Help me out here. Am I supposed to care about this death? This Batman #500,000 from Earth Pi, right? Or is this a Batman I'm supposed to feel emotion for?
Is this one of the old Batmen? Kingdom Come? Is that it? Is that why he looks so fat in this issue?
And Jason Todd finally got his revenge on the Joker...
Wow, this is really emotional. Let's have a moment, shall we?
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In all seriousness, this series could have been much better, could have moved past the more cartoonish elements, had the art not looked so rushed. The art on this series has looked continually rushed. DC was better of just literally having 20 different artists working on issues at the same time, 20 different artists.
And, as someone on scans daily pointed out,
"Brain punching does not work that way!"
It's Countdown. Of course you're supposed to care. However, nobody is going to, just like nobody's cared about anything else that's happened. Because it is Countdown.
ReplyDeleteI second what andrew said.
ReplyDeleteSomehow, "52", which had a similar format, got people to care around this time.
ReplyDeleteI tried Countdown on and off for the first 24 issues. When ish 25 came around, and then 24, and people told me "I've got to read this now", I was tired of a weekly mediocre comic which has the sole goal of selling me other "countdown presents" books.
And I like Paul Dini. A lot.
And I'm usually not this negative about a comic - I love to put in as much of a benefit of a doubt as possible. "Countdown" was simply too tiring.
OK, I haven't been reading Countdown. Why is this Batman yelling "Bruuuce!" as he's getting "punched"? Without context, I don't get it. Did this Bruce and Clark switch bodies or something?
ReplyDeleteThat's Red Robin shouting "Broooooce!"
ReplyDeleteI dunno, I've been kind of enjoying Countdown for the first time ever now that its turned into a serialised knuckleheaded super-brawl. I ragged on it because all the cool kids were doing it, but I do have to admit that it wasn't really up to much for the first seven months or so. It came off the back of 52 reading just as it was hyped - a seemingly-unnecessary sequel to an established sales hit. So much of it went nowhere it was hard to view it as anything other than an attempt to force something into the shape of it's own hype.
Now it's turned into a 'Tom and Jerry' style violent cartoon war, Countdown seems to have found its feet, so I think its only truly unforgivable failure is is that it didn't get to this point sooner. I know it's only a prelude story to Final Crisis, but it's now eventful enough to read and not feel cheated.
If you can afford it, obviously.
Thanks, Bryan. That makes more sense.
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDelete52 was written by five of the finest comic book writers currently working in the industry. Countdown is written by Graymiotti, Beechen, and Bedard. And, okay, Sean McKeever, but that's one of 4.
52's story was decided by the writers, without editorial interference. Countdown's story has been deterined wholly by editorial edict, with the writers just hitting the plot points they have been ordered to.
52 had no continuity errors. Countdown can't go three pages without a screwup.
The fact that they're both weekly comics is the least relevant comparison possible, is my point here.
In a world where Ed Benes puts both T and A facing the same direction, this opinion doesn't mean much, BUT I think Batman looks "fat" because that's how a normal* human would look in that position.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Countdown goes, I've said before and will say it again:
DC turned into a snuff-pornographer so gradually, I never noticed. Until OS pointed it out.
* By "normal," I mean 6'2", 250 and 1% body fat.
It's true, it could have been a whole lot better than what it is, which is not good at all.
ReplyDeleteHey, did anyone else notice how the colourist for the issue before forgot who Extream Batman and Extream Red Robin were supposed to be, and coloured Jason in Bats' colours?
ReplyDeletehttp://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/4849445.html
You're supposed to care because this is the Batman that Jason could really bond with, because he used guns and killed the Joker after his Jason died (which is not the Joker Jason kills here) and then went on to kill all of the supervillains evar.
Are you bored reading all that? Because I was bored typing it.
And Jason didn't smack fake joker about with a crowbar, so, it doesn't count.
I am reminded of a Larry Niven short story where learning of the fact of parallel universes leads the main character to commit suicide (in one universe) because his actions ultimately didn't matter. There would be another version of him making a different choice in another universe.
ReplyDeleteI can't really muster much, because it's just a generic "oh, he's such abadass!" moments.
ReplyDelete