Countdown #49

Countdown #49
I decided to give this book another chance after last week's debacle. And I'm very disappointed. Apparently, none of the changes from 52 seem to be sticking: Ralph Dibny possesses Jimmy Olsen? [Edit: Damn, I'm an idiot. I just remembered the fact that, in my alter ego as Rick Tyler, I referred to Jimmy's long-ago ability to be affected by Gingold in the same manner as Dibny (in the comments sections of the dibnydiary). Elastic Lad is BACK! But how does that fit into continuity? Others are asking similar things.] Black Adam has his powers back? What? Why? Also, I'm still confused as to why James Jesse is a bad guy. Didn't he used to work with the FBI? Didn't he outwit Neron? And why the hell is Mary Marvel in Gotham again? Why couldn't she just call Freddie? And apparently, Jimmy still knows who Jason Todd is. So wouldn't it make sense that he knows who Batman is too? And everyone else? Why? How? What? That makes no sense! (The Chewbacca defense.)

This series is providing very little in the way of actual explanation, which makes it seem like even the writers don't know where they're going. A major problem with this book is that to newbies it'd be completely impenetrable, and even to those of us familiar with the DCU, it doesn't seem to be sticking to any of the rules or status quos which were previously established. It's basically saying "everything you know is WRONG!" without replacing it with something even possibly RIGHT. I feel that it's just a matter of time before this series implodes under its own dead weight. Will DC continue to publish it when it's selling fewer copies than Firestorm? Probably, merely because their editorial department seems unwilling to admit to their mistakes nowadays.

And what's this I hear about a new Crisis being in the works? Seriously, if the status quo just goes ahead and changes every single year, then what really becomes of continuity? It gets completely lost. Sure, continuity was wonky before the COIE. But after that it got even more messed up. And then there was Zero Hour, which accomplished nothing. And then Infinite Crisis - which, really, was quite stupid. And then 52? Also stupid. And now? Is it even possible anymore for DC to repair the mess they've made of things over the past twenty-something years?
If I thought that such repair were possible, I might be inclined to rate this book as okay. However, DC editorial is so caught up with patting themselves on the back, tooting their own horns, living in their own fantasy world, (insert your own metaphor here,) that I have no confidence in that whatsoever. It's not gonna happen. DC needs to stop being so insular and start listening to its fans. Because if this current mentality of eliminating letters pages in order to congratulate themselves about things that none of US care about continues, DC will eventually lose its fan base. We've become very jaded over the past few years. And Didio's attitude is a large part of that. Utterly EH.