving the reply of "Great Disaster," the Monitor asks for a solution to this Great Disaster. The Source Wall replies "Ray Palmer."[5] At their headquarters, the Monitors discuss their goal of protecting the multiverse from crossovers. The Monitors discuss the history of the Multiverse in an attempt to understand how to deal with anomalies across the Multiverse.[9][17][7][8][11][18][12][13][14][6][15] The Monitors then vote to decide the fates of Donna Troy, Jason Todd, and Kyle Rayner. The decision is made to purge the anomalies.[16][9][17][7] With sentiment in favor of killing, the Monitors send their "Forerunner".[8] With Jason nearly beaten unconscious, Donna and the Forerunner fight until one of the Monitors saves them. Since she is a tool of the Monitors, she is not allowed to touch any of them. Having failed the mission, the Forerunner goes into self-imposed exile. Watching from a distance is Monarch (Nathaniel Adam), who believes she's too important to discard.[11] Taking her to the Bleed, Monarch then convinces her to help him destroy the Monitors. At first she, decides not to join, but is told that her people on Earth-34 were exterminated by the Monitors. She reconsiders Monarch's offer and decide to lead his army.

Pied Piper and Trickster

Tying in with the Flash: The Fastest Man Alive "Full Throttle" story arc, The Rogues have been reconstituted with a new membership of Heat Wave, Mirror Master, Captain Cold, Abra Kadabra, Weather Wizard, Trickster and Piped Piper, led by Inertia. Several Rogues distrust Trickster and Piper as they have reformed and sided with the Flash in the past.[7] The Rogues discuss their plans to kill the Flash. After he they succeed and he is killed in Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #13, Piper and Trickster are then shown on the run from the law for the killing of the Flash. Someone is following them. The two then attend the funeral of Bart Allen, but as they decide to split up, they are attacked by Multiplex and Deadshot. Escaping Deadshot, they seek sanctuary from "reformed" Gotham City villain The Penguin,[6] who eventually sells out their location to the Suicide Squad (comprised of Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, Plastique and Captain Boomerang, Jr.) although they evade capture.[15] Meanwhile, Oracle has been surveilling the pair and dispatches the Question[6] who confronts the fugitives with assistance from Batwoman.[15]

Since Countdown acts as the backbone to the overall DC Comics storyline, some events and plots play out in different comic book series.

Amazons Attack

Main article: Amazons Attack

Meanwhile, the Amazons invade Washington, D.C., led by a recently resurrected Hippolyta and Circe.[20][5][21][22]

The Lightning Saga

Tying into the Karate Kid storyline is the Justice League of America/Justice Society of America crossover "The Lightning Saga." The fight between Batman and Karate Kid is shown in both Countdown and Justice League of America. Dawnstar, Starman, Dream Girl, Timber Wolf, and Wildfire are all discovered stranded in the 21st Century. Initially it is believed that they came to the present to save Lightning Lad. It is later revealed that the Legion actually came to retrieve an (as of yet) unknown person, whose "essence" is now stored in one of the Legion's "lightning rod" devices. The Legion then escaped into the future, leaving behind Starman and Karate Kid.

An unforeseen consequence of the Legion's actions was the return of Wally West and his family. Brainiac 5 confirms this by implying West's return was a freak accident, but that they still retrieved the correct person the Legion came for.

Salvation Run

An upcoming story by Bill Willingham and Sean Chen is "Salvation Run", the story of various supervillains who have been captured for becoming a nuisance and abandoned on a planet somewhere away from Earth.[23] Regarding Countdown , Newsarama asked writer Willingham "Just to try and point out an example of this in action, would it be safe to say that Piper and Trickster would have found themselves on this world had they not escaped capture in Countdown?", to which the response was "That's a fairly safe guess." The Suicide Squad, behind the attempted captures of Piper and Trickster were also shown to have captured other Rogues in All-Flash #1[24] who are pictured on the cover for issue #1.[23] In Countdown, after escaping Suicide Squad member Deadshot, Piper and Trickster later evade capture from four other members in Gotham City.[15] Among those captured in the miniseries include Lex Luthor and the Joker, and the title refers to the planned escape from the planet as led by Luthor.

Promotional campaign

Pins

At the New York Comic-Con in 2007, DC distributed four pins, with the option of a fifth, promoting storylines in Countdown. The first four pins say: "WWMMD?" ("What Would Mary Marvel Do?"), "I Found Ray Palmer," "Look to the Skies!" and "Jimmy Olsen Must Die!". The final pin says, "Darkseid Rules!"[25]

First Teaser Image

The first teaser image for Countdown, by Phil Jimenez. DC released image captioned: "Let the battle cry be heard in the land, a shout of great destruction..."

A teaser poster was released, which shows Wonder Woman comforting Superman, Batman in a different costume (with a sword and what appears to be chain mail armor) and Donna Troy wearing her Wonder Girl costume again. Kyle Rayner is wearing a yellow power ring, and Mary Marvel is shown partially in shadow. An unidentified Mister Miracle (wearing Scott Free's costume) stands next to Big Barda. Also notable among the poster is a Legion flight ring, a minuscule red hand (the Atom's) sticking out of the rubble, and the bodies of Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), Maxwell Lord, The Question (Vic Sage), and Jade — major or notable heroes who have recently died. The heroes are gathered around the head of the Statue of Liberty; the decapitated body of the statue can be seen in the background.

While alternately revealing[26] and retracting his statements about Jason Todd being the new Red Robin, he confirmed the latter within the pages of DC Comics as of July 2007.[27] Didio had also previously named Barry Allen would be the returning Flash.

In later interviews, Dan Didio finally explained the symbolism of the image in light of the fact that a second was soon to be released.[28]

Second Teaser Image

The second teaser image for Countdown, by Ethan Van Sciver.

Recently, a second teaser image was released by DC comics to the website Newsarama.com. Drawn by Ethan Van Sciver with the caption "...And Evil Shall Inherit The Earth", Dan Didio has stated that it '...will get us to the end of Countdown.'[29] The poster contains:

  • A city engulfed in flames, the sky is red and ripples outward from a center point in the sky.
  • In the top left-hand corner of the page is what appears to be the Joker, a green Martian (carrying a bloodstained knife in his right hand)), and an unidentified Catwoman. The latter two have been revealed as members of the Outsiders as reformed by Batman. The Joker holds a joy buzzer behind Catwoman's back.
  • In the top right-hand corner are three different versions of Superman[citation needed], each one in a different costume. The first has the hair colouring and costume that appeared in Kingdom Come. The second has a costume that looks like that of Cyborg Superman as a member of the Sinestro Corps. The third has a black costume, a silver S-shield on the cape and longer hair than Superman traditionally is shown with.
  • In the bottom left-hand corner are Granny Goodness, Mary Marvel, and Eclipso. Mary Marvel's right hand is extending towards the sky, glowing with energy, and her uniform is the one she received after inherting Black Adam's abilities in Countdown. Eclipso's hand can also be seen on Mary's waist. Eclipso and Granny Goodness are standing behind Mary Marvel.
  • In the center, in front of a half-buried statue of the head of Darkseid, is Lex Luthor in a green and purple outfit, on his knees, his hands stained with blood. There is also a stain on his left arm, but nowhere else on his suit. He is looking towards the sky and screaming.
  • In the bottom right-hand corner is the Trickster, holding a musical pipe, standing with Desaad and the Penguin. The Trickster stands on Superman's cape while the Penguin stands on Batman's cloak and cowl.
  • Strewn about the ground are a broken green arrow with a silver point, the Crime Bible, a shield, Superman's cape, a Bat-suit, a sword, broken skis and poles, and other unidentified items. The familiar item from the first Countdown teaser image is next to Luthor's left leg.
File:Dscountdown.png
The teaser poster for Countdown with Darkseid on it.

Posters

A series of promotional posters highlighting the main characters in Countdown have been released over several months. They also appeared as full paged ads in comic books and Wizard. These include:

  • Eclipso extending a hand to Mary Marvel and a message that reads "Seduction of the Innocent".
  • An angry Ray Palmer under a magnifying glass with the message "I Found Ray Palmer!".
  • Jimmy Olsen looking up fron the bottom of the poster with the message "Jimmy Olsen Must Die!"
  • The hands of the Trickster and the Pied Piper handcuffed together, reading "Villains Defiant!"
  • Darkseid's face with the message "Unto Man Shall Come... A Great Disaster".

In house ads

A series of in house adds have run through DC's comic books based off of the pins and posters. These include:

  • Eclipso wearing a "WWMMD?" button.
  • Red Robin wearing an "I Found Ray Palmer!" button.
  • The Joker wearing a "Jimmy Olsen Must Die" Button on his lapel. Another image has the Joker grinning while wearing Jimmy's press pass, his bowtie, and his Superman signal watch.
  • Granny Goodness wearing a "Darkseid Rules!" button.
  • Superman wearing a "Look to the Skies!" button.

A series of in house ads for series under going revamps have begun to appear. These ads incorporate the series' title as a partial crumbling stone block on a white background and the tagline "The Countdown continues". This series so far includes:

Notes and references

  1. ^ DiDio, Dan (2007-05-09). "DC Nation #59-b". DC Comics. Retrieved 2007-06-30. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  2. ^ Purdin, Rickey (2007-02-20). "Countdown: DC unleashes its next weekly comic event, and head writer Paul Dini gives Wizard the exclusive scoop!". Wizard Universe. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  3. ^ "Counting Down: Dan DiDio and Mike Marts on DC's New Weekly Series". Newsarama. 2007-02-20. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  4. ^ http://www.newsarama.com/Comic-Con_07/DC/countdownpanel.html
  5. ^ a b c d e Countdown, no. 51 ((May 9, 2007)). DC Comics.
  6. ^ a b c d Countdown, no. 40 ((July 25, 2007)). DC Comics.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Countdown, no. 47 ((Jun 6, 2007)). DC Comics.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Countdown, no. 46 ((Jun 13, 2007)). DC Comics.
  9. ^ a b c d Countdown, no. 49 ((May 23, 2007)). DC Comics.
  10. ^ Teen Titans, vol. 3, no. 47 ((Jul 2007)). DC Comics.
  11. ^ a b c d Countdown, no. 45 ((Jun 20, 2007)). DC Comics.
  12. ^ a b c Countdown, no. 43 ((Jul 4, 2007)).
  13. ^ a b c d Countdown, no. 42 ((Jul 11, 2007)).
  14. ^ a b c d Countdown, no. 41 ((July 18, 2007)).
  15. ^ a b c d e f Countdown, no. 39 ((August 1, 2007)). DC Comics.
  16. ^ a b c Countdown, no. 50 ((May 16, 2007)). DC Comics.
  17. ^ a b c d Countdown, no. 48 ((May 30, 2007)). DC Comics.
  18. ^ a b c Countdown, no. 44 ((Jun 27, 2007)). DC Comics.
  19. ^ Justice League of America, vol. 2, no. 8 ((Jun 2007)). DC Comics.
  20. ^ Amazons Attack, no. 1 ((Jun 2007)). DC Comics.
  21. ^ Wonder Woman, vol. 3, no. 9 ((Jun 2007)). DC Comics.
  22. ^ Teen Titans, vol. 3, no. 48 ((Aug 2007)). DC Comics.
  23. ^ a b "SDCC '07: BILL WILLINGHAM ON SALVATION RUN". Newsarama.com. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
  24. ^ All-Flash #1
  25. ^ "NYCC 07: DC's Countdown Pin-centive". Newsarama. 2007-02-22. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  26. ^ Huxford, Kevin (2007-02-24). "NYCC '07: DC Nation Panel". Newsarama. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  27. ^ "DC Nation" Justice Society of America, vol. 3, no. 7 ((July 2007)). DC Comics.
  28. ^ Newsarama.com: DAN DIDIO COMES CLEAN ON THE COUNTDOWN TEASER IMAGE
  29. ^ Newsarama.com: DC's SECOND COUNTDOWN TEASER IMAGE: HIGH RESOLUTION
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