Countdown to Final Crisis: Difference between revisions

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''Countdown to Final Crisis'' (2007-2008) is perhaps one of the most baffling things to come out of [[DC Comics]]. It was meant as the leadup to what would have been the biggest events in the DCU, but ultimately, it fell short, not even bearing connection to the ''[[Final Crisis]]'' for which it was named. Trying to summarize it is a difficult task, as the plotline is essentially a very shaky patchwork of loosely connected plot threads. But someone has to try:
 
[[The Multiverse]] has gone wonky. The [[Crisis on Infinite Earths|Monitors]] have come back into existence with the return of the parallel universes, and they foresee a "Great Disaster" -- and—and one Monitor, consulting The Source, is told that Ray Palmer (currently in exile since the events of ''[[Identity Crisis]]'') is the answer. From here, the script splits into a variety of plot threads:
* [[Wonder Woman|Donna Troy]] and [[Batman|Jason Todd]] end up traveling the Multiverse with [[Fluffy the Terrible|Bob, one of the Monitors]], searching for Ray Palmer, initially joined by Ryan Choi ([[The Atom|the fourth Atom]]), but joined by [[Green Lantern|Kyle Rayner]] instead when Choi gets whisked out of the plot. They search multiple universes and come up empty-handed most of the time.
* [[Shazam|Mary Marvel]], seemingly abandoned by the power of Shazam, goes out searching for answers. She ends up stealing [[Black Adam]]'s power, turning evil not once, but twice.
* [[Jimmy Olsen]] ends up [[Superpower Silly Putty|developing superpowers]] and tries to become a superhero -- orsuperhero—or at least find out why he has them. [[Weirdness Magnet|In typical Jimmy Olsen fashion]], he soon gets sucked into an investigation into the death of the [[New Gods]], winds up toe-to-toe with Darkseid, and [[Coitus Ensues|has sex with a bug girl.]]
* [[The Flash|The Trickster and Pied Piper]] go undercover to gather info on the other Rogues, and get framed for murder. They wind up in a situation not unlike "The Defiant Ones" save for a surplus of homophobic potshots and unpleasantry.
* [[Catwoman (comics)|Holly Robinson]] and [[Batman|Harley Quinn]] end up in a women's shelter organized by Athena (actually Granny Goodness in disguise), who trains them as warriors without telling them why.
* [[Legion of Super-Heroes|Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl]] end up stranded in the past because Karate Kid's infected with a strange virus; they try to find a cure.{{spoiler|..unsuccesfully. Both of them die}}.
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{{tropelist}}
=== Tropes associated with ''Countdown to Final Crisis'': ===
* [[Aborted Arc]]: Many plot points introduced as important are never mentioned again--includingagain—including the series itself.
* [[A God Am I]]: Superboy-Prime. Not necessarily a ''mature'' god, but still...
* [[All the Myriad Ways]]: Played straight with Earth-51. {{spoiler|Twice}}.
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* [[Ax Crazy]]: Superboy-Prime
* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: Jimmy Olsen gave us a rather impressive variant; When Ray Palmer crawls into his brain to give Jimmy control over his superpowers, allowing Jimmy to transform and rescue Superman, who had been exposed to a healthy dose of Kryptonite Jimmy by Darkseid.
* [[BLAMNon Sequitur Episode]]: The entire series, depending on who you ask, but special mention goes to Paul Dini's issue, in which Superman-Prime imprisoned and tortured Mr. Mxyzptlk with the help of a [[Mirror Universe]] Zatanna, only to have her do a [[Heel Face Turn]] and [[Redemption Equals Death]] free the imp.
* [[Canon Discontinuity]]
* [[Character Filibuster]]: Solomon the Monitor spends half the series repeatedly hijacking the Monitors' conference with constant, doom-prophesying horror stories about ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'', in order to convince the other Monitors that they have to kill Bob and stop his interdimensional joyride, justify his murder of Duela Dent, and get everyone to help him wipe out all the people who were originally from Earth-2 and the other [[Pre Crisis]] parallel universes.
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* [[Dark Magical Girl]]: Mary Marvel.
* [[Department of Redundancy Department]]: "I'LL KILL YOU! [[Shaped Like Itself|I'll KILL YOU TO DEATH!]]"
* [[Depending on the Artist]]: The fact that all the issues were drawn by different artists caused many, many abrupt shifts not just in character models, but in basic layout and props throughout particular arcs.
** [[Depending on the Writer]]: To much the same effect.
* [[Discontinuity Nod]]: [[Geoff Johns]] actually put "Don't worry about Countdown" on a chalkboard in ''[[Booster Gold]].''
** Later on, {{spoiler|the Red Robin costume worn by Jason Todd on Earth-51}} appeared in ''Robin'' and was adopted by {{spoiler|Tim Drake}}.
* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: Mary Marvel taking a pole from Zatanna and saying "Ooh, no wonder you wanted to keep this for yourself!" with a look of ecstasy on her face.
* [[Dropped a Bridge on Him]]: Many characters. {{spoiler|Duela Dent, The Jokester, Triplicate Girl, Trickster, Karate Kid, the version of Batman who might have redeemed Jason Todd and three alternate-universe Earths}}.
* [[Evil Versus Evil]]: Monarch conquered Earth-51 and wouldn't stop there. Then [[Unstoppable Rage|Superman-Prime]] [[Fight Scene|attacked]] [[Apocalypse How|him]]...
* [[Face Heel Turn]]: Twice, first by Mary Marvel, then by one of the Monitors.
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** [http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/6590/gurrenlanternlu8.jpg Gurren Lagann.]
* [[Super-Hero Origin]]/[[Start of Darkness]]: Issues #37-27, #25-13, #11, and #6 feature origin stories of various heroes and villains as a backup feature. Issue #28 is notable in featuring ''two'' (one each for the Trickster and the Pied Piper).
* [[Swarm of Rats]]: Una is eaten alive by a swarm of mutated rats, and shows her [[Determinator]] street cred by continuing to fight them long enough to pass on her flight ring to another character, who escapes.
* [[Take That, Audience!]]: Superman-Prime is a pretty visible potshot, voicing common reader complaints about the series as though they were First-World problems.
* [[The Power of Rock]]
* [[This Is for Emphasis, Bitch]]: She's Donna Troy, by the way.
* [[The Virus]]: The thing that Ray Palmer and his friends were meant to stop, the thing that wiped out all human civilization and killed billions? It makes furries. An epidemic of savage, violent furries.
* [[Took a Level Inin Badass]]: Piper (see [[Moment of Awesome]]). Superboy-Prime, who was turned into Super''man''-Prime due to events of [[Sinestro Corps War]] (keep in mind that he already [[Up to Eleven|was at Silver Age power level]]). Monarch who at the end of ''Countdown: Arena'' [[Human Resources|took fifty one levels at once]].
* [[Trauma Conga Line]]: It's uncertain if they were aiming to play this straight or not, as it's visited unto [[Jimmy Olsen]].
* [[Unwitting Instigator of Doom]]: Hal Jordan.
* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: Darkseid, the ultimate evil in the universe, one of the biggest [[Big Bad|Big Bads]]s to ever have set foot in comics... is found lounging on a couch in Mary Marvel's apartment.
* [[Who Dares?]]: Don't ever beat Ultraman in place of Super-Woman.
* [[Who Watches the Watchmen?]]: At the end, Donna Troy asks "Who monitors the Monitors?" (loosely translated from ''"quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"'')
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[[Category:DC Comics Series]]
[[Category:Countdown to Final Crisis]]
[[Category:Comic Books]]
[[Category:Comic Books of the 2000s]]