Broken Frontier

DC’s latest weekly series Countdown continues to explore a world on the brink of a major revelation, as a dying New God falls from the skies.

So far I am enjoying this new weekly series addressing the existence of the DC Multiverse. In fact every issue thus far has been jammed packed with plot threads, intrigue and nonstop action, so it is no surprise that number forty-eight continues to follow these well established trends.

In this one we get a glimpse of the powerless Mary Marvel bargaining with an outraged Black Adam. From there we can watch the much maligned Jason Todd reach out to Donna Troy in a bid to understand the reasons behind their reemergence in the DCU. Of course though, one cannot forget the tenaciousness supplied by the one and only Jimmy Olsen, who’s now exhibiting some strange abilities while watching New God Lightray fall from the sky. Just what this all means is still to be discovered, but the mysteries behind Countdown seem infinite with each passing week.

Now that’s a ton of interesting slices interwoven into the plotting of this issue, and I must hand it to head writer Paul Dini for pulling it off successfully. What I liked mostly about this issue was the poignant exchange between Jason Todd and Donna Troy. Now it was just the briefest of moments, but it signified awareness to both character’s perplexing situations. Obviously there is something not quite right with the current order of things, and the big shocker to cement this fact home came in the shocking climax with Lightray’s untimely passing. I didn’t see it coming, but kudos to Paul for adding that last minute scene to build suspense for the next issue.

The art this time around was handled by Dave Lopez and I thought his work flowed well from page to page. I have always had a soft spot for his work ever since his work on Fallen Angel a few years back with Peter David. Here though, his pencils looked slicker than before, possibly due to the consistent inking from Don Hillsman and Alvaro Lopez.

Overall this series is shaping up rather quickly with the myriad of plot threads in play each week. I especially like the idea of focusing on the lesser known characters like Jimmy Olsen and Mary Marvel, giving these characters a voice in the process. In addition to that, the death of a New God (like Lightray) throws a wrench into the plans for now, but I suspect this is going to blossom into one heck of story when this is all said and done.