ADVANTAGE: AWESOME


Sunday, September 9, 2007

This COUNTDOWN Is Becoming A Quagmire!

I know I was harsh on Countdown when it first started, what with Superman telling Jimmy the secret identities of Batman's first sidekicks and the general bleh I feel towards most of the story(ies?). Now, though, I feel as though I have read enough of it to truly say it's just not that good.

When other books have "A Countdown Tie-in" slapped over their titles, you expect Countdown to give you the main story that the book is tying into. The thing is, when you read Countdown, it seems as though the book is a tie-in to other things, leaving you looking around for the whole story.

I think having a book dedicated to "linking" the DCU is a ingenious idea, but it's being done poorly. The central story is broken up into so many side pieces that are known to not be resolved in the series or until the very end that most people will probably wait until that mini-series comes out to read the story. It makes reading Countdown weekly seem like treading water. As it stands, Countdown could have been a series of back-up stories or inserts and would probably have been better received.

Just my opinion.

5 comments:

Rob S. said...

I agree. Contdown reminds me of trying to build a house using only caulk. It's all connector, and no structure.

Nate said...

I'm strangely enjoying reading Countdown each week. I don't really know why though.

rachelle said...

I'm only in it for Piper and Trickster. And even then pretty much only the McKeever issues. Everything else is super lame. But your avatar is awesome.

Jon Hex said...

I just want to know why people like Countdown, whether it's Rachelle's interest in Piper & Trickster or just an overall enjoyment like my friend Mike. I want to know what I'm not getting.


And my avatar is awesome. Thanks for providing it through proxy.

BIG MIKE said...

I'm enjoying Countdown for the same reasons I enjoyed 52. It gives a real sense of the DCU and allows me to glance into the lives of characters who would never be the sole focus of an ongoing series. I do think it could be improved by focusing each issue a little more like they did with 52, where a single issue would only focus on 1 or 2 of the various plot threads, rather than giving a couple pages on each. So I guess to sum up, I'm really enjoying the story, and that's why I like the book, but I understand the criticism based on the book's pacing.