Well, DC have posted a preview of (the first few pages of) Countdown 50 (unfortunately you have to be a member of MySpace and a 'friend' of their comics community to read it), and it's a definite improvement on the first issue - more happens in these few pages than in the whole of the previous issue. But it's not all necessarily good news.
These pages throw up a ton of apparent plot holes, continuity errors, inconsistencies and stupidities. Please note the word 'apparent' there. While some of what I have to say about this issue might be pointing out real failings, a lot of the following may well be deliberate on the part of the issue's writers. Given that we're talking about a story dealing with multiple universes and inconsistencies in the timeline, I think a lot of slack is called for. That said, let's look at the preview in detail...
Page 1 - If you were Superman's pal, you wouldn't open your own door either, would you?
Page 2/3 - This didn't need to be two pages. The second page adds nothing. It's possible that the second page is meant to show that Superman is no longer around, but if it is, it's terrible storytelling, and I suspect it isn't. Interestingly, in the credits Keith Giffen is again not mentioned. The layouts are a lot more imaginative here than in the previous issue, with more of Giffen's feel to them, so it seems odd that the person who has been mentioned in every piece of pre-publicity about these comics isn't given any credit in the comics themselves. Either DC have been seriously misleading customers about the creative team on this comic or (far more likely) there's a very serious omission in the credits that should be rectified straight away...
Page 4 - This is the big problem that everyone has already noticed - Jimmy Olsen knows who both Jason Todd and Dick Grayson are, which means that unless he is the stupidest person in the universe he also knows Batman's secret identity. Now, there are a few possible explanations here. The most obvious one, but the least likely, is that this is a massive cock-up that will never be referred to again. I doubt this - if something's stupid enough that a dozen readers on MySpace notice it within minutes, it's stupid enough that it would be picked up by editorial. It's also possible that it's a massive cock-up for which an explanation will be quickly rationalised and inserted into a future issue in the manner of the Cult of Conner slip-up in 52. But I suspect it's a hint at something bigger.
Of course, what I hope is that Jimmy and the rest of the Daily Planet staff have always known everyone's secret identities for years, and have just been going along with the pretence to humour Clark:
"Oh look, Clark, an alien invasion fleet... that's OK, I know they bring on your stomach trouble, you get along to the toilet. I'm sure Superman will be along to fix this any second..."
page 5 - while it's not absolutely clear, it certainly appears from both the art and narration that Jason has just killed at least eight people. He's certainly killed more. Given that Superman knows exactly where he is, it's odd that he didn't do anything at all to prevent this. For that matter, Jimmy seems very unfazed by the whole thing. But then, that's Jimmy Olsen for you - he's cool like that.
page 6 - Wasn't Jason involved in the Crisis? I would have thought he would recognise a Monitor.
"If you want answers for questions beyond reason, there's a guy in Arkham asylum who wrote the book on crazy" - is it me or does this make no sense? "Something odd happened, so go and ask an insane serial killer". In fact the total non-sequitur pseudo-logic here reminds me of the Chewbacca defence:
Why would a Wookiee, an eight-foot tall Wookiee, want to live on Endor, with a bunch of two-foot tall Ewoks? That does not make sense! But more important, you have to ask yourself: What does this have to do with this case? Nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, it has nothing to do with this case! It does not make sense!
page 7/8 - Apparently Calafiore can only draw one woman's face. And that looks nothing at all like Mary Marvel. Still, always nice to see Madame Xanadu.
The rest of the preview is taken up with a context-free fight scene. We're given no explanation of why this matters, and the dialogue doesn't help. I would be completely clueless about what Batman is referring to if I hadn't read Steve Flanagan's review of the most recent issue of JLA - it appears this is the same scene that took place in that. Except it isn't - compare these two images
The rest of the preview is taken up with a context-free fight scene. We're given no explanation of why this matters, and the dialogue doesn't help. I would be completely clueless about what Batman is referring to if I hadn't read Steve Flanagan's review of the most recent issue of JLA - it appears this is the same scene that took place in that. Except it isn't - compare these two images
There is just no way to reconcile the action, dialogue and figure placement in these two pages. Civil War was (rightly) excoriated for this kind of inconsistency with its tie-ins, and one would hope that those involved in putting Countdown together would have learned from that.
See you in a few days for a review of the whole thing and some of the issues it's brought up.
See you in a few days for a review of the whole thing and some of the issues it's brought up.
