COUNTDOWN PRESENTS: LORD HAVOK AND THE EXTREMISTS #1
Written by Frank Tieri
Art by Liam Sharpe
Another week means another new Countdown tie-in or, at least, that's the way it feels. Surprisingly, just about every tie-in has been pretty good. With that said, this is the only tie-in I was originally anticipating when DC first announced the 20 or 30 (estimate) tie-ins for Countdown and I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed.
This issue is basically establishes the Earth-8 universe. DC took the Marvel analogues of the Extremists that much further by featuring their own versions of Iron Man and Captain America, both of which joined together on this Earth to form a new government with their version of the Super-Hero Registration Act - the Metahuman Act.
They take this alternate version of Marvel's Civil War and have the 'heroes' controlling the world and placing anyone that disagrees with or resists into concentration camps or outright kills them. It's a fun spoof and I'm kind of disappointed they've killed off a lot of the characters already, as they could have just as easily used them later on if they ever tried to re-visit this Earth.
After establishing this Earth and its heroes, the remainder of the issue is dedicated to Lord Havok's rise to power and the formation of the Extremists. After systematically killing this world's Iron Man and current president, known as Tin Man, on national television. Afterwards, Lord Havok begins taking over other countries and it is noted he wiped Russia off the map. The issue ends with the arrival of the Challengers from Beyond from Countdown.
I have some minor complaints with this issue. For a mini-series, they rushed through an awful lot of background material for this Earth and I'm honestly not sure what else they'll be doing with this series. It tells us to continue the story in Countdown #29, which was 3 or 4 weeks ago, for the rest of the story and then be back next month for the "last days of the Extremists".
I haven't kept up with solicits for this series, but I honestly can't tell what it's going to be about at this point in time. I like the characters and seeing DC's version of the Squadron Supreme using the Marvel contemporaries, but is there a story anywhere in this series? Is this just here to sell more Countdown issues or cash in on a tie-in? Is it supposed to be a Countdown supplement or its own book?
Verdict - Check It. Every other Countdown tie-in, with the exception of Search For Ray Palmer: Wildstorm, left me with the feeling that it was a unique story and deserved to be told. At this point I'm not sure if this series needed to be anything more than a one-shot, but I'll give it another chance next month to prove me wrong.
This issue is basically establishes the Earth-8 universe. DC took the Marvel analogues of the Extremists that much further by featuring their own versions of Iron Man and Captain America, both of which joined together on this Earth to form a new government with their version of the Super-Hero Registration Act - the Metahuman Act.
They take this alternate version of Marvel's Civil War and have the 'heroes' controlling the world and placing anyone that disagrees with or resists into concentration camps or outright kills them. It's a fun spoof and I'm kind of disappointed they've killed off a lot of the characters already, as they could have just as easily used them later on if they ever tried to re-visit this Earth.
After establishing this Earth and its heroes, the remainder of the issue is dedicated to Lord Havok's rise to power and the formation of the Extremists. After systematically killing this world's Iron Man and current president, known as Tin Man, on national television. Afterwards, Lord Havok begins taking over other countries and it is noted he wiped Russia off the map. The issue ends with the arrival of the Challengers from Beyond from Countdown.
I have some minor complaints with this issue. For a mini-series, they rushed through an awful lot of background material for this Earth and I'm honestly not sure what else they'll be doing with this series. It tells us to continue the story in Countdown #29, which was 3 or 4 weeks ago, for the rest of the story and then be back next month for the "last days of the Extremists".
I haven't kept up with solicits for this series, but I honestly can't tell what it's going to be about at this point in time. I like the characters and seeing DC's version of the Squadron Supreme using the Marvel contemporaries, but is there a story anywhere in this series? Is this just here to sell more Countdown issues or cash in on a tie-in? Is it supposed to be a Countdown supplement or its own book?
Verdict - Check It. Every other Countdown tie-in, with the exception of Search For Ray Palmer: Wildstorm, left me with the feeling that it was a unique story and deserved to be told. At this point I'm not sure if this series needed to be anything more than a one-shot, but I'll give it another chance next month to prove me wrong.
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