Countdown to Final Crisis

The series follows the success of 52, which, in contrast, did not cross over with DC's other regular titles. 52 concluded with the revelation that the multiverse (a storytelling device which posits the existence of alternative realities) exists, and which now serves as a backdrop to several stories in Countdown. Beginning with issue #26, the series trade dress was reworked to identify the series as Countdown to Final Crisis. The stories taking place in Countdown set the stage for the approaching Final Crisis limited series. Countdown to Final Crisis was originally intended to run from issues #51-0, with issue #0 serving as the prologue to the Final Crisis limited series. Instead, it was decided that Countdown would conclude with issue #1 and the #0 issue was retitled to DC Universe #0. DC Universe #0 was co-written by Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns and served as a summary of recent events within the DC Universe in order to attract new readers before the company launched the Final Crisis limited series. While the book was billed as leading up to the beginning of DC's Final Crisis limited series, it later emerged that the plotlines in Countdown had diverged from what was written for Final Crisis, leading to continuity problems between the two books, as noted by Final Crisis author Grant Morrison. Much of the comic has subsequently been retconned out of continuity, along with Death of the New Gods. Jimmy Olsen learning Superman's secret identity, the battle between him and Darkseid, and other such events have been ignored following the conclusion of the series. During a DC Nation panel at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con, DC editor-in-chief Dan DiDio invited fans to give their own opinions on "what went wrong" with Countdown. Prior to its release, DiDio reportedly described the series as "52 done right." ==Story==

Darkseid On Apokolips, Darkseid and DeSaad discuss the coming of a time with existence being recreated with Darkseid as the architect. Darkseid has what appears to be a chess-board with pieces representing Joker, Donna Troy, Green Arrow, Flash, Holly Robinson, Batman, Jason Todd, Hawkman, Killer Croc, Martian Manhunter, Superman, Wonder Woman, OMAC, Jimmy Olsen, Nightwing, Duela Dent, and Black Adam. Later, as the New Gods Lightray and Sleez are killed by an unknown, mysterious figure, Darkseid converses with a concubine and DeSaad. When the concubine comments on Darkseid showing a moment of weakness, Darkseid kills her and tells DeSaad to remove the vocal cords from the next concubine. The conversation is witnessed by Forager, who is spying on them to see if Darkseid is responsible for the recent murders of the New Gods. Forager is attacked by a guard and escapes. The Deep Six are killed soon afterwards by the same mysterious figure. Darkseid shows knowledge of the New Gods dying across the galaxy and the mystery figure killing them, and decides to use the New Gods as pawns in a scheme to rule the multiverse. Mary Marvel is brought before Darkseid, who tells her that he wants a sorcerer and that she is it. Mary narrowly escapes Darkseid's clutches with the help of DeSaad, who intervenes in time to distract the villain after she turns down his offer, causing a brief scuffle between them. Eclipso assures Darkseid that she will bring Mary back. Darkseid later restores Mary's powers and orders her to capture Jimmy Olsen. Later, Darkseid is about to siphon Jimmy's superpowers from him before his son Orion emerges from a boom tube and kills him. The Monitor Solomon places a chess piece of Darkseid onto the Source Wall as a memento of his victory. Donna Troy, Jason Todd, Kyle Rayner, and Ray Palmer In New York City, former Robin Jason Todd (now calling himself Red Hood) witnesses the murder of Duela Dent at the hands of a rogue Monitor, who claims her presence in this world is not tolerated as she is from an alternate Earth. During the Amazons' attack on Washington, D.C., Jason and Donna discuss the Monitors and the original Monitor and Anti-Monitor when they are attacked by the Forerunner, who had been sent by the Monitors. Another Monitor arrives to save Jason and Donna from the Forerunners and takes them to safety. At the funeral of the Flash, Bart Allen, the Monitor tells Jason and Donna that the former Atom, Ray Palmer, is alive and lost somewhere in the Nanoverse, and that locating him is key to surviving the coming crisis. Donna, Jason and the Monitor (nicknamed "Bob" by Jason), meet with current Atom Ryan Choi to recruit him in the search for Ray Palmer. Kyle Rayner informs the group that they will have to search the multiverse to find Ray. Nix Uotan informs Bob that all the Monitors have taken on names for themselves, such as the Monitor of Earth-8, who now calls himself Solomon. Meanwhile, Ray is found on Earth-51, a near-perfect world where crime has long been eradicated, having replaced his deceased Earth-51 counterpart. Bob is revealed to have been working for Solomon's cause and tells Ray that he must be exterminated. It is revealed that Earth-51's Ray discovered a sentient virus called Morticoccus and had it quarantined. However, when the multiverse was discovered, Ray theorized that Morticoccus could exist on other Earths and set about using his own superhuman immune system to immunize their populations. After the death of Earth-51's Ray, the New Earth Ray found his research and continued his work. Kyle, Jason, Donna, Ray and the Batman of Earth-51 are reunited as they approach their confrontation with Monarch, but encounter a message written in large flaming letters: "To Apokolips". Before they decide their next move, the Earth-51 Batman confronts a group of Monarch's soldiers, but is killed by Ultraman. The Challengers are met by Nix Uotan, who explains that the message came from the Source and sends them to Apokolips. On Apokolips, the Challengers are confused as to why they are there as Palmer says it is not connected to the Great Disaster. Jason tires of their bickering and leaves. Upon seeing Brother Eye, Jason contemplates using it to get back home. While searching for Jason, the Challengers find Mary, Harley, Holly and then Karate Kid, just after Brother Eye removes the Morticoccus virus from him. The group, along with Jason, prepares to confront Brother Eye, who uses a Boom Tube to send them to Apokolips. The group goes to see Dubbilex for help with Karate Kid, only to learn that he has already died from Morticoccus. During Karate Kid's autopsy, Morticoccus is accidentally released and spreads across Earth, causing infected humans to devolve into animalistic savages and infected animals to gain human-like traits. Una helps Buddy Blank reach his daughter's apartment and the two locate Blank's daughter, who has been infected by the virus, and his grandson, who is immune. Una is mortally wounded while protecting Blank and his grandson from rats and gives Blank her Legion Flight Ring, which he uses to take him and his grandson to Cadmus's Command D facility. The Challengers leave the reconstituted Earth-51 and return home. Mary Marvel, Holly Robinson, and Harley Quinn Mary Batson awakens from a coma after the events of The Trials of Shazam!, in which she lost her abilities mid-flight due to the death of Shazam and fell three miles. She seeks Freddy Freeman, who paid her hospital bills, Mary eventually locates Billy, who explains that he has replaced the wizard Shazam and that Freddy will replace him. Billy scolds Mary for taking Black Adam's powers and Mary protests that she will use them for good. In Gotham, Mary encounters former super-villain Riddler at a crime scene. Riddler suggests she seek a mentor while Eclipso watches with interest. In the Chinese Market, Mary meets Klarion the Witch Boy, who tries to get some of her power. After Eclipso attempts to corrupt Mary, the Shadowpact take notice of Mary's activities, and attack Mary and Eclipso, who are overwhelmed and escape. After Eclipso teleports her to safety, Mary blasts Eclipso with her own black diamond after realizing that Eclipso was only interested in selling her to Darkseid as a concubine in exchange for power. Eclipso then attempts to kill Mary, but finds that she is too strong. Holly Robinson arrives in Metropolis, hoping to embark on a fresh start. Holly reveals to Harleen that she has been asked to take part in Athena's self-esteem workshop; Harleen is overjoyed at the news. Holly is subjected to a purification ritual in which the women are made to fight one another. Holly and Harley are the only warriors left standing. The two are taken to Themiscyra and told by Athena that their first test is to out-swim the island's water guardians. The recruits are led through a series of increasingly dangerous obstacles. Athena is revealed to be a disguised Granny Goodness and flees to Apokolips, with Mary, Holly, and Harley in pursuit. After returning to their own Earth, Holly and Harley return to Gotham, while Mary returns to her apartment and finds Darkseid waiting for her. Darkseid offers to return Black Adam's powers to her in exchange for bringing him Jimmy Olsen. Mary agrees, and with her restored powers she quickly overcomes the Challengers and captures Jimmy. To Jimmy's surprise, he begins manifesting superpowers at random. Jimmy resolves to use his new powers to become a superhero, designs a costume, and calls himself Mr. Action. Jimmy's powers go haywire, and he runs off to keep himself from hurting anyone. Jimmy encounters Forager, who asks for help in stopping the killing of the New Gods. Jimmy is sent to the slave pits, where his overseers are ordered to torture him; Mister Miracle comes to his aid. Unable to discern the nature of Jimmy's powers with his Mother Box, Mister Miracle gambles by dropping Jimmy into a fire pit. Jimmy survives by assuming a turtle-like form. Jimmy locates Forager, who then attacks him. Solomon later tells Jimmy that he was converted into a spirit collector by Darkseid, who plans to eventually drain his powers. Darkseid reactivates Jimmy's powers to cause him to emit kryptonite radiation to kill Superman. However, Ray Palmer sneaks inside Jimmy and destroys the circuitry that controls his powers before being overcome by its defenses. Jimmy transforms into a scaled giant and prepares to fight Darkseid. Darkseid fights Jimmy across Metropolis and is about to kill him when Ray Palmer emerges from Jimmy's head, having shut down the device inside Jimmy that was storing the essences of the New Gods. A Boom Tube then opens up and Orion, Darkseid's son, emerges. Orion clashes with Darkseid and kills him after ripping Darkseid's heart from his chest. Buddy Blank leads Karate Kid, Una, and his grandson deeper underground. Coming upon a sealed door, Karate Kid attempts to open it, which enables Brother Eye to escape the hangar. Converting the people in the hangar into OMACs, Brother Eye assimilates the entire base and breaks free. Upon detecting that the Morticoccus host is in its final gestation, and that the virus' release is imminent, it sets course for Blüdhaven. Karate Kid and Una wander around Apokolips seeking a means to escape as Karate Kid fears Brother Eye desires the virus he carries. However, before they can formulate a plan, Una becomes an OMAC. Piper and Trickster then go on the run following Bart's murder, but attend his funeral, where they are captured by Multiplex and Deadshot. As they escape in a stolen car, they are suddenly accosted by Double Down, who had hidden in the back seat. The Extremists refuse and attack him, but he easily overwhelms them, and captures the "Challengers from Beyond". The Monitors believe Monarch's goal is to cause a war across the multiverse, resulting in another Crisis that would make him the absolute Monarch of a singular reality. Monarch places Lord Havok in charge of his starfleet; Havok deals a crippling blows to the Dominators of New Earth. The Monitors agree to eliminate "Bob," the Monitor of New Earth who befriended Jason and Donna. Earth-15's Monitor watches as Donna and Jason leave his Earth, and predicts that when they arrive on the Earth of his overzealous brother, they will be terminated. The overzealous Monitor, who oversees Earth-8, attacks them when they arrive on Earth-8, but succeeds only in killing the Jokester of Earth-3. The Monitor from Earth-8 convinces the others that they must go to war in order to save billions of lives that would otherwise be lost. The Monitors arrive on Earth-51, shortly after the Challengers escape. The Monitor of Earth-8, now calling himself "Solomon", attempts to absorb Bob into his being, but inadvertently kills him instead. The other Monitors claim that Solomon engineered all of the events to his own ends. The Monitors are then interrupted by the arrival of Monarch and his army. As the two sides fight, Monarch approaches Solomon and accuses him of desiring sole dominion over the multiverse. Solomon returns to the Multiversal nexus where the remaining Monitors condemn his actions before joining the battle on Earth-51. Floating in space, Nix Uotan, the Monitor of Earth-51, watches the battle raging on his Earth before joining the other Monitors. Superman-Prime, continues his travels throughout the multiverse to find the perfect universe. Superman-Prime attacks the Lex Luthor of Earth-15, while searching for his perfect universe, which he believes is owed to him. Building a secret lair in the Source Wall itself, Superman-Prime captures Mister Mxyzptlk and Annataz Arataz, an evil analogue of Zatanna, and forces them to give him their magic powers. After her torture at Superman-Prime's hands, Annataz experiences a change of heart and, as a way to atone for her past, taunts Superman-Prime until he lets Mxyzptlk escape, facing his tantrums alone. Superman-Prime destroys his base, burns Annataz alive, and flees. Superman-Prime tears a hole in Monarch's containment suit, causing a chain reaction that destroys Earth-51. In the Multiversal nexus, Solomon prepares to kill Forerunner, but is interrupted by the arrival of Darkseid, who, wishing to continue their game, offers Solomon the next move. As they witness Brother Eye assimilating Apokolips, Solomon tells Darkseid that his time is coming to an end. Darkseid reveals that Solomon was responsible for Captain Atom irradiating Blüdhaven, causing his transformation into Monarch. Solomon, disturbed by Darkseid's plans to control the "Fifth World", appears to the Challengers, telling them that Darkseid is too dangerous to attack and sends them away. He deposits them on Nix Uotan's newly recreated Earth-51, where the events of the Great Disaster unfold. ==Related events==

Since Countdown attempts to be the backbone to several DC Comics titles, some events and plots play out in different comic book series. Meanwhile, the Amazons invade Washington, D.C., led by a recently resurrected Hippolyta and Circe. The mini-series concluded with the revelation that the goddess Athena has in fact been defeated and replaced by the Apokoliptian New God Granny Goodness, suggesting that the shelter that Harley Quinn and Holly Robinson are staying in is actually a Female Furies camp. Tying into the Karate Kid storyline is the Justice League of America/Justice Society of America crossover "The Lightning Saga". The fight between Batman and Karate Kid is shown in both Countdown and Justice League of America. Dawnstar, Starman, Dream Girl, Timber Wolf, and Wildfire are discovered stranded in the 21st century. Initially, it is believed that they came to the present to save Lightning Lad. It is later revealed that the Legion actually came to retrieve a person, the identity of whom is yet unknown, whose "essence" is now stored in one of the Legion's "lightning rod" devices. The Legion then escaped into the future, leaving behind Starman and Karate Kid. An unforeseen consequence of the Legion's actions was the return of Wally West and his family. Brainiac 5 confirms this by implying West's return was a freak accident, but that they still retrieved the correct person the Legion sought. The final arc of The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive, "Full Throttle", features the Rogues successfully killing Bart Allen, the fourth Flash. Within Countdown, both the buildup to this as well as its aftermath is felt. Bart's funeral is held, and Piper and Trickster are forced on the run from superheroes and villains alike, which also ties into the upcoming Salvation Run. Connecting this story to "The Lightning Saga" is Wally's return to Earth. Wally's new vendetta against the Rogues is witnessed in Countdown where he finally catches up to Piper and Trickster, the remaining Rogues having already been captured in All Flash #1. Salvation Run, by Bill Willingham, Lilah Sturges and Sean Chen, is the story of various supervillains who have been captured and deported via Boom Tube technology to another planet. Regarding Countdown, Newsarama asked writer Willingham "Just to try and point out an example of this in action, would it be safe to say that Pied Piper and Trickster would have found themselves on this world had they not escaped capture in Countdown?", to which the response was "That's a fairly safe guess." The Suicide Squad, behind the attempted captures of Piper and Trickster were also shown to have captured other Rogues in All-Flash #1 who are pictured on the cover for issue #1. In Captain Carrot and the Final Ark (October 2007), written by Bill Morrison, with art by co-creator Scott Shaw, the Zoo Crew reunite in the midst of growing strife between the land and the sea creatures of Earth-26, sparked by Starro. Unfortunately, they encounter Starro and most of their powers are neutralized, except for Pig-Iron. Furthermore, that Earth is rendered uninhabitable, and the Crew has an ocean liner loaded with refugees transported off the planet by the Just'a Lotta Animals. Unfortunately, the ship is accidentally sent to New Earth. Although the Justice League encounter the ship and land it safely, all the passengers, including the Crew, are transformed into their animal forms indigenous to that Earth and, although they all apparently still have their human level intelligence, they are unable to speak. However, some time in the future, the Crew will discover that their forms and powers have been restored. In Final Crisis #7, Captain Carrot is seen in the climactic battle with his "humanity" and powers restored, and Pig-Iron is with him. ==Secondary titles==

Countdown: Arena was a four-part series featuring Monarch organizing a battle tournament between the heroes of the 52 universes, in order to determine who will be worthy of joining his army. Countdown to Adventure follows the adventures of Starfire, Animal Man, and Adam Strange after their return home in 52. Starfire and Animal Man continue with life on Earth, although their powers are not entirely reliable despite ample time to readjust to Earth's environment, while Adam Strange is replaced as the guardian of the planet Rann by an ultra-violent Hollywood actor named Champ Hazard. Meanwhile, the return of Lady Styx is heralded on Earth and Rann by zombie-like outbursts of three words: "Believe in her." Backup stories within Countdown to Adventure feature Forerunner and Monarch and expand upon both her origin story and her journey through the Multiverse, including an alternate history version of the Justice League had the Nazi's won World War 2 with the JLA being organized by Hitler. Countdown to Mystery features the adventures of Kent V. Nelson becoming Doctor Fate. In a backup story, Eclipso seduces the heroes of the DC Universe, tying into Countdown appearances with Mary Marvel and begins with the corruption of Plastic Man and Darkseid's revelation that he is Eclipso's true creator and that Eclipso's black diamond was mined on the planet Apokolips. The Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer one-shots expand on the Challengers' quest to find former Atom Ray Palmer. Countdown Presents: Lord Havok and the Extremists concerns events on Earth-8 and how they impact the future of the multiverse and the Countdown to Final Crisis limited series. ==Promotional campaign==

At the New York Comic Con in 2007, DC distributed four pins, with the option of a fifth, promoting storylines in Countdown. The first four pins say: "WWMMD?" ("What Would Mary Marvel Do?"), "I Found Ray Palmer", "Look to the Skies!" and "Jimmy Olsen Must Die!". The final pin says, "Darkseid Rules!" . DC released image captioned: "Let the battle cry be heard in the land, a shout of great destruction..." A teaser poster was released, which shows Wonder Woman comforting Superman, Batman in a different costume (with a sword and what appears to be chain mail armor) and Donna Troy wearing her Wonder Girl costume again. Kyle Rayner is wearing a yellow ring, and Mary Marvel is shown partially in shadow. Mister Miracle stands next to Big Barda. Also notable among the poster is a Legion flight ring, a minuscule red hand (the Atom's) sticking out of the rubble, and the bodies of Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), Maxwell Lord, The Question (Vic Sage), and Jade — major or notable heroes who had recently died. The heroes are gathered around the head of the Statue of Liberty; the headless body of the statue can be seen in the background. While alternately revealing and retracting his statements about Jason Todd being the new Red Robin, Dan DiDio confirmed the latter within the pages of DC Comics as of July 2007. DiDio had also previously mentioned that Barry Allen would be the returning Flash. In later interviews, Dan DiDio finally explained the symbolism of the image in light of the fact that a second was soon to be released. Released with books published on July 5, 2007, in the DC Nation: #68 column, DiDio described the picture's symbolism: "Anyone standing on barren ground is doomed. In this case, it spells the Death of the New Gods...The yellow ring corrupts Kyle (Rayner) in The Sinestro Corps War...Jason Todd becomes Red Robin, driving a wedge in the Challengers from Beyond...Green Arrow struggles to win the love of Black Canary...Batman, in symbolic garb, wields the sword that hearkens the return of a deadly foe (Ra's al Ghul)...Dressed in Barry's costume, Bart (Allen, the Flash) showed that he had one foot in the grave...A Legionnaire is lost and marked for death in Countdown...The Atom, lost, struggles to survive...The shield marked Hippolyta's return...Superman and Wonder Woman discuss parent issues...Is that a Boom Tube I see, and can that be the path to salvation?...The shadow of evil falls over Mary Marvel...and the statue head, reminiscent of and tied to Kamandi #1, also reflects Sinestro's upcoming visit to the Big Apple." . A second teaser image was released by DC comics to the website Newsarama.com. Drawn by Ethan Van Sciver with the caption "...And Evil Shall Inherit The Earth". It depicts various DC characters and Dan DiDio states that it '...will get us to the end of Countdown.' A series of promotional posters highlighting the main characters in Countdown was released over several months. They also appeared as full paged ads in several comic books and several issues of Wizard magazine. These include: • Eclipso extending a hand to Mary Marvel and a message that reads "Seduction of the Innocent". • An angry Ray Palmer under a magnifying glass with the message "I Found Ray Palmer!". • Jimmy Olsen looking up from the bottom of the poster with the message "Jimmy Olsen Must Die!" • The hands of the Trickster and the Pied Piper handcuffed together, reading "Villains Defiant!" • Darkseid's face with the message "Unto Man Shall Come... A Great Disaster". A series of in-house ads ran through DC's comic books based on the pins and posters. All of them were illustrated by Ryan Sook. These include: • Eclipso wearing a "What Would Mary Marvel Do?" button. • Red Robin wearing an "I Found Ray Palmer!" button. • The Joker wearing a "Jimmy Olsen Must Die" Button on his lapel. Another image has the Joker grinning while wearing Jimmy's press pass, bowtie, and Superman signal watch. • Granny Goodness wearing a "Darkseid Rules!" button. • Superman wearing a "Look to the Skies!" button. A series of in-house ads for series undergoing revamps also appeared. These ads incorporated the series' title as a partial crumbling stone block on a white background and the tagline "The Countdown continues". All of them were illustrated by Ryan Sook. ==Reception==

Critical reaction IGN criticized Countdown and called it one of the worst event comics, noting its general lack of focus, uninteresting plot threads, and its overall pointlessness due to being contradicted in the early issues of Final Crisis. Sales figures Sales of Countdown began with issue #51 selling 91,054 orders from Diamond Comics Distributors, making it the nineteenth best-selling comic book in May 2007. After the first issue, sales steadily dropped to a low of 72,077 copies with issue #40. Sales of subsequent issues briefly jumped to a high of approximately 88,000 copies per issue, before gradually declining into the 67,000 range. ==In other media==

In 2010 GraphicAudio produced an audiobook based on Countdown, written by Greg Cox. It runs for 8 hours. It excludes the plots of: Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl, the Morticoccus, Trickster and Pied Piper, Ryan Choi, Monarch, Superboy-Prime, Kyle Rayner, Duela Dent, Belthera, Klarion, Steel, Kamandi and Brother Eye, as well as other elements, such as merging Monitors Bob and Solomon into one being, omitting the destruction of Earth-51 and having Infinity-Man battle Darkseid instead of Orion. ==Collected editions==

The series has been collected into four trade paperbacks: • Volume 1 (collects #51-39, 296 pages, May 2008, ) • Volume 2 (collects #38-26, 296 pages, July 2008, ) • Volume 3 (collects #25-13, 296 pages, October 2008, ) • Volume 4 (collects #12-1, 272 pages, November 2008, ) Other connected collections include: • Countdown: Arena #1-4 (168 pages, August 2008, DC Comics, , Titan Books, ) • Countdown to Adventure #1-8 (192 pages, August 2008, DC Comics, , Titan Books, ) • Countdown to Mystery #1-8 (160 pages, September 2008, DC Comics, ) • Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer Crime Society #1; Gotham by Gaslight #1; Red Rain #1; Red Son #1; Superwoman/Batwoman #1; Wildstorm #1 (168 pages, July 2008, DC Comics, , Titan Books, ) • Countdown Presents: Lord Havok & the Extremists 1-6 (144 pages, September 2008, , Titan Books, October 2008, ) • Captain Carrot and the Final Ark #1-3 • Outsiders: Five of a Kind Nightwing/Boomerang #1; Katana/Shazam #2; Martian Manhunter/Thunder #3; Metamorpho/Aquaman #4; Wonder Woman/Grace #5 • Countdown Special: Eclipso #1; Jimmy Olsen #1; Kamandi #1; OMAC #1; The Atom #1-2; The Flash #1; The New Gods #1 • Action Comics #852-854 • The All New Atom #14-15 • Detective Comics #837 • Supergirl #21-22 • Superman #665 • Teen Titans #47 ==References==