COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS #24
Story by Paul Dini
Breakdowns by Keith Giffen
Script by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by Al Barrionuevo
I'll admit, I was a little upset that DC spoiled another part of the ending to the Sinestro Corps War by revealing Superman Prime would be jaunting around the Multiverse in his spiffy new black costume. It robbed the Ion VS Prime fight of any drama and potential for Ion possibly killing Prime and so on. This issue completely makes up for it and is the first time I have ever been this impressed with an issue of Countdown. The shift in focus and increase in quality since the change in name has really made a difference with this title. See that cover? In a normal issue of Countdown, that would be just eye candy and more than likely either character probably wouldn't have even been featured in that issue of Countdown. This issue though? That happens and so much more.
As revealed in this week's previews, Superman Prime is on the "perfect" Earth-15, which the Challengers visited a month or so ago and features a Zod Superman, a Jason Todd Batman and a Donna Troy Wonder Woman to name a few of this Earth's heroes. It's not explained how Prime arrived on this alternate Earth, but he's still the petulant little brat he's always been portrayed as and he quickly picks up where he left off a couple issues ago with the Lex Luthor of this Earth.
Prime appears to be dillusional and believes this Earth's Lex is the Alexander Luthor that promised him a perfect Earth. Prime doesn't believe this Earth is even close to perfect with a Zod as Superman and with all the legacy characters that have replaced the "real" heroes. He makes his opinion known to the heroes of this Earth as he systematically kills every single one of them, starting with Superman and ending with Batman. But wait, Prime isn't finished there. As Batman tells him, this Earth will never accept him. Prime seems to agree with that sentiment and destroys the entire planet, killing everyone, before leaving to find another Earth.
This is possibly a major turning point in the Countdown storyline and I'm curious to find out what happens when an Earth is destroyed. If New Earth, the current DCU's Earth, is destroyed, the Multiverse is supposed to collapse in on itself and be destroyed based on what I've read. Will destroying other Earth's have an affect on the stability of the Multiverse? I don't know, but I'm interested in seeing what Prime does next and how the rest of the Multiverse reacts.
On top of the entire destruction of Earth-15, Countdown managed to give us some development with Mary Marvel that didn't come off as forced or out of character as she rebels against Darkseid, himself.
My only complaint with the issue was with the follow up to the Desaad Firestorm possession from last issue. The Atomic Knights show up, throw a liquid metal grenade of some sort at him and it removes Desaad from Firestorm, ending the entire conflict in a completely random and unexplained way as Desaad teleports out. If someone has any idea what happened during that scene, please let me know.
Verdict - Must Read. Yes, I'm giving this issue a Must Read. This is the first time I've ever given a Countdown issue my full recommendation and I really can't find any faults with the issue outside the Firestorm conclusion, which, to be honest, wasn't even that bad. If you've been ignoring Countdown up until now or dropped it along the way, do yourself a favour and pick this issue up. I guarantee you'll like it.
As revealed in this week's previews, Superman Prime is on the "perfect" Earth-15, which the Challengers visited a month or so ago and features a Zod Superman, a Jason Todd Batman and a Donna Troy Wonder Woman to name a few of this Earth's heroes. It's not explained how Prime arrived on this alternate Earth, but he's still the petulant little brat he's always been portrayed as and he quickly picks up where he left off a couple issues ago with the Lex Luthor of this Earth.
Prime appears to be dillusional and believes this Earth's Lex is the Alexander Luthor that promised him a perfect Earth. Prime doesn't believe this Earth is even close to perfect with a Zod as Superman and with all the legacy characters that have replaced the "real" heroes. He makes his opinion known to the heroes of this Earth as he systematically kills every single one of them, starting with Superman and ending with Batman. But wait, Prime isn't finished there. As Batman tells him, this Earth will never accept him. Prime seems to agree with that sentiment and destroys the entire planet, killing everyone, before leaving to find another Earth.
This is possibly a major turning point in the Countdown storyline and I'm curious to find out what happens when an Earth is destroyed. If New Earth, the current DCU's Earth, is destroyed, the Multiverse is supposed to collapse in on itself and be destroyed based on what I've read. Will destroying other Earth's have an affect on the stability of the Multiverse? I don't know, but I'm interested in seeing what Prime does next and how the rest of the Multiverse reacts.
On top of the entire destruction of Earth-15, Countdown managed to give us some development with Mary Marvel that didn't come off as forced or out of character as she rebels against Darkseid, himself.
My only complaint with the issue was with the follow up to the Desaad Firestorm possession from last issue. The Atomic Knights show up, throw a liquid metal grenade of some sort at him and it removes Desaad from Firestorm, ending the entire conflict in a completely random and unexplained way as Desaad teleports out. If someone has any idea what happened during that scene, please let me know.
Verdict - Must Read. Yes, I'm giving this issue a Must Read. This is the first time I've ever given a Countdown issue my full recommendation and I really can't find any faults with the issue outside the Firestorm conclusion, which, to be honest, wasn't even that bad. If you've been ignoring Countdown up until now or dropped it along the way, do yourself a favour and pick this issue up. I guarantee you'll like it.
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