The Revolution was really disappointed with the last issue of Countdown. There is no excuse for us to be 17 issues into this series and get such a slow and boring issue. This title continues to read like several separate 8 to 12 issue mini-series that were smashed together and stretched over a 52 week schedule. Hopefully, Dini can finally get this story rolling with Countdown #34. Let’s do this review.
Creative Team
Writers: Paul Dini, Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti
Penciler: Jesus Saiz
Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with Piper and Trickster tied up in ivy vines and left hanging upside down off the roof of a building in Gotham. The two Rogues are black and blue from a severe beating that Deathstroke the Terminator gave them. Batman appears on the scene and asks the Rogues what Deathstroke and Ivy are up to since the two Rogues were clearly placed here to get Batman’s attention.
Suddenly, the two Rogues disappear from the ivy binding them. We see the Flash racing off with each Rogue tucked under one arm. Batman comments that it looks much worse for the two Rogues than he initially thought.
We then cut to Jimmy Olsen at Steelworks facility so that John Irons can run some tests on Jimmy in order to get any more information about Jimmy’s strange powers. John Irons hooks Jimmy into a machine that John uses to study the brainwaves of people who were a part of the Everyman Project. Evidently, those members of the Everyman Project have brain waves that are vastly different from normal humans.
We then hop to The Flash dropping Piper and Trickster to the ground in front of Bart Allen’s tombstone. The Rogues plead with Wally that they had nothing to do with Bart’s death. Wally says that they have two minutes to explain themselves.
We slide over to the Palmerverse, where Belthera gives us the same dialogue we got last issue about her plans to conquer the Multiverse by using “Bob” the Monitor’s powers since he is now under her control. Donna breaks Jason Todd free and the two heroes attack Belthera. Belthera has Bob open a portal. Donna attacks Belthera and the two ladies fall into the portal as Jason Todd calls after Donna.
We cut to Holly Robinson fighting the girl in the gold smiling mask. Athena stops the fight and says that both women have proven themselves worthy of joining a select few other women to take a pilgrimage to Paradise Island to achieve full citizenship among the Amazons. The girl next to Holly takes off her golden mask and it is none other than Harley Quinn. (Zero surprise there.) Harley is excited that she and Holly will be going to Paradise Island. Holly seems less than amused by this entire event.
We shift to Chung Ling Soo Square in China. This is a magical market kind of like Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. We see Mary Marvel wandering the streets of the market. She is approached by Klarion the witch boy. (Oh god, this character was so annoying when he guest-starred over in Robin.)
Mary tells Klarion that she stumbled upon Chung Ling Soo Square while searching for magical guidance. Klarion responds that only magical people can see Chung Ling Soo Square. Klarion then says that only a rare few people with magic in their blood give magic away for free. That practically everyone must barter for magical knowledge.
Mary comments that she has nothing to barter with. Klarion responds that Mary would be surprised with what passes for currency. Klarion then casts a spell on Mary and tells her to be calm and that this will be over soon.
We cut to Mister Orr running tests on Karate Kid’s DNA. Orr thinks that Karate Kid’s virus is the same virus as the original OMAC virus. That it may have lain dormant for years and evolved over the years until Karate Kid’s future timeline. Orr tells Karate Kid that Buddy Blank over at Pseudo-People, Inc. would be the best person to help Karate Kid with his condition. That Buddy has direct access to Brother Eye. Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl thank Orr for his help and leave.
Orr then contacts Desaad and tells him that he has done what Desaad requested. Desaad responds that his Darkseid shall be pleased. Desaad is standing in front of a chess board with chess pieces that look like the various characters from Countdown. Desaad moves the Karate Kid chess piece.
We hop back to Steelworks where the brain wave machine is showing Steel an image of the Source Wall. Steel says that Jimmy’s brain waves are not normal and are beyond anything he has ever seen. Jimmy’s cranium expands as his mind develops mental powers that telepathically overloads the machine. Steel has to smash the machine to stop if from exploding. Jimmy then asks Steel if he is like the other Everyman Project members that Steel has tested. Steel responds “No.” Steel says that he isn’t too sure that Jimmy is even human anymore.
We shift to the Flash punching Trickster in the face and calling him an animal. The Piper claims that he and Trickster were on a mission to infiltrate the Rogues and to spy on them. That Bart’s death was an accident and they had nothing to do with it.
Trickster then says that Poison Ivy and Deathstroke the Terminator are planning an attack on Green Arrow’s wedding and they want to kill everyone who attends the wedding. That Deathstroke chipped Trickster and Piper with some tracking devices and hung them off a building so that they would get caught. Deathstroke wanted the two Rogues to eavesdrop and recon information. That they are wired internally and Deathstroke can hear this entire conversation.
Flash grabs the electric shackle connecting the two Rogues and causes it to shock the two Rogues. The two Rogues collapse to the ground and plead for the Flash to not kill them. Wally responds that the two Rogues killed Bart and that they deserve to die. End of story.
We then get a two page back-up story on the origin of Lex Luthor. End of issue.
Comments
The Good: Countdown #34 was another average read. The most enjoyable aspect of this issue were the scenes involving the Flash, Trickster and Piper. I have been anxiously waiting for the moment when Wally finally got his hands on any of the Rogues connected to Bart’s death. Well, I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Wally is filled the necessary rage and hate fueled by his cousin’s death. The reader could tell that Wally’s anger was tinged by feelings of hurt and betrayal that Piper was caught up in the mess that lead to Bart’s death.
The final scene with Wally telling the Rogues that they deserve to die as they collapsed in pain was pretty intense. The reader gets an excellent sense of Wally’s blind rage. No excuses or stories, no matter how truthful, from these two Rogues are going to change Wally’s opinion about their guilt in Bart’s death.
We also learn about Deathstroke and Ivy’s plan to attack Green Arrow’s wedding. It certainly makes sense that Deathstroke would take the Green Arrow/Black Canary wedding as an opportunity to inflict plenty more damage to the super hero community that is still reeling from Bart’s death. I am interested in this plot development and am curious to see where Dini goes with this as well as to find out what other villains are working with Ivy and Deathstroke.
The plotline involving our two Rogues continues to be the most entertaining plotline of Countdown. And the intensity of this plotline ratchets up even more with Wally’s appearance in this issue. The writers do their best character work with Piper and Trickster. These two Rogues have incredible chemistry together and get blessed with what is by far and away the best dialogue in this issue.
I also enjoyed the scenes with John Irons and Jimmy Olsen. Finally, poor Jimmy gets proof that he is not going insane. That he really has changed into something more than human. John’s stunned reaction at Jimmy’s brain waves furthers the otherworldly nature of Jimmy’s powers. Clearly, our favorite redhead is going to play a pivotal role in the upcoming conflict between Apokolips and New Genesis.
I also liked the short scene with Karate Kid. It wasn’t all that exciting, but I liked the little twist of having the dormant OMAC virus in Karate Kid’s DNA. We also learn that Orr is secretly working with Darkseid’s right hand man, Desaad. I still have no idea where Dini is going with this plotline, but I am enjoying the ride. Obviously, Karate Kid plays a large role in the upcoming events than I originally thought.
The artwork was rather average in this issue. Saiz’s artwork looks much better when Saiz inks his own work compared to when Palmiotti does the inking.
The Bad: Countdown still misses on delivering the same magic that 52 gave us. The dialogue in Countdown #34 was decidedly average. None of the characters outside of Trickster and Piper have much of a personality. Most of the characters talk in the same generic voice.
The character work on Countdown has been rather unimpressive. 52’s greatest strength was the phenomenal character work as the writers were committed to building 52 around strong character development rather than flashy fight scenes. While 52 managed to grow and flesh out numerous characters, Countdown has failed to achieve that same goal. Jimmy Olsen has gotten a little bit of character development as has Piper and Trickster. But that is about it. It is certainly much less than what 52 gave us.
The pacing on Countdown continues to move at a snail’s pace. And the plotting is pretty poor. The plotlines seem to lack focus and meander all over the pace without any definitive direction. Countdown continues to read like several unrelated 8 issue mini-series that have all been randomly clumped together and stretched out over 52 weeks.
The Mary Marvel scene was rather dull. And this is a plotline that I have really enjoyed over the course of Countdown. However, this plotline is beginning to lose its focus and intensity. Also, I find Klarion the witch boy to be one seriously annoying character.
The search for Ray Palmer plotline continues to be a massive disappointment. This plotline is certainly the slowest moving of all the various plotlines in Countdown. We basically get the same re-hashed dialogue from the last issue of Countdown concerning the evil plans of Belthera. Being a huge Ray Palmer fan, this was the plotline that I was most looking forward to reading. Too bad it has been a total train wreck up to this point.
I continue to have absolutely zero interest in the Holly Robinson plotline. I imagine that only fans of the Amazons Attack mini-series would enjoy this terribly dull plotline. Everyone knew that the girl in the golden smiling mask was Harley. I could care less what Athena is up to. Unlike how 52 changed my opinion on several characters, the writers on Countdown have done nothing to get me to change my opinion about Holly being a lame character.
Overall: Countdown #34 continues the downward trend of this title over the past several issues. This title continues to underachieve. Honestly, I can’t recommend getting Countdown unless you are a big event junkie and want to know about everything leading up to the Final Crisis. I think that waiting for the trade paperback is probably a wiser decision.