Countdown to Final Crisis #25 Review

COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS #25
Story by Paul Dini
Breakdowns by Keith Giffen
Script by Adam Beechen

It's not a new week of comics without an issue of Countdown or, should I say, Countdown to Final Crisis. I thought last issue was a drastic change in the quality of the book. The pacing and panel layouts combined with significantly improved art made for a much needed jumpstart to the second half of the series. This issue continues the trend in terms of art and pacing, but dips a bit due to the amount of page time devoted to the Karate Kid storyline. While the art is better than anything in the first half of Countdown, it's still no prom queen in terms of looks, but an improvement none the less.

As I said, Karate Kid and friends get a lot of page time this issue and, picking up on the brief glimpse from last issue, Firestorm has joined up with them. I know a little about Firestorm, but have no idea what he's doing in Bludhaven or who Dr Stein is or why he's helping Val out here. Further compounding the problem with this week's issue is the introduction of the Atomic Knights. I have absolutely no clue who they are, but assume they were set up as the protectors of Bludhaven after it was destroyed.

So, while there was lots of progression in Val's story, there's just too many random plot devices thrown in from out of no where with little to no explanation, making the entire sequence a confusing mess. Having Desaad show up out of no where at the end of this issue torturing someone that we know nothing about and merging with Firestorm further compounds the problems with this issue's main storyline.

While the Kid story took most of the issue, they still managed to give a little Mary Marvel and Rogues loving. Eclipso presented Mary to Darkseid while the Rogues continue their on the run escapades with Deadshot in hot pursuit.

Verdict - Avoid It. I'm sure someone out there likes Firestorm and the Karate Kid storyline, so they'll probably enjoy this issue much more than me. The only bright side for me was knowing that the faster the Karate Kid storyline progresses, the sooner I won't have to read about it anymore. Hopefully they get back to the more tolerable storylines next week.

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