Road to Final Crisis part 4
Countdown to Final Crisis
COUNTDOWN
JIMMY OLSEN. Ok, let’s get the dead weight out of the picture first! Well (sigh), I can’t really call Mr. Olsen’s part in all this uneventful, much to my dismay (as I really hate him), because he seems to be serving a very important role within these pages. It all starts out with him investigating the death of Duela Dent where he is attacked by Killer Croc. Instead of being an evening snack, Mr. Olsen (I refuse to call him Jimmy) surprisingly exhibits the power to stretch, ala Elongated Man and Plastic Man, allowing him to cheat a much needed demise. Soon after, he starts displaying various other powers under life-threatening situations (super-speed, being able to project spines from his body, etc, etc….). Mr. Olsen then bears witness to the death of the New God, Lightspeed, prompting him to have dreams of being in the source wall (what separates the DCU from the source). This leads him to track down a former minion of Darkseid but before he could get any useful info out of him, he’s killed (the minion, not Olsen, damnit!)
With his newfound abilities and with a newfound sense of purpose (thanks to inspiration from the eulogy of Bart Allen, The Flash who was killed), Mr. Olsen adopts the superhero persona of Mr. Action and tries to gain entry into various superhero teams (failing miserably) before John Henry Irons runs a test on our ‘hero’ that nearly kills him (but does cause revealing images of the Source Wall and of multiple Earths.). A little deflated upon leaving there, Mr. Action is met by two members of Cadmus who offer to help him…..the whole ‘take you back to HQ and run some tests kinda help’. Things (of course) doesn’t quite go as planned as his powers go haywire and he runs off to prevent injury to others, running into the Newsboy Legion first and then the female humanoid bug, Forager, who asks his help in stopping whoever is killing off the New Gods. What follows is a madcap adventure into the heart of Apokolips where they are captured, saved, and eventually returned to Mr. Olsen’s apartment. Along the way, Mr. Action keeps exhibiting even more powers (including those of a Mother Box) and even lives up to his heroic name by planting a wet kiss on Forager upon returning to Earth. Through that kiss, Forager is able to discern that Mr. Olsen is a soul catcher, collecting the spirit energy of the gods.
HOLLY ROBINSON & HARLEY QUINN. Speaking of dead story weight, we first see Holly as she arrives in Metropolis, looking to get a fresh start. Soon after arriving (and saving a man from an unknown force that killed Mr. Olsen’s former minion of Darkseid source), she is offered a home at a woman’s shelter where she meets former Joker babe, Harley Quinn. After witnessing hate protests (the byproduct of that Amazon attacks storyline no one read) and the refusal of a pregnant woman into the shelter, Holly seeks out the head of the shelter ‘Athena’, telling her of her outrage. Athena convinces Holly to undertake a quest that leads her to a royal rumble (actually called a ‘purification ritual’, if I remember correctly) where various women (including Harley) are made to fight. The battlefield settles with only Holly and Harley still standing. The reward? A trip to Themiscrya, where they are put through some near-lethal tests to prove themselves. Soon after their arrival, the curiosity bug hits and the girls discover a cave where they are confronted by a woman with a sword. This figure is revealed to be Hippolyta, who reveals that Athena is a fake and cautions them to play along for now.
APOKOLIPS. Meanwhile, in a room that has a very interesting game board with pieces depicting various heroes and villains, Darseid and Desaad discuss the coming of a time where reality will be recreated with Darkseid as the architect. Basically Darkseid is being his normal, manipulating self. The highlights of his appearances in Countdown are where he is implied as being an outside manipulating force by the Monitors and when Eclipso brings Mary Marvel before him to become his new sorcerer (which she declines). But you know such a force as Darkseid will be central in any upcoming major events so stay tuned for more from Apokolips.
KARATE KID. We get a little crossover action as we first see Karate Kid during the Lightning Saga that took place in both Justice books, League and Society. His early appearance in Countdown was nice as it gave us a different look at his fight with Batman. At the end of that arc, Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl are left behind as the Kid starts showing signs of an illness. A search for confirmation (and a cure) leads them to Oracle who determines that the virus he’s carrying is either alien in origin or too advanced for her to determine. She directs them to a Mr. Orr for further help, where they have to fight through his bodyguards to see him. He then directs them to yet another researcher when he determines that the virus may be related to OMAC (we also get to see a link between Orr and Desaad). Karate Kid and Trip Girl then meet up with Professor Buddy Blank who takes them to see Brother Eye, confirming that the Kid is infected with a variation of the OMAC virus (and making a reference to “The Great Disaster”).
Brother Eye directs Karate Kid to Bludhaven where there is said to be a similar strain of the virus he has. (We soon get a glimpse of Darkseid watching this group travel through Bludhaven as he holds a chess piece that looks like the Professors son) In Bludhaven, they meet up with Firestorm and as the Karate Kid’s condition worsens, they find a cavern underneath the surface (another flash shows the Monitors watching and commenting on ‘The Great Disaster’ that would unfold if the infection were to spread) where they take on the Atomic Knights. They then break into a vault found within this cavern and discover Professor Stein being held captive by Desaad who then steals the power of Firestorm. During the ensuing fight, the Atomic Knights show back up and separates Desaad from Firestorm. Desaad then makes a hasty escape to Apokolips before being captured. Not deterred, the group heads deeper into the cavern where they come across a sealed door. Attempting to open it causes Brother Eye to become active once again, breaking free and heading straight for Bludhaven, declaring that the Karate Kid is in final gestation and that the virus’s release was immanent. It then converts Bludhaven into its new base, growing larger and larger.
TRICKSTER & PIPER. Like with The Lightning Saga, Countdown also tied in with the ‘Full Throttle’ story arc over in Flash where the Rouges, featuring our two boys, plot and eventually kill Bart Allen, the Flash. Afterwards, we are given a pretty madcap flight scene, throughout many issues, that combines aspects of both the Fugitive and Hot Shots. They are temporarily captured at the funeral of the Flash by Multiplex and Deadshot, who slap special handcuffs on them that causes electrocution if they separate too much. After a cunning escape, they are once again running scared. Their flight brings them into contact with many heroes seeking retribution for the Flash’s murder. The more notable ones are Wally West (Flash….not the dead one), the Question, and Batwoman as well as villains like Poison Ivy, Penguin, and Deathstroke. It’s in the middle of all this that they run into the villain Double Down, who informs them of the disappearance of several villains. Soon after, the trio is attacked by the Suicide Squad who captures Double Down. Using the Tricksters cloaking field, he and Piper manage to evade capture yet again and decide to follow the Squad, hoping to free the captured villains. They follow them to a government facility where they free Two-Face who tells them Checkmate is behind the abductions. They are soon forced to flee again as Deadshot is hot on their tails. It’s not long after this that Deadshot kills Trickster, activating a fail-safe in the cuffs that will cause them to explode. Piper, escaping Deadshot in the dessert, is able to slow the countdown but is soon afflicted with heat delirium, imagining Tricksters corpse talking to him.
MARY MARVEL. We first see Mary as she emerges from the coma she was placed in at the beginning of the Trials of Shazam mini-series. Powerless, she decides to try and find Shazam with the hope of getting her powers back. Her search leads her to an unlikely person, a fully powered Black Adam, who is tired of his powers and transfers all of them to Mary. Afterwards, she is summoned by her brother, who informs her that he (Billy Baston) will be taking the place of the wizard Shazam while Freddy Freeman will be replacing him as Captain Marvel. He also shows concern that she has the power of Black Adam. She vows to him that she will use the power for good and begins doing so in Gotham when she runs into the reformed Riddler, thinking him to be behind a theft. Mary soon learns of the real villain, Clayface, and brutally apprehends him. The violence she uses on him shocks her and makes her doubt herself but under the advice of the Riddler, she seeks out a mentor to help her control the power….a mentor by the name of Zatanna. Unfortunately, it doesn’t last long as the blackness developing inside Mary causes her to turn on Zatanna, resulting in her expulsion from Zatanna’s mansion. Not long after this, she finds a new mentor, Eclipso, who seeks to corrupt her and bring her under the control of Darkseid. But things don’t quite go according to plans as Mary overcomes the darkness within her, rejecting Darkseid, defeating Eclipso, and ultimately sacrificing her new power in the process. We last see her on the island of Themiscyra, where she is recruited by Holly and Harley.
THE CHALLENGERS (Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner, Bob, and Jason Todd). This whole mess starts with the death of Duela Dent by a ‘rouge’ monitor (claiming that she shouldn’t exist), as witnessed by Jason Todd. At the funeral for Duela, Jason meets up with Donna Troy where they speculate about their existence. Soon after, during a brief interlude of Amazon Attacks, Jason and Donna are attacked by the Forerunner, a warrior sent to kill them by the monitors. They are saved by another monitor (later known as Bob), who seeks to enlist their aid to find Ray Palmer, who entered the nanoverse at the end of Identity Crisis. Bob claims he is the key to surviving the upcoming crisis. With that end in mind, they seek out the current Atom to enlist his aid in entering the nanoverse. Entering the nanoverse, they are soon captured but are saved by the intervention of Kyle Rayner, Green Lantern. Kyle, after saving them, informs the group that they must search the multi-verse in order to find Ray Palmer. So, after ditching the Atom, they begin their search for Palmer in earnest. They end up traveling through a number of worlds, temporarily being joined by the Jokester of Earth-3 (the father of Duela Dent) before he is killed by a Monitor. It’s on Earth-12 that the group is given the hint they need to find Palmer (and we are shown the continual sense of individuality of the Monitors). That hint leads the team to Earth-51, a somewhat perfect world where the heroes have won the day and are all retired, where we find our Ray playing the part of that worlds Ray (after having witnessed his death in a lab experiment). In this world, he never became the Atom and is living the life of ease and happiness with his wife, a sane Jean Loring. The group locates him but are shocked as Bob attempts to kill him, slaying that worlds Barry Allen, Ralph Dibny, and Jean Loring before the Challengers are able to get Ray to safety. Soon after, Monarch and his armies arrive as well as all the Monitors and one big mega-brawl ensues. We learn that this worlds Ray Palmer held a gene that gave him an immunity to a special disease and that out Ray was able to recreate it and has been placing this gene in individuals throughout the Multi-verse. Also of interest, Jason is captured by this world’s Batman who is a tad bit gun happy.
THE MONITORS. This is a somewhat confusing section to write on as the Monitors did not gain individuality until recently so let’s just hit the highpoints. They are responsible for the Forerunner who is now the general of Monarch’s army. She turns on them after they destroy her world. Following the actions of the Forerunner throughout this series, we see how Monarch builds his army. One Monitor goes to the source wall to divine a solution to the ‘Great Disaster’ and is told Ray Palmer. After reviewing the history of the Multi-verse, it is decided that anomalies such as Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner, and Jason Todd should be eliminated. The monitor’s gain a sense of individuality, ruining the plan of one to absorb the rest and become a singular, all-powerful being. Other key areas can be found in the other entries.
SUPERBOY PRIME. Taking place after the events of the Sinestro Corps war, we see an adult looking Prime traveling the multi-verse, seeking his ‘perfect’ world. He sets up a base within the source wall where he traps and tortures Mr. Mxyzpltk as well as an evil Zatanna, to force them to give him their magic powers as the energy he siphoned during the Sinestro Corps war will eventually leave him. Mxyzpltk eventually escapes back to his 5th dimension (sealing it forever) and Prime kills evil Zatanna and destroys his base. He then moves on to the Multi-verse Nexus where he runs into a Monitor, demanding his help. They are soon joined by a somewhat surprised Forerunner.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Whew!!! That’s a lot of info to digest but it gives you a general sense of where we’re at leading up to Final Crisis. I recommend taking a few minutes and reading our man Dante’s past reviews of Countdown to get a complete feel of this book and make sure to keep a watch to CraveOnline for continuing coverage of Countdown as we get ever so closer to the main event! Thanks to all of you who read this 4 part lead-in and I hope it left you as excited for Final Crisis as I am.
