Not exactly the most honest representation of what the series is going to be about, is it? Let's showcase a bunch of heroes who aren't even going to be in the series!!While most of the characters depicted on the cover, the majority have them have come in teensy little cameos, and most of those were just retelling events that had already been shown elsewhere, in other DC mags. Supergirl, for example, appeared briefly at Black Canary's bachelorette party, and that's it. Most of the JSA members depicted showed up in retellings of portions of the Lightning Saga, which had already concluded weeks before Countdown got around to mentioning it.
Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman? Despite some substantial possibilities, they're not really in this series AT ALL, despite their presence front and center on the cover.
And the characters the series is really about? Jimmy Olsen's nowhere to be seen. Only Jason Todd makes the front cover. Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner, the Atom--shoved off onto the "hidden" third page of the cover. Mary Marvel? All the way off to the left on page 1. Piper and Trickster? Nope. Holly and Harley? Nope. Karate Kid and "Una?" Yeah, but you can't really tell who they are, and they're buried amidst the crowd on page 1.
So, Paul Dini, Dan DiDio and Andy Kubert et al? Liars, liars, pants on fire. I'm just sayin'.
Wow...that first cover really amplifies the notion that these guys really had no earthly idea what story they wanted to tell. Despite all the talk of Dini being the "show runner" Master Writer With The Plan, the "filibustering" feel of the entire series makes it pretty clear they were making it up as they went along, hoping some element or two would catch fire with the audience ("Jimmy Olsen...with super-powers! Sign me up!")
ReplyDeleteMeh. I'm all for making 3rd and 4th stringers into compelling characters, but not as the centerpiece of a weekly series that promised BIG STUFF. Plus, they already did the character rehab bit in 52, so did we really need another one?
Thankfully, Final Crisis appears to be centered around the "Big Guns"...but then again, you could have said the same thing about "Countdown" juding by the first cover.
The thing is, in the DC nation column in that very issue, Dan DiDio tells us
ReplyDelete"Your guides to the series, Mary Marvel, Jimmy Olsen, Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner, Jason Todd, Karate Kid, Trickster and Pied Piper, and their stories as told by writers Dini, Justin Grey, Jimmy Palmiotti, Tony Bedard, Adam Beechen and Sean McKeever will have fans talking (and arguing) for years to come."
So they knew the story would be featuring these minor characters all along; they just chose to use a false advertising cover to sell it.
"...their stories...will have fans talking (and arguing) for years to come."
ReplyDeleteFunny...I don't think there have been many "arguments" over the series. In fact, I think there's almost 100% agreement on how crappy this series has been.