Superman Homepage

Mild Mannered Reviews - Specials

Countdown 41

Scheduled to arrive in stores: July 18, 2007

Cover date: July 18, 2007

"Another Fine Mess"

Writer: Paul Dini with Adam Beechen
Penciller: Dennis Calero
Inker: Dennis Calero

Back-Up Story: "History of the Multiverse - Chapter Nine"
Write: Dan Jurgens
Penciller: Dan Jurgens
Inker: Norm Rapmund

Reviewed by: Michael Bailey

Click to enlarge

The Pied Piper and Trickster fall to what could be their deaths after escaping from the Suicide Squad. Trickster finally recovers his flying shoes and manages to slow their descent so that when they hit the water they don't die.

In Metropolis Jimmy Olsen designs a new suit for himself and finds out that wearing a costume under his clothes in the heat of the summer has its drawbacks.

In Gotham City Mary Marvel ponders the recent turn of events and feels she might need a mentor to guide her through the rough times she is having. Far away someone watches her and feels that Mary is perfect.

Donna Troy, Jason Todd, the new Atom and the Monitor Jason has named Bob continue their search for Ray Palmer. They finally "land" in a bizarre jungle, surrounded by stranger creatures riding metallic frogs.

Pied Piper and Trickster find themselves in Gotham. Trickster leads them to a guy he knows in town who should be able to help.

Holly Robinson and Harley watch the television coverage of the Amazonian war on America. Outside protestors stand outside of the Athenian Woman's Shelter. Harley charges into them and Holly rushes to her aid.

The Legion of Super-Heroes head back to the thirty-first century leaving Karate Kid behind. He won't be alone however as one part of Triplicate Girl stays behind to help him in his mission.

Back-Up Story: "History of the Multiverse - Chapter Nine"
Write: Dan Jurgens
Penciller: Dan Jurgens
Inker: Norm Rapmund

The Monitors review the year where Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were missing. Black Adam's rise and fall from grace. The death and rebirth of the Question. The new Batwoman. Supernova. Ralph Dibney's final fate, Lex Luthor's bid for power and the star lost Animal Man, Starfire and Adam Strange's homecoming. In the end, the Multiverse returned and thanks to Mr. Mind there are now 52 Earths each with their own histories.

Main Story - 2: I'm out.

Seriously. I'm out.

This is my last issue of this series.

I can't take it anymore.

I can't take DC using Countdown to coerce people into buying more and more product.

I've hit the wall.

I'm done.

You know, at least with 52 there was a story every issue. Sure it bounced around at times but on the whole when you cracked open an issue of 52 you could find a complete story that was fairly self-contained within the year that 52 was set in. Also, while there were several storylines going on as much each bit got a good amount of screen time.

In this issue we jumped around no less than six times. And if you aren't reading FLASH you probably won't get all of what is going on with Pied Piper and Trickster. If you didn't follow "The Lightning Saga" then the Karate Kid thing might be a bit confusing. I'm not sure what someone that wasn't following AMAZONS ATTACK would make of what is going on with Holly and Harley. The only two sub-plots that you can really follow is Jimmy Olsen's rise as a hero (which just now is hitting the Superman books) and Mary Marvel, whose story is going very, very slow.

I really don't like picking up a book week after week, spending three dollars each time, and getting these bits and pieces that aren't all that entertaining to begin with. And the fact that if you do want the whole story it would require you to buy about five or six other titles with even more specials and mini-series to come than you are spending even more money.

You know, if comic books were still a dollar fifty or even two dollars this wouldn't be a problem. But at three bucks a pop it's getting pretty much impossible to be able to afford all of these books, at least for me. I'm sure there are those of you who can afford to pick up everything. But even if I did have the money I'd feel seriously ripped off at the quality of story we're getting.

Is Paul Dini really the head writer here? That kind of surprises me...

And then they announce FINAL CRISIS.

Sigh.

I just can't do it anymore. They told us that INFINITE CRISIS was about the heroes of the DCU coming together out of the darkness and into a better world. 52 was supposed to be a world without Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman but not a world without heroes. Both stories had their good points, but to follow it with this I felt that it was a year of "What the heck is going on?" followed by another year of "What the heck is going on?" leading into yet another year of "What the heck is going on?"

You know what, that's a crappy way to develop a storyline and a mercenary way to treat your readership.

Well, I say enough. That's all I can stands and can't stands no more. I'm sure someone will take up the reviewing reigns and do a fantastic job, but I don't want to foist my own particular bile once a month.

It's been fun, but I am out of here. See you in the reviews for SUPERMAN/BATMAN, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA and JLA CLASSIFIED.

Main Art - 4: The art wasn't all that bad, but in all honesty nothing could change my mind about this title. Dennis Calero is a decent enough artist and he did an admirable job with what he was given to draw, but I can't really say anything positive about this series at this point.

Back-up Story - 2: I don't lay any blame at Dan Jurgens' feet, but did we really need four pages reviewing a story that ended, what, two months ago?

I guess you had to cover the creation of the new Multiverse, but frankly I just couldn't see any point to this chapter.

Back-up Art - 4: Again, great art for a story that I didn't care for. Jurgens and Rapmund make for a good artistic pair, but it still feels like a bit of a rip off to go over material that just happened.

Cover Art - 4: Not bad. Not great, but definitely not bad. This is an interesting cover to go out on and it looks pretty smooth. I almost like the fact that it leads into the first page. Almost.

Mild Mannered Reviews

2007

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

January 2007

February 2007

March 2007

April 2007

May 2007

June 2007

July 2007

August 2007

September 2007

October 2007

November 2007

December 2007

Back to the Mild Mannered Reviews contents page.

Check out the Comic Index Lists for the complete list of Superman-related comics published in 2007.

Mild Mannered Reviews - Specials

Countdown 41

Mild Mannered Reviews

2007

DC Super Hero Fairy Tales

Superman Straw Cups

Superman Historical/Non-Fiction Books