04-02-2005, 05:49 AM
So has anyone read Countdown yet?
Here's my new review of it -
SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF 53
"CRISIS"
Reviewing DC Countdown or Countdown to Infinite Crisis, written by Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka and Judd Winick, art by Rags Morales, Ed Benes, Jesus Saiz, Ivan Reis and Phil Jimenez, edited by Dan DiDio.
Copyright © 2005, Glenn Walker
Can you hear the wind roar? And underneath the hurricane force gale is a terrible whispered rumor...
Crisis.
The wind cries Crisis.
Yep, it's that time again.
The first Crisis was simply a story that had the then present day Justice League of America meeting the legendary Justice Society of America. It was a simple tale of their foes joining together in a scheme to take out both teams, take all the money and rule their respective worlds. Yes, worlds. That is what the word Crisis came to stand for.
The word Crisis was used by writer Gardner Fox and editor Julie Schwartz in the titles of each annual JLA/JSA team-up and the tradition continued for years after both Fox and Schwartz had left the book. And the 'scientific' concept behind the teams only getting together once a year was that they existed on two different worlds - parallel Earths - co-existing in the same dimensional space yet vibrating at slightly different frequencies. Yep, you got it, former science fiction writer Gardner Fox had string theory sussed out decades before it was fact.
And it's not a hard concept. At the age of five, my big brother explained it to me with a well-read and well-loved copy of Justice League of America #91 in our hands. "It's another Earth, there's another Flash, another Green Lantern, maybe another you and me - just a little different. The people there have just been around longer than we have." There you go, parallel Earth theory for dummies, or five year olds, rather. I understood it, and so did all of my friends who read comics. What was so hard?
Well, apparently it was difficult. Not for anyone reading the comic books at the time, mind you, but for the comic book creators. The annual JLA/JSA team-ups continued, new parallel Earths were discovered. We already had a world for the Golden Age Justice Society, now there was one for the heroes once owned by Quality Comics that DC now owned. That trend of accommodating corporate acquisitions followed suit with the Fawcett Comics characters, and then the Charlton Comics heroes. New Earths were sometimes created whole out of writers' imaginations.
The DC Multiverse was getting mighty crowded. The spotlight on the older heroes and the new worlds spun away from the isolated annual team-ups and spread to other titles, sometimes their own titles. This was a 'golden age' of sorts for comic readers of the time, so many heroes, concepts and stories to thrill to. We loved it all. Check the history books (and man, it hurts to say that), those titles sold well.
We were reading tales of Infinity Inc., the Huntress, Power Girl, the All-Star Squadron, the Marvel Family, the Blackhawks and more. We had no problem with the parallel Earths and could easily distinguish that the Huntress was the daughter of the Earth-Two Batman and Catwoman or that Mr. and Mrs. Superman were the 1950s married Clark and Lois of that same world. But apparently the folks at DC had trouble with it.
Certain writers, artists and editors didn't get it, or refused to get it, and so a plan was hatched - a truly diabolical plan. They commissioned writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez, who were extremely hot at the time with their revamp sensation, New Teen Titans, and who were contemplating doing a linear history of the DC Universe, to solve the multiverse 'problem.'
Thus was born the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the super-crossover. Crossing over into every title that DC published, Crisis detailed the story of the destruction of the DC multiverse and its conversion into one single continuity. It featured virtually every character in their history and was companioned by a Who's Who series to keep track of the players. Heroes died, worlds died, and the cash register rung.
The powers that be at DC were doubly pleased, not only would they get a supposedly coherent shared fiction universe - but they would also make a buck. Now two decades later the continuity of the DC Universe has become repeatedly more incoherent and various patches have failed, but crossovers have become surefire sales gold. Twenty years later, what better way to celebrate such an anniversary? You got it, a crossover, a new continuity patch... a sequel.
All of which brings us to the inevitable. And the countdown to the inevitable, aptly called DC Countdown...
After the first few pages of DC Countdown, (as it's called in the indica, or Countdown to Infinite Crisis as it's called on the cover) I knew who Batman was carrying on the upsettingly disappointing cover by Jim Lee and Alex Ross. The opening and most of the eighty-page story had the stench of that first issue of Identity Crisis about it. Here we have spectacular writing and exciting art reviving and recreating a much-maligned, largely forgotten second-string hero - only to snuff him out.
In IC, writer Brad Meltzer (who gets a special thanks credit in Countdown) managed to make the Elongated Man a viable character, one that could support his own title, one that I would happily buy and read every month. And then he bloodily, hatefully and mercilessly cut out the heart of the Elongated Man, his beloved wife, Sue Dibny. Any might-have-been stories that would have rocked many a potential reader's world was crushed much like Sue's innocent light of a life.
Perpetrators Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka and Judd Winick - who wait until the end of the book to take credit for their vicious murder - do the same thing to the Blue Beetle. In the pages of a DC comic, the Blue Beetle has never looked so good.
This current version of the Blue Beetle was a character bought from the defunct Charlton Comics action hero line. Others of that purchase included Captain Atom and the Question. The Charlton heroes had even been given their own parallel Earth, designated Earth-Four, in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. DC attempted to give BB a good home but it didn't sell well enough.
The Blue Beetle as a character has a long history. The name first belonged to a Golden Age hero created by Charles Nicholas in Mystery Men (no relation to the Ben Stiller movie or the Flaming Carrot characters it was based on) #1 published by Fox Features Syndicate in 1939. Police officer Dan Garrett gained a variety of super powers - the most consistent of which were flight, super-strength, and being bulletproof, but usually whatever the writers needed him to do - from taking the mysterious Vitamin 2X. The Blue Beetle was extremely popular, he even had his own radio series. He is also one of the few superheroes, outside of DC and Marvel, to survive to the present day.
Dan Garrett was later resurrected at Charlton Comics as an archeologist who found the magical blue scarab of Kha-ef-Re which granted him incredible powers. Other than the names, the previous BB was forgotten. Eventually this new and improved Blue Beetle was replaced by the current version, created in 1966 by the legendary Steve Ditko in Captain Atom #83. This BB was inventor Ted Kord, a fun-loving acrobat simliar to Ditko's Spider-Man, who flew around in a giant mechanical Bug and blinded opponents with his high powered flashgun.
After a brief stint with yet another publisher, Americomics, BB became the property of DC Comics. At Charlton, the Blue Beetle was more akin to a wisecracking daredevil than the high tech hero (more in the mode of Iron Man than Spider-Man) that DC Comics made him. The DC Blue Beetle was notable for featuring great superhero stories by Len Wein and Jean-Marc Lofficier with art by Paris Cullins, a forgotten classic. The unfair cancellation of that book was only the first step in the degradation to come. Next for the Blue Beetle was the comedy revival of the Justice League by the diabolical Keith Giffen.
Once a hero, the most identifiable and fun of the Charlton heroes, the Blue Beetle was now a clown and a buffoon. Paired with Booster Gold, another brilliant superhero concept not given enough a chance, he became one half of a twisted Abbott and Costello team on the laughing stock title of superhero comics. Blue and Gold, as they were called, were the centerpieces of a Justice League book that might have been more serious as a Mad Magazine parody. In my opinion, this was the darkest era of the Justice League, and would be best forgotten.
DC hasn't been very nice to the properties it bought from Charlton Comics for the most part. Captain Atom was at one point set up to be the DCU's greatest villain, Monarch. He was also caught up in the embarrassment of the Giffen League. The Question, while beautifully portrayed by Denny O'Neil and Denys Cowan in the late 1980s, the character bore little resemblance to the original Ditko creation. The current Question is even worse.
It should also be noted that the original version of Watchmen was to have been the Charlton heroes, an entire heroic pantheon whose world is destroyed by their presence, until DC decided they could make more money not destroying those characters, and changing the names to these Charlton-derivations. Now, things have gotten worse for Blue Beetle at least at DC's hands.
Recent appearances in Birds of Prey went a long way toward trying to resuscitate BB's career and reputation. Ted was on his way to being a hero, a serious hero, again. Those appearances along with the extremely well-written starring role in Countdown have made the Blue Beetle someone I want to read about, whose adventures I want to read more of - but in much the same fashion as the Elongated Man in Identity Crisis, another great concept blown to hell.
In my opinion Countdown has far too many things in common with Identity Crisis. Both are wonderfully crafted stories and joys to read - but like recent Marvel contributions like New Avengers and Ultimates - I absolutely hate everything going on in the book. I no more want to see Blue Beetle die than I wanted to see Sue Dibny die, or the Scarlet Witch betray the Avengers or Hank Pym lose it again. I don't want to see this stuff.
There are roughly forty to fifty years of great comics history where no one had to die horribly (or even on panel) to tell a good story. Why can't today's creators take a look back and learn something? It worked before, it can work again. I know that Johns, Rucka and Winick are good writers - now prove it, write a solid complete twenty-two page story, without killing a major character facing earth shattering consequences or especially death. Go ahead, I dare you.
On the good side, Countdown is a sweet package. Eighty pages, roughly ad free, for only a dollar - it's a sight we've not seen since the days of DC's Dollar Comics when we were treated to the same prize with titles like World's Finest Comics, Superman Family and Adventure Comics. Man, those were the days. It does take me aback when editor Dan DiDio rubs that fact in my face in his editorial though.
The art as I mentioned is first class. I am very impressed with the work of Ed Benes, Ivan Reis just keeps getting better and better, and pretty much any time Phil Jimenez graces the pages of a DC comic is a good day. It does however make me sad that Phil was the one to provide that much-too-graphic final page.
Artwise, I also didn't care for the preview of Hal Jordan's new Green Lantern costume. After all that struggle to return Green Lantern to his traditional roots, why the hell did they eff with the costume??? The late Gil Kane's design was not only epitomizes Green Lantern, it was also near perfect. Sigh, if it ain't broke, why fix it? Oh, and smooth move, DC, spoiling the end of Green Lantern: Rebirth before the last issue is out. Yeah, I know it's not like we didn't know how it would end up - but still...
I mentioned above my distaste for the Giffen Justice League so I won't bore you with how disturbed I was that the story ties in so tightly with that era. At least the story here gives some respect to Beetle, Booster Gold and Maxwell Lord as opposed to their treatment by Giffen. My favorite part was Ted's thoughts on Gold, that he knows the future having come from there. It's a great concept that should be used, should he ever be revived again. And now that I've said the name Lord, I should mention it was no surprise to me who the prime baddie here was. It's given away rather early in my opinion.
Speaking of bad guys. I see little logic in the grouping to be featured in the upcoming Villains United. First, isn't Lex Luthor a public figure? Can he afford to be in the company of these other folk, especially after the Injustice Gang debacle in the Grant Morrison run on JLA? It is certainly an odd group, all order-givers, no order-takers. Seems a contest to see whose ego will push the others out of the room.
Villains United is but one of four six-issue mini-series spinning out of this book. At roughly two to three dollars per issue, I foresee DC making all the money it lost on this dollar comic back pretty easily. As I've been enjoying the new Adam Strange mini, I'm looking forward to the Rann-Thanagar War. Hopefully we'll get to see Hawkman explore a bit more of his Thanagarian incarnation. And, oh, Kyle Rayner also appears to be in it, another puzzle piece in Rebirth in place.
Speaking of loose ends from Rebirth, it appears that Day of Vengeance will feature an unanchored Spectre at war with DC's magical characters. Hmmm, if the new Spectre is Sue Dibny, as has been rumored, I'm going to put my fist through a wall. Speaking of putting my fist through a wall, the last mini is called The OMAC Project?
Let me get this straight. Batman built Brother Eye? And OMAC is that thing on the third and fourth to last pages in the book? Let's just leave Jack and his brilliant creations alone, okay? Hear that sound? It's Jack Kirby spinning in his grave. I have to wonder how many times both DC and Marvel can rape a corpse.
Other tidbits that were worthwhile - nice to see the Madmen, Beetle foes from both his DC and Charlton days, and all of BB's inner thoughts on his fellow heroes, all insightful and wasted with Ted Kord's death. We'll never see this kind of writing for this hero again. The Shazam sequence was confusing, how does it have bearing? Hopefully it will be cleared up, probably in Day of Vengeance.
The scarab of Kha-ef-Re was left with the wizard Shazam, and odds are it will be given to someone else, giving birth to a new Blue Beetle. Why, after this great issue, giving new life to the 'old' Blue Beetle, do we need a new one? It's just more proof that there are no bad characters, only bad writers.
While we're on the subject of what's going to happen next, in his editorial, "Crisis Counseling," DC's executive editor Dan DiDio openly invites speculation. He gleefully confesses to the secrecy that kept the real title of this book in the dark until just a few days ago. And most of all, Mr. DiDio officially announces Infinite Crisis as the official sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Will it be the return of parallel Earths? Will it be another botched patch job like Zero Hour and Hypertime? Perhaps it is the end of the DC Universe and a fresh start from scratch. Looking at the cover, some of the costumes are funky, most notably Hawkman and Wonder Woman, whose continuities were scrambled by the original Crisis - maybe that depicts a parallel Earth? Who knows?
Look to the wind.
Listen to the wind...
Here's my new review of it -
SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF 53
"CRISIS"
Reviewing DC Countdown or Countdown to Infinite Crisis, written by Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka and Judd Winick, art by Rags Morales, Ed Benes, Jesus Saiz, Ivan Reis and Phil Jimenez, edited by Dan DiDio.
Copyright © 2005, Glenn Walker
Can you hear the wind roar? And underneath the hurricane force gale is a terrible whispered rumor...
Crisis.
The wind cries Crisis.
Yep, it's that time again.
The first Crisis was simply a story that had the then present day Justice League of America meeting the legendary Justice Society of America. It was a simple tale of their foes joining together in a scheme to take out both teams, take all the money and rule their respective worlds. Yes, worlds. That is what the word Crisis came to stand for.
The word Crisis was used by writer Gardner Fox and editor Julie Schwartz in the titles of each annual JLA/JSA team-up and the tradition continued for years after both Fox and Schwartz had left the book. And the 'scientific' concept behind the teams only getting together once a year was that they existed on two different worlds - parallel Earths - co-existing in the same dimensional space yet vibrating at slightly different frequencies. Yep, you got it, former science fiction writer Gardner Fox had string theory sussed out decades before it was fact.
And it's not a hard concept. At the age of five, my big brother explained it to me with a well-read and well-loved copy of Justice League of America #91 in our hands. "It's another Earth, there's another Flash, another Green Lantern, maybe another you and me - just a little different. The people there have just been around longer than we have." There you go, parallel Earth theory for dummies, or five year olds, rather. I understood it, and so did all of my friends who read comics. What was so hard?
Well, apparently it was difficult. Not for anyone reading the comic books at the time, mind you, but for the comic book creators. The annual JLA/JSA team-ups continued, new parallel Earths were discovered. We already had a world for the Golden Age Justice Society, now there was one for the heroes once owned by Quality Comics that DC now owned. That trend of accommodating corporate acquisitions followed suit with the Fawcett Comics characters, and then the Charlton Comics heroes. New Earths were sometimes created whole out of writers' imaginations.
The DC Multiverse was getting mighty crowded. The spotlight on the older heroes and the new worlds spun away from the isolated annual team-ups and spread to other titles, sometimes their own titles. This was a 'golden age' of sorts for comic readers of the time, so many heroes, concepts and stories to thrill to. We loved it all. Check the history books (and man, it hurts to say that), those titles sold well.
We were reading tales of Infinity Inc., the Huntress, Power Girl, the All-Star Squadron, the Marvel Family, the Blackhawks and more. We had no problem with the parallel Earths and could easily distinguish that the Huntress was the daughter of the Earth-Two Batman and Catwoman or that Mr. and Mrs. Superman were the 1950s married Clark and Lois of that same world. But apparently the folks at DC had trouble with it.
Certain writers, artists and editors didn't get it, or refused to get it, and so a plan was hatched - a truly diabolical plan. They commissioned writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez, who were extremely hot at the time with their revamp sensation, New Teen Titans, and who were contemplating doing a linear history of the DC Universe, to solve the multiverse 'problem.'
Thus was born the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the super-crossover. Crossing over into every title that DC published, Crisis detailed the story of the destruction of the DC multiverse and its conversion into one single continuity. It featured virtually every character in their history and was companioned by a Who's Who series to keep track of the players. Heroes died, worlds died, and the cash register rung.
The powers that be at DC were doubly pleased, not only would they get a supposedly coherent shared fiction universe - but they would also make a buck. Now two decades later the continuity of the DC Universe has become repeatedly more incoherent and various patches have failed, but crossovers have become surefire sales gold. Twenty years later, what better way to celebrate such an anniversary? You got it, a crossover, a new continuity patch... a sequel.
All of which brings us to the inevitable. And the countdown to the inevitable, aptly called DC Countdown...
After the first few pages of DC Countdown, (as it's called in the indica, or Countdown to Infinite Crisis as it's called on the cover) I knew who Batman was carrying on the upsettingly disappointing cover by Jim Lee and Alex Ross. The opening and most of the eighty-page story had the stench of that first issue of Identity Crisis about it. Here we have spectacular writing and exciting art reviving and recreating a much-maligned, largely forgotten second-string hero - only to snuff him out.
In IC, writer Brad Meltzer (who gets a special thanks credit in Countdown) managed to make the Elongated Man a viable character, one that could support his own title, one that I would happily buy and read every month. And then he bloodily, hatefully and mercilessly cut out the heart of the Elongated Man, his beloved wife, Sue Dibny. Any might-have-been stories that would have rocked many a potential reader's world was crushed much like Sue's innocent light of a life.
Perpetrators Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka and Judd Winick - who wait until the end of the book to take credit for their vicious murder - do the same thing to the Blue Beetle. In the pages of a DC comic, the Blue Beetle has never looked so good.
This current version of the Blue Beetle was a character bought from the defunct Charlton Comics action hero line. Others of that purchase included Captain Atom and the Question. The Charlton heroes had even been given their own parallel Earth, designated Earth-Four, in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. DC attempted to give BB a good home but it didn't sell well enough.
The Blue Beetle as a character has a long history. The name first belonged to a Golden Age hero created by Charles Nicholas in Mystery Men (no relation to the Ben Stiller movie or the Flaming Carrot characters it was based on) #1 published by Fox Features Syndicate in 1939. Police officer Dan Garrett gained a variety of super powers - the most consistent of which were flight, super-strength, and being bulletproof, but usually whatever the writers needed him to do - from taking the mysterious Vitamin 2X. The Blue Beetle was extremely popular, he even had his own radio series. He is also one of the few superheroes, outside of DC and Marvel, to survive to the present day.
Dan Garrett was later resurrected at Charlton Comics as an archeologist who found the magical blue scarab of Kha-ef-Re which granted him incredible powers. Other than the names, the previous BB was forgotten. Eventually this new and improved Blue Beetle was replaced by the current version, created in 1966 by the legendary Steve Ditko in Captain Atom #83. This BB was inventor Ted Kord, a fun-loving acrobat simliar to Ditko's Spider-Man, who flew around in a giant mechanical Bug and blinded opponents with his high powered flashgun.
After a brief stint with yet another publisher, Americomics, BB became the property of DC Comics. At Charlton, the Blue Beetle was more akin to a wisecracking daredevil than the high tech hero (more in the mode of Iron Man than Spider-Man) that DC Comics made him. The DC Blue Beetle was notable for featuring great superhero stories by Len Wein and Jean-Marc Lofficier with art by Paris Cullins, a forgotten classic. The unfair cancellation of that book was only the first step in the degradation to come. Next for the Blue Beetle was the comedy revival of the Justice League by the diabolical Keith Giffen.
Once a hero, the most identifiable and fun of the Charlton heroes, the Blue Beetle was now a clown and a buffoon. Paired with Booster Gold, another brilliant superhero concept not given enough a chance, he became one half of a twisted Abbott and Costello team on the laughing stock title of superhero comics. Blue and Gold, as they were called, were the centerpieces of a Justice League book that might have been more serious as a Mad Magazine parody. In my opinion, this was the darkest era of the Justice League, and would be best forgotten.
DC hasn't been very nice to the properties it bought from Charlton Comics for the most part. Captain Atom was at one point set up to be the DCU's greatest villain, Monarch. He was also caught up in the embarrassment of the Giffen League. The Question, while beautifully portrayed by Denny O'Neil and Denys Cowan in the late 1980s, the character bore little resemblance to the original Ditko creation. The current Question is even worse.
It should also be noted that the original version of Watchmen was to have been the Charlton heroes, an entire heroic pantheon whose world is destroyed by their presence, until DC decided they could make more money not destroying those characters, and changing the names to these Charlton-derivations. Now, things have gotten worse for Blue Beetle at least at DC's hands.
Recent appearances in Birds of Prey went a long way toward trying to resuscitate BB's career and reputation. Ted was on his way to being a hero, a serious hero, again. Those appearances along with the extremely well-written starring role in Countdown have made the Blue Beetle someone I want to read about, whose adventures I want to read more of - but in much the same fashion as the Elongated Man in Identity Crisis, another great concept blown to hell.
In my opinion Countdown has far too many things in common with Identity Crisis. Both are wonderfully crafted stories and joys to read - but like recent Marvel contributions like New Avengers and Ultimates - I absolutely hate everything going on in the book. I no more want to see Blue Beetle die than I wanted to see Sue Dibny die, or the Scarlet Witch betray the Avengers or Hank Pym lose it again. I don't want to see this stuff.
There are roughly forty to fifty years of great comics history where no one had to die horribly (or even on panel) to tell a good story. Why can't today's creators take a look back and learn something? It worked before, it can work again. I know that Johns, Rucka and Winick are good writers - now prove it, write a solid complete twenty-two page story, without killing a major character facing earth shattering consequences or especially death. Go ahead, I dare you.
On the good side, Countdown is a sweet package. Eighty pages, roughly ad free, for only a dollar - it's a sight we've not seen since the days of DC's Dollar Comics when we were treated to the same prize with titles like World's Finest Comics, Superman Family and Adventure Comics. Man, those were the days. It does take me aback when editor Dan DiDio rubs that fact in my face in his editorial though.
The art as I mentioned is first class. I am very impressed with the work of Ed Benes, Ivan Reis just keeps getting better and better, and pretty much any time Phil Jimenez graces the pages of a DC comic is a good day. It does however make me sad that Phil was the one to provide that much-too-graphic final page.
Artwise, I also didn't care for the preview of Hal Jordan's new Green Lantern costume. After all that struggle to return Green Lantern to his traditional roots, why the hell did they eff with the costume??? The late Gil Kane's design was not only epitomizes Green Lantern, it was also near perfect. Sigh, if it ain't broke, why fix it? Oh, and smooth move, DC, spoiling the end of Green Lantern: Rebirth before the last issue is out. Yeah, I know it's not like we didn't know how it would end up - but still...
I mentioned above my distaste for the Giffen Justice League so I won't bore you with how disturbed I was that the story ties in so tightly with that era. At least the story here gives some respect to Beetle, Booster Gold and Maxwell Lord as opposed to their treatment by Giffen. My favorite part was Ted's thoughts on Gold, that he knows the future having come from there. It's a great concept that should be used, should he ever be revived again. And now that I've said the name Lord, I should mention it was no surprise to me who the prime baddie here was. It's given away rather early in my opinion.
Speaking of bad guys. I see little logic in the grouping to be featured in the upcoming Villains United. First, isn't Lex Luthor a public figure? Can he afford to be in the company of these other folk, especially after the Injustice Gang debacle in the Grant Morrison run on JLA? It is certainly an odd group, all order-givers, no order-takers. Seems a contest to see whose ego will push the others out of the room.
Villains United is but one of four six-issue mini-series spinning out of this book. At roughly two to three dollars per issue, I foresee DC making all the money it lost on this dollar comic back pretty easily. As I've been enjoying the new Adam Strange mini, I'm looking forward to the Rann-Thanagar War. Hopefully we'll get to see Hawkman explore a bit more of his Thanagarian incarnation. And, oh, Kyle Rayner also appears to be in it, another puzzle piece in Rebirth in place.
Speaking of loose ends from Rebirth, it appears that Day of Vengeance will feature an unanchored Spectre at war with DC's magical characters. Hmmm, if the new Spectre is Sue Dibny, as has been rumored, I'm going to put my fist through a wall. Speaking of putting my fist through a wall, the last mini is called The OMAC Project?
Let me get this straight. Batman built Brother Eye? And OMAC is that thing on the third and fourth to last pages in the book? Let's just leave Jack and his brilliant creations alone, okay? Hear that sound? It's Jack Kirby spinning in his grave. I have to wonder how many times both DC and Marvel can rape a corpse.
Other tidbits that were worthwhile - nice to see the Madmen, Beetle foes from both his DC and Charlton days, and all of BB's inner thoughts on his fellow heroes, all insightful and wasted with Ted Kord's death. We'll never see this kind of writing for this hero again. The Shazam sequence was confusing, how does it have bearing? Hopefully it will be cleared up, probably in Day of Vengeance.
The scarab of Kha-ef-Re was left with the wizard Shazam, and odds are it will be given to someone else, giving birth to a new Blue Beetle. Why, after this great issue, giving new life to the 'old' Blue Beetle, do we need a new one? It's just more proof that there are no bad characters, only bad writers.
While we're on the subject of what's going to happen next, in his editorial, "Crisis Counseling," DC's executive editor Dan DiDio openly invites speculation. He gleefully confesses to the secrecy that kept the real title of this book in the dark until just a few days ago. And most of all, Mr. DiDio officially announces Infinite Crisis as the official sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Will it be the return of parallel Earths? Will it be another botched patch job like Zero Hour and Hypertime? Perhaps it is the end of the DC Universe and a fresh start from scratch. Looking at the cover, some of the costumes are funky, most notably Hawkman and Wonder Woman, whose continuities were scrambled by the original Crisis - maybe that depicts a parallel Earth? Who knows?
Look to the wind.
Listen to the wind...