Comic Book Review: Countdown to Final Crisis #26

Dini is continuing his steady turnaround on Countdown as this title has really become a solid and dependable read each and every week. I’m sure that Countdown will just get better and better as we head to the back half of this story. I’m definitely curious to see what Dini has in store for the Challengers in Countdown #26. The Challengers have really commanded the spotlight over the past several issues. And evidently, the name for this title is now “Countdown to Final Crisis.” Let’s go ahead and do this review for Countdown to Final Crisis #26.

Creative Team
Writers: Paul Dini, Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Scott Kolins

Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 5 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 5.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with the “evil” Monitor holding court in front of all of the other Monitors meeting in the Nexus. The “evil” Monitor preaches how the Monitors must act to preserve the Multiverse. He points out how Monarch is going across the Multiverse and assembling a massive and deadly army. That Monarch continually breaches the Source Wall and makes it weaker. That Monarch wants to create a Crisis which results in the reduction of the Multiverse into one unified reality that Monarch can rule with an iron fist.

The “evil” Monitor states that Karate Kid is carrying an apocalyptic contagion and should be dead. That every obstacle that is placed before Karate Kid actually turns out to be something that helps him further along on his quest. The “evil” Monitor says that it seems that someone is helping Karate Kid at every step of his quest.

We see Firestorm helping Karate Kid, Una, Buddy and Buddy’s grandson enter the secret lab under Bludhaven. Karate Kid begins to throw up blood. The “evil” Monitor says that with each step Karate Kid takes moves him inexorably closer to the inciting event of the Great Disaster.

The “evil” Monitor comments the New Gods are being killed in order to bring about the end of the Fourth World. That Jimmy Olsen is displaying numerous powers that are beyond his control. That Jimmy should be dead, but it appears that someone is helping Jimmy with his powers and is helping him to survive. That Jimmy is a very important player in the upcoming Crisis. We see Jimmy alongside Forager on Apokolypse battling Darkseid’s soldiers. Jimmy falls in defeat and is taken prisoner by Darkseid’s forces.

The “evil” Monitor says that just like it appears someone is helping along Karate Kid and Jimmy Olsen, the same could be said for Mary Marvel and her transformation. As well as the search for Ray Palmer.

The “evil” Monitor states that “Bob” the Monitor is misguided in his attempts to find Ray Palmer. That he has betrayed the Monitors. That he has placed himself above the Collective and above the Multiverse. We see on one of the computer screens Jason and Kyle fighting each other and then “Bob” teleporting them out of Lord Havok’s castle.

The assembled monitors ask the “evil” Monitor what he proposes to do. The “evil” Monitor exclaims that they must go to war in order to stop the forces threatening the Multiverse. That the Monitors are slowly manifesting individuality from each other as is evident in their physical appearance and thoughts. That before they are corrupted by an unstable Multiverse, they must act.

Another one of the Monitors stands up and agrees that it would be a glorious war. That it has been centuries since they called upon their powers. All the Monitors raise their fists and shout “United as one!”

We cut to Earth-8, where Bob has transported the Challengers several miles from Lord Havok’s castle. Bob has Kyle and Jason separated. Suddenly, Donna appears and says Jason is hers. Donna punches Jason for shooting her and then punches Jason for being a jerk.

Bob the Monitor reveals that Jason had a plan to distract the Extremists by appearing to turn traitor. That Jason talked to Bob telepathically and no one else could have been told of their plan without the Extremists figuring it out. That is why Bob let Jason grab his gun and why Bob dialed down the gun’s blast so it wouldn’t kill Donna.

Donna is still mad that Jason shot her. Bob tells everyone to be quiet. Bob senses that the other Monitors have declared war. Bob tells the Challengers that they must find Ray Palmer immediately.

We shift to Earth-15 where Lex Luthor is being beaten down by a shadowy figure in black. The figure in black ridicules Lex for wasting his intellect by being a humanitarian. The figure in black says that the human race is a mistake and that Lex has not lived up to his potential. The figure in black grabs Lex and flies him up into the air.

The figure in black then says that Lex could have made the universe perfect. The figure in black looks like long haired Superman in the black costume with the silver “S” that we saw in the Countdown teaser pic. It looks like Superman did back in 1993 when he came back from the dead.

We cut back to the Nexus. The “evil” Monitor mentions to another Monitor that there is no doubt that all these events are being orchestrated by a single will. That all they have to do is to determine who has the most to gain. We then see Darkseid in his lair. We see the Nexus on one of his computer screens. We see his chessboard with all the character from Countdown on it. End of story.

Comments
The Good: Countdown #26 was an average read. Dini certainly took a step back with this issue. However, there were some positives to this issue. I was glad that the Monitors have finally stopped their endless bickering and the circuitous discussions about if they should follow the plan of the evil Monitor or not. It was getting a bit tired and old. Dini has the Monitors finally agree to come together and declare war. That was a pretty cool scene and about the only panel that really got my blood pumping.

Dini uses Countdown #26 to completely lay out Monarch’s plan to cause a Crisis event in order to reduce the Multiverse into one universe and then to conquer and rule that remaining universe. Dini also takes all the various disparate plotlines involving Karate Kid, Jimmy Olsen, Mary Marvel and the Challengers and ties them all together. Evidently, there is a single force guiding Karate Kid, Jimmy and Mary. And it is not so subtly inferred that Darkseid is that person. That he has been manipulating the various plotlines via his cosmic chessboard in his lair.

With only 25 issues left, it was critical that Dini begin to connect several of the plotlines in order to give a more cohesive and entertaining push to the finish of this title and the beginning of the Final Crisis. Dini clearly seemed to be re-focusing his story on Countdown as we clearly head to the Final Crisis.

It is even reflected in the fact that the title of this comic book is now “Countdown to Final Crisis.” It certainly is unusual to see a comic book change the name of its title in mid-stream. I guess that DC really wanted to hype up and hammer home the fact that the Final Crisis is the next big event that is going to happen next year.

I was glad that Donna survived being shot in the last issue. I had already guessed that it was all a ruse on Jason’s part. And it was. This was certainly a bit predictable. I feel bad for Jason in this scene. He did what he thought was their only chance to escape from Monarch, the Crime Society and the Extremists. Jason came up with a plan quickly and could only make contact with Bob’s mind and quickly tip him off to the plan. And it was a good plan by Jason and certainly worked.

I know it sucks getting shot, but Bob had dialed down the energy blast from his gun so Donna wasn’t in danger of getting hurt. Donna getting so mad with Jason while giving Bob a pass on not telling her about the plan didn’t make much sense. Donna should be thanking Jason for his quick thinking. First, Donna is all apologetic about Jason and supporting him and now she pulls a 180 and is all angry with Jason and calling him names. What a moody bitch. Suck it up, Donna, and take one for the team.

I liked the teaser scene from Earth-15 with the Superman in black beating away on Lex. This Superman is definitely not a good guy considering his unbridled hatred for humankind. Dini did a good job piquing my interest in this plotline. The more parallel Earth craziness that Countdown gives us the better.

The Bad: Countdown #26 was a slowly paced issue. This was certainly not an exciting or riveting read at all. Countdown #26 felt more like a re-cap issue designed to get readers who just hopped aboard this title up to speed on what is going on. This was an issue that re-focuses the story and sets the stage for the second half of the story.

It is like when you are watching Smallville and around the 35 minute mark of the show they fill you in on what has happened during the first part of the episode in case the viewer was just tuning into the show. While Dini’s approach on Countdown #26 is great for new readers, it is a real drag and a bore for readers who have been following Countdown since the beginning.

There was practically zero progression of any single plotline in this issue. Jimmy does get captured by Darkseid’s forces and we do see the Monitors declare war. That is about all the plot movement that you get on this issue. Every other plotline pretty much gets ignored or sits in neutral.

For regular readers of Countdown, the little bit of plot progression that occurred is nothing that was much of a surprise. We all knew that Monarch wanted to take over all reality. We already knew that the Monitors were going to follow the “evil” Monitor at some point and declare war. And we already knew that Darkseid has been pulling the strings on all the various plotlines every since the first issue of Countdown. Nothing that Dini revealed was anything that we didn’t already know for ourselves.

The monologue from the “evil” Monitor that Dini frames this issue around was pretty boring and lackluster. It was the same diatribe that we have heard from this character ever since the first issue of Countdown.

There was also very little action in this issue. The passive manner of progressing the Jimmy Olsen and Karate Kid plotlines through the “evil” Monitor’s monologue really made this a slow read.

The dialogue in Countdown #26 was rather pedestrian. The character work was pretty terrible. We also got some of the worst writing for the Challengers that we have seen up to this point.

I found the artwork on this issue to be pretty average. Kolins created a dull looking issue.

Overall: Countdown #26 was very average. If you are a new reader and are looking to jump aboard Countdown at this late juncture then I definitely recommend picking up this issue. However, if you are a regular reader of Countdown then beware. This issue will be a real step back compared the previous five issues that Dini has cranked out on this title.