*** We are CLOSED on EASTER SUNDAY 3/31/24 ***
Countdown #18

Countdown #18

$2.99
VERY FINE/NEAR MINT
Story by Paul Dini Breakdowns by Keith Giffen 18 script by Sean McKeever and art by Al Barrionuevo Covers by Karl Kerschl
Karate Kid meets an all-new/old OMAC at the Command D bunker! Jimmy Olsen crosses paths with Mister Miracle! Mary Marvel is taken to Paradise Island! One of the Rogues becomes a real drag! Things are changing for the Monitors! And…at long last…Ray Palmer! Plus, more DC villains origin backup stories, including Granny Goodness and Sinestro!

"I usually refrain from reviewing Countdown (how many different ways are there to say ‘bad idea, poorly executed’?), but I figured since this week is the big ‘RAY PALMER!’ issue, I’d chime in. The big reveal of RAY PALMER(!) this week reminds me of a Justice League Europe Annual from 1991. At the beginning of the Annual, Captain Atom, reeling from recent drama, walks out on the JLE. The rest of the issue the team is in shock over his abrupt quitting. But he nonchalantly returns at the end of the story, to everyone’s surprise. When questioned as to his reappearance, he’s incredulous, telling the team that he didn’t quit, he just needed to clear his head and get a cup of coffee. It’s a nice inversion of expectations, and a decent gag. Now imagine that instead of being 30 pages and played for laughs, the situation was treated as deathly serious and was told through hundreds and hundreds of pages of story. That’s what the big reveal of RAY PALMER(!) is like. Enjoy!"

THIS BOOK GETS 3 GRAHAMS OUT OF 10

VERY FINE/NEAR MINT
Story by Paul Dini Breakdowns by Keith Giffen 18 script by Sean McKeever and art by Al Barrionuevo Covers by Karl Kerschl
Karate Kid meets an all-new/old OMAC at the Command D bunker! Jimmy Olsen crosses paths with Mister Miracle! Mary Marvel is taken to Paradise Island! One of the Rogues becomes a real drag! Things are changing for the Monitors! And…at long last…Ray Palmer! Plus, more DC villains origin backup stories, including Granny Goodness and Sinestro!

"I usually refrain from reviewing Countdown (how many different ways are there to say ‘bad idea, poorly executed’?), but I figured since this week is the big ‘RAY PALMER!’ issue, I’d chime in. The big reveal of RAY PALMER(!) this week reminds me of a Justice League Europe Annual from 1991. At the beginning of the Annual, Captain Atom, reeling from recent drama, walks out on the JLE. The rest of the issue the team is in shock over his abrupt quitting. But he nonchalantly returns at the end of the story, to everyone’s surprise. When questioned as to his reappearance, he’s incredulous, telling the team that he didn’t quit, he just needed to clear his head and get a cup of coffee. It’s a nice inversion of expectations, and a decent gag. Now imagine that instead of being 30 pages and played for laughs, the situation was treated as deathly serious and was told through hundreds and hundreds of pages of story. That’s what the big reveal of RAY PALMER(!) is like. Enjoy!"

THIS BOOK GETS 3 GRAHAMS OUT OF 10