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Countdown #1 is the last issue, and I will spoil it for you: nothing much happens! This whole series seemed to be an exercise in how not to write a comic book. Weak characterization, weak plot, stupid events...it seemed little more than an advertisement for events happening in other DC Comics--like "Death of the New Gods". There's no expansion on Darkseid's supposed death from Countdown #2...even though we know he's coming back as the main villian in Final Crisis.
It makes 52 look like a masterpiece. I didn't care for 52 that much at the time, but it had a lot of nice things going for it. Black Adam's character arc was incredible, Doc Magnus shooting the Metal Men from a gun was a touch of Morrison genius, and the ending redeemed both Booster Gold and DC's concept of multiverses being a pretty cool thing.
At the end of Countdown, what happens? Jason Todd is still a murderous jerk...I thought they were going to redeem this little creep? Kyle Rayner--I have no idea what is doing in this series at all. He has a pretty important job in Green Lantern Corps already. And I can't forgive the DC idiots for spoiling Green Lantern's Sinestro Corps War storyline by having Kyle show up before that arc was over--leaving us completely with no suspense about Kyle's fate in Green Lantern. Ray Palmer--the Atom--seems like a pussy, running away to other multiverses when the heat was turned up on Earth-1. Donna Troy--love this character but this ain't the series to showcase her talent. Doesn't it make Donna look dumb to be attracted to super-creepy Jason Todd? Ew.
I can't imagine anyone but a DC completist buying the entire run of Countdown. 52 issues X $3 is equal to $156. Man, for that amount of money, people can buy another entertainment product with solid value. Such as Rock Band ($147 for XBox 360), or a regular edition Sony PSP ($169, but not that far off), Nintendo DS ($130), or a iPod 4GB Nano ($140). Sheesh...and they wonder why no one is reading comics anymore.
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