Comments on Rokk's Comic Book Revolution: Comic Book Review: Countdown #29

Excellent points as always, Kirk. I dig your idea...

2007-10-12T08:57:00.000-04:00

Excellent points as always, Kirk. I dig your ideas for possible deaths for the Jokester more than what we got in this issue. I have to believe that Dini is going to have the Jokester come back to life. He got way to much attention to be nothing more than mere cannon fodder.

I agree that it doesn’t appear that Mary Marvel has any real path of redemption before her. I guess it is possible that Mary may stay a villain after Countdown ends. The only path of redemption possible for Mary that I can see is her sacrificing herself unexpectedly like Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi and dying while “doing the right thing.”

Great point about the Newsboy Legion! They found Jimmy in the sewers in no time flat! What do they have Jimmy tagged and track him using a GPS?

Thanks for the heads up on the Extremists. I’ll probably check out any one-shot that might be released for Earth-8. Now that I have more background information on these characters, I might enjoy them a bit more!

Thanks for the info on the Extremists, Captain Qwe...

2007-10-12T08:51:00.000-04:00

Thanks for the info on the Extremists, Captain Qwert. After a quick search I see that they first appeared in Justice League Europe #15 in 1990.

That explains why I didn't recognize this group at all. They debuted roughly 4 years after Crisis on Infinite Earths and in 1990 I was staunchly anti-DC and collected almost no DC titles at that point.

Ilan, excellent point! I agree that Dini hasn't r...

2007-10-12T08:47:00.000-04:00

Ilan, excellent point! I agree that Dini hasn't really blown me away with his different alternate Earths. I would think that DC would be smart enough to not immediately reveal all 52 Earths in order to leave some options open to other writers at a later date. Of course, with Dan Didio at the helm you can't always expect DC to do the smart thing.

Hey, it is nice to hear you have one of those uncles, too! Mine is Uncle Rojelio. His rambling stories rarely make sense and pretty much put me to sleep.

Anonymous, I definately agree that if Joker is not...

2007-10-12T08:44:00.000-04:00

Anonymous, I definately agree that if Joker is not dead, then it is still a lame and unoriginal plot move. You are wise to simply "monitor" and not purchase this title!

This was a step down from the last 2 issues, but s...

2007-10-11T20:34:00.000-04:00

This was a step down from the last 2 issues, but still a lot better than pretty much all the first 20 or so issues of Countdown were.

Agree completely with the Jokester thing. Why build up his origin and show Eve crying over him leaving in the Search for Ray issue? Why let him follow them through the portal in the first place? Why didnt they just let the Crime Society kill him or Owlman personally? If they were going to kill him, I was hoping for him to at least go out saving Jason Todd or possibly be beaten to death with a crowbar by an evil Batman from another Earth mirroring Todd's death.

My only guess is that he isn't dead and Lord Havoc will experiment on him or he is only on the brink of death.

I'm not really agreeing with the Mary Marvel stuff, but I'm happy to see if finally moving for a change. However, it doesn't look like Eclipso is even doing anything to provoke her to do this evil. Can't see any real path to redemption for her.

As for Newsboy Legion, what were they doing in the sewers? Jimmy was down there for like 5 minutes and they were looking for him? Huh? That's some quick movement to get into position. Hopefully this has some reasoning behind it and not just another Dini-ism put in to move the plot ahead by any means necessary.

Oh ya, if you can't tell Rokk, Lord Havoc and the Extremists are Marvel characters or at least all are based upon Marvel counterparts.

Lord Havok = Dr Doom
Dreamslayer = Dormammu
Gorgon = Doc Ok
Tracer = Sabertooth
Dr Diehard = Magneto

There should be a miniseries for this or one shot (i forget if its an 8 issue thing or only a Search for Ray Palmer) coming up featuring these. If you are unfamiliar with any of these guys, that tie-in should actually be one of the better Countdown tie-ins (at least I hope it will) and probably give you a better enjoyment out of this issue once you get to know who all these random guys were. Better art might help too. >_>

Kirk Warren
The Weekly Crisis

The villains of Earth 8 are a demonic take on the ...

2007-10-11T18:41:00.000-04:00

The villains of Earth 8 are a demonic take on the Extremists, which was one of the better story lines of Justice League Europe during the Giffen/DeMatteis era, though with roots to the Satellite League

They were an alliance of DC versions of Marvel Villians:Lord Havok-Doctor Doom, Gorgon-Doc Ock, Doctor Diehard-Magneto, Dreamslayer-Dread Dormammu and Tracer-Sabertooth

This is going to sound werid, but I like the fact ...

2007-10-11T17:41:00.000-04:00

This is going to sound werid, but I like the fact that nothing happens in the whole earth hopping thing. We have see Dini come up with two earths so far, and frankly, they are both dull. One where the only diffrence is that other people are the same heros and one where aliens have invaded. I think each new earth should be something wonderful and exciting and diffrent, and it's clear that Dini doesn't have the chops for it.

I would rather the rests of the earths remain a mystery. That way, over time, a really talented writer with a really great idea could come up with something special, as oppssed to Dini who seems to be wasting earths. Remember, it's not infinite earths, just 52, so evert sucky sotry takes a slot away from a good one.

I had a lot to say about the Jokester, but you already said it, so I'll just agree and add that he would have been a fun character to see in the main DCU. Imagine him teaming up with the Batman. Plus, I was hopping him and Jason would have it out. It's a wasted story idea.

I'm still not sure whats going on with the Holly sotry line. It's kind of like my uncle who tells long stories that don't really go anywhere, and ar'nt really that intersting.

Agreed completely about Jokester (and, from my int...

2007-10-11T16:55:00.000-04:00

Agreed completely about Jokester (and, from my internet browsing here at work, the majority of people seem to agree on that point). If he's not dead, it's still lame (Ha! You thought he was dead but [plot device] ended up meaning he survived!).

I'd actually considered picking Countdown up after generally avoiding it because of the slow storylines (Hello, Karate Kid!), ones I thought were stupid (Mary Marvel), and so on, but it seems safely within my "monitor for events, but don't actually buy" list.

You are right. I looked back and the issue and th...

2007-10-11T16:30:00.000-04:00

You are right. I looked back and the issue and the Jokester takes a blast in the back for Kyle or Donna. Not to sure which one he was saving. Either way, it was definately a waste of a good character.

I guess there is a chance that he isn't quite dead. But, it sure looks pretty unlikely that he is still alive. Maybe Dini will surprise us.

As I understood it, the Jokester went out saving s...

2007-10-11T14:56:00.000-04:00

As I understood it, the Jokester went out saving someone else from the Evil Monitor, which isn't quite "going out like a bitch," although it was a waste of a good character.
Is there a chance he isn't quite dead yet?