Countdown To Mystery
Average Rating:
Your Rating:
Comic Summary: Get ready for two incredible features in new stories that shine a light on the dark places in the DCU! The Helmet of Fate has landed...on Kent Nelson - a man so far down on his luck, he doesn't know what luck is! The transformative nature of the helmet grants him powers he can't begin to comprehend...but will they make his life better, or even worse? Plus, Eclipso becomes the temptress of the DCU, bribing its heroes to the dark side in more ways than one! She succeeds...and the results will shock you!
Codes: 76194126608400111 JUL070184
- Price:
$3.99$3.19- Release Date:
- September 19, 2007
- In Stock?
- Not currently available
- Genre:
- Superhero
- Colouring:
- FC
- Lists:
- Not on any lists. Start your own!
Customer Reviews
Like some DC fans, I've learned to be wary of anything on the stands right now with the word "countdown" in its title. I was on board for the Infinite Whatevers, but I'm starting to think events in comics were a lot more fun when they happened once a year or so, and not all the damn time.
That said, it wasn't the word "countdown" anyway that drew me to Countdown to Mystery. It was another word--"Gerber." As in, Steve Gerber. I was curious to see what one of the seventies' great maverick comics writers would make of the modern DCU, and his opportunity to wade into its more magical corners with a character who has always deserved a fresh start.
The good news is that Gerber delivers a fresh, quirky script that plants Dr. Fate firmly at the core of the Tenth Age of Magic. After a series of flashbacks that fill us in on the recent history of the Helmet of Fate as well as the backstory on its most recent wearer, Dr. Kent Nelson, there's actually not much time left for much more than a dark bit of teaser action toward a big magical fight next issue with some scary dude on a black horse.
Which brings us to the somewhat bad news...as half of an eight-part miniseries, Gerber's new Dr. Fate must share his comic with a story about the return of Eclipso from the vastness of space to the front lines of this whole Countdown nonsense. It's not a bad story, but it's not that great; more than anything else, it's an annoyance, since its entire thrust would be better served as part of the actual STORY IN COUNTDOWN.
That seems to be a key part of DC's current sales strategy, and it's insidious: Shunt major portions of the central storyline of the DCU into a variety of books, to sell more comics. Meanwhile, the core title of the event--Countdown--flounders without enough meaningful plot to fill its issues.
Oh well. The Gerber portion, at least, was well worth the time.
That said, it wasn't the word "countdown" anyway that drew me to Countdown to Mystery. It was another word--"Gerber." As in, Steve Gerber. I was curious to see what one of the seventies' great maverick comics writers would make of the modern DCU, and his opportunity to wade into its more magical corners with a character who has always deserved a fresh start.
The good news is that Gerber delivers a fresh, quirky script that plants Dr. Fate firmly at the core of the Tenth Age of Magic. After a series of flashbacks that fill us in on the recent history of the Helmet of Fate as well as the backstory on its most recent wearer, Dr. Kent Nelson, there's actually not much time left for much more than a dark bit of teaser action toward a big magical fight next issue with some scary dude on a black horse.
Which brings us to the somewhat bad news...as half of an eight-part miniseries, Gerber's new Dr. Fate must share his comic with a story about the return of Eclipso from the vastness of space to the front lines of this whole Countdown nonsense. It's not a bad story, but it's not that great; more than anything else, it's an annoyance, since its entire thrust would be better served as part of the actual STORY IN COUNTDOWN.
That seems to be a key part of DC's current sales strategy, and it's insidious: Shunt major portions of the central storyline of the DCU into a variety of books, to sell more comics. Meanwhile, the core title of the event--Countdown--flounders without enough meaningful plot to fill its issues.
Oh well. The Gerber portion, at least, was well worth the time.
0 pts.