''DC Countdown'', commonly referred to as ''Countdown to Infinite Crisis'', is a
one-shot
One shot may refer to:
Film and television
* One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so
* ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake
* ''One Shot'' (2 ...
publication
To publish is to make content available to the general public.[Berne Conve ...](_blank)
and the official start of the "
Infinite Crisis
"Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, a ...
" storyline. It was released 30 March 2005, sold out, and quickly went to a second printing. When this comic was first published, the cover showed Batman holding a shadowed corpse, so as not to ruin the surprise of who dies. For the second printing, the shadows were removed to reveal the identity of the corpse. During initial solicitations the comic was entitled ''DC Countdown'' to postpone revelation of an upcoming crisis.
''Countdown'' was a special 80 page comic originally priced at $1, much lower than would normally be the case for an 80-page comic, although the second printing was priced at $2. The script was co-written by
Geoff Johns
Geoffrey Johns (born January 25, 1973) is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and film and television producer. Johns's work on the DC Comics characters Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash and Superman, has drawn critical acclaim.
He serve ...
,
Greg Rucka
Gregory Rucka (born November 29, 1969) is an American writer known for the series of novels starring his character Atticus Kodiak, the creator-owned comic book series '' Whiteout'', ''Queen & Country'', '' Stumptown'' and '' Lazarus'', as well a ...
, and
Judd Winick
Judd Winick (born February 12, 1970) is an American cartoonist, comic book writer and screenwriter, as well as a former reality television personality. He first gained fame for his stint on MTV's ''The Real World: San Francisco'' in 1994, before f ...
, while the art chores were divided up, generally on a chapter by chapter basis, between the penciller-inker teams of
Rags Morales &
Michael Bair
Michael A. Hernandez is an American comics artist also known by the pen name Michael Bair, who is best known for his work as an inker. His work includes Marvel Comics' ''Alpha Flight'', and DC Comics' ''Hawkman''. He is best known for inking Rags ...
,
Jesus Saiz
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
&
Jimmy Palmiotti
James Palmiotti (born August 14, 1961) is an American writer and inker of comic books, who also does writing for games, television and film.
Early life
Palmiotti attended the High School of Art and Design in New York City.
Career
Palmiotti star ...
,
Ivan Reis
Ivan Reis is a Brazilians, Brazilian comics artist. He is known for his work on comic books such as Dark Horse Comics' ''Ghost (Dark Horse Comics), Ghost'', Marvel Comics' ''Genis-Vell, Captain Marvel'' and ''Vision (Marvel Comics), Avengers Icons ...
&
Marc Campos, and
Phil Jimenez
Phil Jimenez (born July 12, 1970) is an award-winning American comics artist and writer known for his work as writer/artist on ''Wonder Woman'' from 2000 to 2003, as one of the five pencilers of the 2005–2006 miniseries ''Infinite Crisis'', his ...
&
Andy Lanning
Andy Lanning is an English comic book writer and inker, known for his work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics, and for his collaboration with Dan Abnett.
Career
Lanning works primarily at Marvel Comics and DC Comics as an inker. He has also pencill ...
. Artist
Ed Benes
José Edilbenes Bezerra (born November 20, 1972), better known by his professional name Ed Benes, is a Brazilian comic book artist, known for his work for DC Comics, on such titles as ''Birds of Prey'', ''Supergirl'', ''Superman'', and ''Justice L ...
pencilled and inked his chapter.
Synopsis
The main plot concerns Ted Kord, the superhero and former
Justice League
The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...
member known as the
Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes who appear in a number of American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939. The most recent of the companies to own rights to Blue Beetle is DC Comics, which bought the ri ...
, investigating the theft of funds from his company that has left him nearly bankrupt. Most of the other DC heroes except
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...
dismiss Kord's concerns, either politely or, like
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
, who now remembers that
the League had mind-wiped him, outright (Batman would later regret his behaviour). Only
Booster Gold
Booster Gold (Michael Jon Carter) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Dan Jurgens, the character first appeared in ''Booster Gold'' #1 (February 1986) and has been a member of the Justice League.
...
, another superhero and Kord's best friend, eventually decides to help complete the investigation, but before he can he is seriously injured by an explosive trap.
Alone and unaided, Blue Beetle continues to follow the clues to Switzerland where he infiltrates the castle base of the
Checkmate
Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game.
In chess, the king is ...
organization. There, he confronts
Maxwell Lord
Maxwell Lord IV is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''Justice League'' #1 (May 1987) and was created by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire (artist), Kevin Magui ...
, who is revealed to be using his Justice League files and Batman's satellite, the
Brother MK I, to keep an eye on the superhero community, which he considers a threat to the human race. After Beetle refuses to join Lord, Lord executes him with a fatal gunshot to the head.
Crossovers
''Countdown'' was bannered as a bridge to all four of the Crisis leadup titles, but featured each of them unevenly. The main plot was essentially an extended prologue to ''
The OMAC Project
''The OMAC Project'' is a six-issue American comic book limited series written by Greg Rucka with art by Jesus Saiz and published by DC Comics in 2005.
Overview
The book is one of four miniseries leading up to DC Comics' ''Infinite Crisis'' ev ...
''. The events of ''
Day of Vengeance
''Day of Vengeance'' is a six-issue comic book Limited series (comics), limited series written by Bill Willingham, with art by Justiniano and Walden Wong, published in 2005 by DC Comics.
Publication history
''Day of Vengeance'' is one of four lim ...
'' were foreshadowed, when the Beetle confronted the wizard
Shazam, but no particular hints about that title were made. The ''
Rann-Thanagar War'' was mentioned on a single page, but seemed to already be underway in the story. The main characters of ''
Villains United
''Villains United'' is a six-issue 2005 comic book limited series, published by DC Comics, written by Gail Simone and illustrated by Dale Eaglesham and Wade Von Grawbadger, and later by Val Semeiks and Prentis Rollins.
Publication history
''Villai ...
'' were featured in a single chapter of the book, but one that did not connect to the Blue Beetle storyline in any way.
Collection
''Countdown'' was reprinted as part of the
trade paperback collection of ''The OMAC Project,'' published November 2005 ().
References
*Darius, Julian (June 13, 2005)
"Your Guide to ''Infinite Crisis: DC Countdown'' Sequart Research & Literacy Organization.
External links
*
{{DC Crisis Anthology
Infinite Crisis
2005 comics debuts
Comics by Geoff Johns