Comic book geek warning! Non comic readers run and hide!
Last year, DC comics ran a series called 52. One issue a week for 52 weeks. They never missed a deadline, though sometimes things were being changed up to the last minute, and the art wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen, but they got it done. 52 took place in it’s own world. While all the main titles skipped ahead a year, 52 covered a year without Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman. There was a World War (which sucked in its execution but was a cool concept), there were characters I’d hated whom I now accepted, though sadly Martian Manhunter fell to ‘most annoying character.’ Still the crux was ‘What do these people do without their idols?’
And it worked. There were rough patched connections, edits that made things confusing, and characterizations that felt wrong until the end. 52 mostly pulled itself off, though making Mister Mind the Big Bag was iffy. I liked it, however, and I re-read it already.
Countdown is this years weekly drama, only it’s different. 52 had its own world, it didn’t exist in any of the main comics and it was secluded. Countdown has it’s finger in every pie and touches every comic. Someone at Wikipedia wanted to make a list of tie-in issues, and I pointed out, they touch about 4-6 other comics in each issue. 52 * 5 = 260. That’s a huge fucking list!
And worse, the intent behind Countdown is that it’s the ‘spine’ of the DC Universe. Sure that sounds cool until you find out you’re reading a damn recap issue of the rest of the DCU! And the fantastically limited linearity of 52, where each issue was 7 days, was tossed in favor of each month of issues being a month of subject time, and not all the cross-over comics do that! Time is broken!
That’s a joke anyone who read 52 will get.
Countdown is a great idea with sucky execution. 52 was a good idea with good execution. Countdown already got dropped from my pull sheet. Sorry, DC, I’ll be picking up Renee Montoya as the Question, and Batwoman when you bring HER back, and Black Adam and the Marvels, who are now cool again and not cheesy, but … You’re already screwing with me over Wonder Woman, and you’re not catching me here!