Choke on it!
Here’s the Lowdown…
- The battle is still raging for Earth-51
- Bob the Monitor tricks Superman-Prime into entering the war, convincing SM-P that this is the “perfect Earth” he has been searching for.
- Kyle and Ray go off in search for Donna Troy, meanwhile…
- Donna Troy, disguised as an alternate Earth version of Wonder Girl (the one she slapped down last week) and gets into the courtroom of Queen Belthera
- After she reveals herself, a small melee ensues and Donna snaps Belthera’s neck (hmmmmmm…. flashback)
- Belthera’s insect armies pledge allegiance to Donna, now she is their queen… ascension by combat!
- In the Earth-51 Bat-Bunker Bruce-51 and Jason get on the same page and decide to join the battle and go out fighting
- Jason dons the Red Robin outfit…. sounds promising for Kingdom Come fans
- A very nice touch this week, Bruce calls Jason “chum”… very nice Adam West send-up!
- Bruce-51, Red Robin and the Monitor from Earth-51 are pinned down and ready to be taken by Monarch’s forces when Donna’s insect army shows up and starts to clean house
- Monarch’s ship is attacked by Superman-Prime
- Origin of Gorilla Grodd
It took thirty plus issues, but Countdown was good this week… no, really good… and it’s the second week in a row?!? The story flowed, there were no big “that character wouldn’t do that” moments, nothing way off base for DC fans. It’s still not the “backbone of the DCU” book that we were promised, but at least it’s exciting and fun to read now. Since issue #16 the writing has gotten exponentially better, not only in the broad strokes but also in the details of the conversations and interaction between characters. Whether or not it’s that we are so close to Final Crisis and we need to have the dramatic build up or that there was no Jimmy Olsen, who knows… but keep it coming!
Do I dare expect a third quality week of Countdown in a row?
Grade: B+
