Countdown #51

Countdown #51
OKAY. A solid beginning for this series.

Several points irk me about this issue though. 1) Wasn't Joker's Daughter fighting alongside the Teen Titans just last week? 2) Since when has Jason Todd/Red Hood II cared about anything other than himself? So tell me again why he'd be pursuing Duela unless it was in his best interests? 3) Since when has Duela Dent been from an alternate universe? Sure, her backstory has more convolutions than - I got nothing...something with a lot of convolutions? Hawkman? - but it's never been implied that she was from an alternate Earth! 4) Since when can the source wall talk? Or does it only do so for the Monitors?
However, things that I did like about this issue: 1) Darkseid and Desaad play Heroclix! 2) Monitors taking an active role in repairing continuity glitches that drive all of us long time fans crazy. 3) The admission that bringing Jason Todd back from the dead was a mistake. 4) Paul Dini making fun of himself in reference to Harley Quinn.

What could Ray Palmer possibly have to do with the multiverse? Well, it's always been an old Atom standby that when shrunk down, there are often microscopic civilizations which he encounters. Could these possibly be doorways to alternate universes, if not the alternate universes themselves?
The Monitors look to be these authors' version of the Marvel Universe's Watchers, albeit ones that don't always pledge non-interference. It seems that there's some tension on that point, though.

This series actually does have some solid authors on it, none of whom have been known to let their egos get in the way of a good story. I'm actually looking forward to this series much more than I ever looked forward to 52.