IT IS DONE!

51 comics in the main series and then the tie-ins.

Countdown to Mystery - 8 comics
Countdown to Adventure - 8 comics
Lord Havok and the Extremists - 6 comics
Metal Men - 8 comics
Countdown Arena - 4 comics
52 Aftermath - World War 3 - 6 comics
Countdown: The Search for Ray Palmer - 4 comics

95 Comics later. Overall it wasn't amazing, but it was interesting getting to know a bunch of DC characters I had never been introduced to. Lots of great art (especially the Metal Men), but also a, literally, New deus ex machina ending. Fortunately things never end in comic land and this was "just" the countdown, the "real" crisis is here, just not sure what it is. ( )

Do you remember when Earth-51 was destroyed in volume three of Countdown to Final Crisis? Well, apparently none of the writers or characters in volume four do, because here it's destroyed all over again! I think because the account of its destruction in volume three was inconsistent with that of its destruction in Final Crisis, they rolled the events back and did it all over again to make it match up with the account that was given in Final Crisis. Sloppy plotting at its finest!

Other things that don't matter:

• Harley Quinn and Holly Robinson are given superpowers by the Amazonian gods. No one cares!
• Mary Marvel is arbitrarily given her powers back. Then she loses them. Then she turns evil again. Then she's fine. What is the point of all this? I have absolutely no idea. This character has essentially been brainwashed off-and-on for 52 issues. What on Earth could even be interesting about that? We haven't learned a thing about Mary as a character. No one cares!
• Various members of the Legion of Super-Heroes are killed off. No one cares!
• The cover of issue #4 is a close-up on Mary Marvel's giant boobs. No one cares!
• Darkseid and Orion have a final showdown. Again. No one cares!
• The Challengers from Beyond (that utterly dull group of characters including Jason Todd, Donna Troy, and some others I don't even remember) tell the Monitors that they'll be monitoring them. You can expect this to literally never be followed up on despite the fact that it really ought to impact Final Crisis because... No one cares!

Really, the only joy you can take in Countdown to Final Crisis at this point is mocking it. It's astounding that talented people like Paul Dini, Keith Giffen, and Jim Starlin got together and produced 1,159 pages of sheer worthlessness. But at least it was always fast-paced, I guess?

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