Product Description

The first of four volumes, COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS VOL. ONE collects the incredible tale starring Jimmy Olsen, Mary Marvel, Donna Troy and all the major characters of the DC Universe.

COUNTDOWN follows up the events of bestsellers INFINITE CRISIS and 52 and leads into DC's next major event, FINAL CRISIS. When a surprising character dies in chapter one, it sets off an unexpected ripple that will touch virtually every character in the DC Universe and change the status quo forever.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #216674 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-10
• Released on: 2008-06-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 296 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781401217891
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

Disappointing
After the surprise success of 52, DC decided to do another year long weekly series. The series would count down and lead into Grant Morrison's Final Crisis event, and basically promised to follow the same formula that made 52 so good. Sadly, Countdown to Final Crisis doesn't deliver, at all, in many of the departments that made 52 so enjoyable. Like 52 before it, Countdown follows a list of lower-tier DC characters like Karate Kid, Mary Marvel, and Jimmy Olsen. What made 52 work so well was the superstar team of writers behind it (Morrison, Geoff Johns, Mark Waid, and Greg Rucka) using characters we actually did care somewhat about (Steel, Elongated Man, Booster Gold, The Question, etc.). With Countdown, the script from Paul Dini just comes off as overly boring. Karate Kid and co. are not remotely interesting in the least, with Mary Marvel's possible descent into darkness being the only thing that makes this series worth reading, for now that is. Not to mention that unless you so happen to follow a few series' and mini-series' that were released alongside Countdown, you will find yourself clueless (seeing Black Adam re-powered and Bart Allen dead will confuse you if you haven't been keeping up). The varying artwork here looks overly rushed overall as well, which while 52 suffered from this from time to time, still managed to look halfway decent at the least. All in all, Countdown to Final Crisis is a major disappointment compared to 52, and skipping this on the way to Final Crisis won't hurt you much at all.

I loved 52, but was disappointed with Countdown Vol. 1
A weekly comic featuring B and C listers? Who would have predicted it to be a thrilling ride? I heard wonderful reviews for 52, Vol. 1 as it was making its one-year run. When it became available in trade paperback, I bought it immediately and loved it.

With "52" such a success, why not ride the lightning a second time? DC tried, but "Countdown" doesn't come close to being what "52" was. My biggest problem with "Countdown" is that the big action does not happen in the series. It happens in the tie-in books. When a main DCU character is killed, we see the funeral, not how the character died. In fact, how the character was killed is never explained in this book, although how the death affects two characters in the book is a big part of their storyline.

I was so disappointed with the first trade paperback in this series, I cancelled my pre-orders for volumes 2, 3 and 4. I didn't want to give up on "Countdown", but not having read the tie-in books, I felt like I was missing half the story.

On a positive note, I really like the Mary Marvel storyline in this first book and it's the only thing that made me think twice about cancelling my pre-orders for the other three books. Still, her story was not enough for me to spend the money for the rest of this trade paperback series.

ugh.
No...just...no. Countdown supposedly follows up on the threads that were left off from Infinite Crisis and 52 as the product description will lead you to believe. Grant Morrison, the writer in charge of DC's current event that this series was counting down to, Final Crisis, had plotted Final Crisis out nearly two years ago. He had said he'd laid down the threads for Final Crisis in Seven Soldiers and in 52. He gave these plots out to Paul Dini and his cavalcade of D-list writers for Countdown. Within this first volume, we see nearly all the plot details Mr. Morrison had laid down realized by the writers of Countdown. But after that? These writers decided they would go off on their own tangents, because they had the obligation of filling twenty-four pages per week for a year straight, due to the nature of the book. The editors of the book failed to let Paul Dini know what Grant Morrison intended, and we ended up with Countdown. Had Grant Morrison been involved with this book, and had DC put a staff of A-list or B-list writers on this book, things certainly might have been different.

The good things I can say for this volume? Well, it's the first 13 issues of a weekly series, and it takes the threads Morrison had put down and begins to run with them, being the first few issues and all. It moves relatively slowly, and you think you'll have high hopes for the series, that it will end up being good at the end. But trust me when I say this, the quality only gets worse from here on out. By the end of the last issue, you will be kicking yourself for spending $80 on the collected version of this, and asking yourself "Did anything really change?". By the end of this book, nothing has changed.

If you intend on reading Final Crisis, ignore Countdown. Ignore Death of the New Gods. Ignore Salvation Run. Read 52 (52, Vol. 1, 52, Vol. 2, 52, Vol. 3, 52, Vol. 4), which Grant Morrison had a hand in, and is a much better weekly series (due to the fact that they had an A-list writing staff on the book), and read Morrison's "megaseries" Seven Soldiers ( Seven Soldiers of Victory, Vol. 1, Seven Soldiers of Victory, Vol. 2, Seven Soldiers of Victory, Vol. 3, Seven Soldiers of Victory, Vol. 4), which is one of the most adventurous writings in modern comics (seven four issue mini series' bookended by a zero issue, and issue one).