The Bendis Board wonders where the magic has gone:
“Yes, only a handful of issues of countdown have shipped, but I am getting the feeling that the magic of 52 is missing. The characters don’t seem quite as quirky and cool, and the more and more I read this new series, the more and more I miss 52. There are two possibilities here……. 1) Countdown is just getting started, and things will pick up here pretty soon or 2) DC for some reason isn’t going to utilize the machine they built with 52, and countdown just won’t measure up. Any thoughts on this?”
“I’m actually having more fun with the first 3 issues of Countdown, especially seeing how they tie in directly to what’s going on with the current DC books (Karate Kid & the JLA, the Titans Funeral). Seems like it’s going to utilize the weekly format even better than 52, which was essentially just one huge novel broken up into 52 chapters. I don’t really understand what your complaint is.”
“I’m not as into Countdown as I was into 52, and I ended up dropping Countdown (except for Sean McK’s issues). Here’s why: 52′s main cast was what got me hooked, more than anything. Countdown has a great cast as well, but I haven’t gotten attached to any of them yet. Another reason I loved 52? The experimental writing style. I’ll likely re-visit Countdown when the trades come out, but for now, I’ll stick with Sean’s issues.”
“I think the idea that 52 was going to tell this huge epic story that filled us in on the missing year was very appealing. Even though it turned into somehting else, it still rocked, and I began to love the DCU and its’ characters because of it.”
“52 has way more of an emotional charge going into it. I don’t care about a single thing that happened in the first 3 issues of Countdown, and it’s dropped.”
“I’m actually pretty interested to see what the sales of Countdown will be. I’m guessing they actually will be significantly lower than 52 within a month or so. It really does seem like people are dropping this book at a pretty high rate.”
What do you kids think? Countdown keeping your attention and your dollars…?
June 7th, 2007 at 10:41 am
I’ve already dropped Countdown. It’s not horrible, but I’m not exactly flush with cash right now and $12 a month is too much for a book that is just there.
June 7th, 2007 at 11:23 am
I’m actually enjoying Countdown more than 52, perhaps because it’s taking place right now, not One Year Ago, and (as such) it ties into much of the other goings-on in the DCU(s).
Also, while 52 told much more personal stories (which is great), Countdown is much wider in scope, which is a nice contract to 52. (Both are good, but after 52 issues of personal stories, I look forward to 52 issues of “the DCU will never be the same”.)
Finally, I’m a sucker for Monitors – I remember reading COIE as it came out, and this is like a weekly version. (Not as good – yet – but it feels like a Crisis to me, even though it’s just a Countdown.)
June 7th, 2007 at 11:33 am
I haven’t even looked at Countdown. I was already burnt out by the end of 52.
Plus, there’s a perception issue here. DC threw their big names writers at 52. Even if I don’t necessarily like all of them myself, I can see they’re big names. Here, we’ve got Paul Dini and some guys, who may be perfectly good but aren’t the big names. When you’re a writer-driven series, which this has to be since there’s no consistent art team, you need more than that.
June 7th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Paul Dini is enough for me, and I like Palmiotti/Gray and McKeever (don’t know too much about the others yet). I’m really enjoying it so far, and I have always liked the characters that they are using.
I think a lot of people have forgotten where 52 was at this point last year; I remember people complaining that nothing was happening and saying that they were dropping it even in the later issues.
Maybe they need a big chalkboard like in 52 to get the fan chatter and speculation going. You just know big things are going to happen in Countdown, whether you’re liking it this minute or not.
June 7th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
I haven’t even read a single issue yet, since my Westfield shipment hasn’t arrived. Sure seems premature for folks to talk about how it’s not living up to 52. The first four issues of 52 didn’t live up to 52 either, and some people tried it and dropped it at that point, but that didn’t make it a failure.
Even though I enjoyed 52, I’m glad that Countdown is trying to do the weekly comic thing in a different way, and with different creators. That’s part of the fun, I would think. (this opinion may change after I actually read an issue, though).
June 7th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
The latest issue of Countdown clicked MUCH BETTER for me than the previous ones. I don’t know whether that is because of McKeever, Derenick, or just due to the first few issues being out of the way.
I’m getting so tired of people saying 52 didn’t do what it was supposed to. OYL was, also, announced with a plan and purpose: that creators could make huge shifts that they could choose to explain or not explain. Kinda points out that the assumption that 52 was supposed to show EVERYTHING that happened in the missing year was an end-user misunderstanding and not a failure to keep a promise on the publisher’s part.
June 7th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
I just dropped Countdown this week. While 52 had its slow issues, IMO it seems like every issue of Countdown so far has been padding with maybe one page worth of mildly interesting stuff.
I’m not going to wait around 3 months to see if the potentially interesting stuff actually gets interesting. I’m also not crazy about the fact that they can’t tell the story within the boundaries of a weekly book. I don’t want to have to pick up Superman, Flash, WW, and Amazons AttacK just to figure out what’s going on. Especially when the main story is crawling at a snail’s pace.
June 7th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
They should REALLY kill the 2-page spreads in an 18-page lead story. And for someone with 0 interest in the Amazons Attack miniseries, seeing that as the come back next issue selling point …zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
June 7th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
“I’m not buying a book that comes out 4 times a month” says the people who buy 10-12 Batman Family or X-Men Family books a month.
June 7th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
AND…
Again, why would we expect any positive comments about DC to come from the Official Marvel Board?
(Yes, I’m being snarky.)
June 7th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
I am a total Dini fan… and I have been enjoying the book
June 7th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Totally enjoyed 52 all the way through myself.
Granted it seems that Countdown moves a tad slower, but its a different type of story than what we had in 52. Like someone said its a lot broader in scope than 52 was and has to carry more things in it. Give it time as it heats up towards the end.
We’re kinda like going up that 1st hill of the rolllercoaster! HOLD ON!!
June 8th, 2007 at 8:41 am
The problem isn’t just that Countdown is not as good as 52, it is that it is MORE EXPENSIVE that 52!
June 8th, 2007 at 10:14 am
Again, why would we expect any positive comments about DC to come from the Official Marvel Board?
(Yes, I’m being snarky.)
Is it even worth pointing out that it’s not an official Marvel board, and that there were positive comments? No? Okay, I won’t then.