Norbert C. Schwartz
Mar 15, 2008, 10:38 am
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0208/CDMYS_Cv6.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0208/CDMYS_Cv6t.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="Countdown To Mystery #6"></a> Reviewer: Norbert Schwartz, jantipa@gmail.com
“It all happened in an inch-and-a-half-thick slab of plywood…”
Story Title: The Music of the Spheres, Part 3: Retrograde Motion
Writer: Matthew Sturges
Art: Stephen Jorge Segovia
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Assistant Editor: Stephanie Buscema
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Story Title: More Pain Comics, Part 6: Fringe Society
Writer: Steve Gerber
Art: Justiniano
Inker: Walden Wong
Colorist: Chris Chuckry
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Assistant Editor: Stephanie Buscema
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Published by: DC Comics (www.dc-comics.com)
I have a confession to make. I haven't liked most of the Countdown spin-offs, since they have been relatively irrelevant to the big picture. Some, like Countdown to Adventure, I only read superficially at the comics store. Whereas Countdown to Mystery got a bit more of my attention since it presented an old favorite of mine, Dr Fate, as one of the co-stars of the book. Still I only looked at it at the store.
But I've liked it with each issue a bit more, until number four - and then I decided to buy the whole series.
Now, I must make a brief recount of the history. Countdown to Mystery presents two parallel stories, one centered around Eclipso and the Spectre, the other Dr Fate. And therefore it has two points of contact with the major continuity of DC. Eclipso (Jean Loring) was central in the attempt of corruption of Mary Marvel over in Countdown to Final Crisis, while Dr Fate deals with how the new rules of magic work in the DC universe, after 'de death' of Nabu and Shazam in Infinite Crisis.
The story with Eclipso and the Spectre has not been exactly linear or brilliant, and about during the middle of the series the Eclipso entity changed host from Jean Loring to Bruce Gordon (who was the original one). It doesn't seem to being going anywhere, and feels like an editorial last-moment decision. Eclipso corrupted Plastic Man, and The Creeper in a very character-driven story, but now all of a sudden, Dove is corrupted too (off panel) and everybody is into an Eclipso cult. One of the few finer plot points is the parallel kept with Kingdom Come since the Spectre has a witness who accompanies him; though instead of a respectful old seer we get a young, wayward killer who gets his heart pulled out by the Spectre in an act of justice, and his soul decides to follow Crispus Allen and the Spectre in a form of retaliation.
In this issue, another character is added to the mess: the Huntress. So things get even more confusing. Plastic Man's temptation in the first few issues was handled superbly, with an exploration of his psychological weaknesses being exploited by Eclipse. In contrast, Huntress’ temptation was a poor “I feel angry, and he is looking at me, hypnotizing me”. Character-exploration is being discarded in order to advance the plot (though where it is advancing to, I cannot see). And the non-linear exposition doesn't help at all.
Perhaps this all indicates some disliking of the story, but the art doesn’t do it for me either. The inking is too sketchy, and things like the monster's corpses and the souls look underworked. It is not technically bad, but it's not satisfying.
Dr Fate' story is far better. It was not written for this series or meant for this format, but given Gerber's health problems (which ended in his lamentable death) it ended being published this way. Gerber narrates a new beginning for Dr Fate as Kent V. Nelson; a successful psychiatrist, who makes the wrong decisions at the wrong time, and ends up at the bottom of the social bucket. A street bum who finds a golden helmet in a chance of fate.
Then he begins a journey of psychological evolution, facing his inner demons, encountering psychological aspects of his personality manifested as images. This travel is made real by the helmet. And through this travel, he learns the rules of magic (in the 10th age of magic) which are new to him anyway.
This psychodrama is handled in several levels of 'fiction'. Inza, whom Kent meets as another chance of fate, is an Indie comic writer and publisher. Kent reads the comic and shows us a way of interpreting the comic we are reading. And the fiction inside Inza’s comic relates to the fiction inside Fate's comic on a symbolic level. And you may ask: but, wait a minute, didn't Kent Nelson die like, ten years ago? Yes he did. He is still dead. This is another Kent Nelson, and another Inza, repeating a cosmic cycle of shamanic/Magic initiation. Another Dr Fate in another era of magic, yet still the same Dr Fate.
In this issue Nelson continues his downward spiral into depression, he finds out about the original Dr. Fate, and the weight of the heritage pushes him deeper into self deprecation. And the loathing he feels for himself makes him quit the helmet of Dr. Fate. The exchange of sarcasm and wit between him and Maddy, the occult bookkeeper, was fun and intelligent.
The art is adequate to the story. A bit sketchy, a bit weird, not too cartoonish (unless where it is pertinent, like inside the Killhead subplot). Colors are not dark eithe in spite the tone of the story, and it does transmit the Las Vegas atmosphere. Inks add weight to the shadows in the magical perception scenes. Justiniano is a very flexible artist and manages to generate different feelings in his art with the different planes of existence being explored.
This mini-series follows the line set in Infinite Crisis, of having a group of miniseries complementing the main story, each focusing on different aspects. And as was/is the case of other past miniseries, some of it feels forced. The evident editorial adjustments in the Countdown to Infinite Crisis affect the story in here, and it damages the quality of the book. So far, it has been kept away from the Shadowpact (and I hope they are not thinking of creating another group with the Eclipso minions at the end of this miniseries). So far in my opinion, it has not been good enough in the grand scheme of things.
RATING:
Spectre/Eclipso
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpg
Dr. Fate
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpg
Buy COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY online now from X-World Comics and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=25883)
“It all happened in an inch-and-a-half-thick slab of plywood…”
Story Title: The Music of the Spheres, Part 3: Retrograde Motion
Writer: Matthew Sturges
Art: Stephen Jorge Segovia
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Assistant Editor: Stephanie Buscema
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Story Title: More Pain Comics, Part 6: Fringe Society
Writer: Steve Gerber
Art: Justiniano
Inker: Walden Wong
Colorist: Chris Chuckry
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Assistant Editor: Stephanie Buscema
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Published by: DC Comics (www.dc-comics.com)
I have a confession to make. I haven't liked most of the Countdown spin-offs, since they have been relatively irrelevant to the big picture. Some, like Countdown to Adventure, I only read superficially at the comics store. Whereas Countdown to Mystery got a bit more of my attention since it presented an old favorite of mine, Dr Fate, as one of the co-stars of the book. Still I only looked at it at the store.
But I've liked it with each issue a bit more, until number four - and then I decided to buy the whole series.
Now, I must make a brief recount of the history. Countdown to Mystery presents two parallel stories, one centered around Eclipso and the Spectre, the other Dr Fate. And therefore it has two points of contact with the major continuity of DC. Eclipso (Jean Loring) was central in the attempt of corruption of Mary Marvel over in Countdown to Final Crisis, while Dr Fate deals with how the new rules of magic work in the DC universe, after 'de death' of Nabu and Shazam in Infinite Crisis.
The story with Eclipso and the Spectre has not been exactly linear or brilliant, and about during the middle of the series the Eclipso entity changed host from Jean Loring to Bruce Gordon (who was the original one). It doesn't seem to being going anywhere, and feels like an editorial last-moment decision. Eclipso corrupted Plastic Man, and The Creeper in a very character-driven story, but now all of a sudden, Dove is corrupted too (off panel) and everybody is into an Eclipso cult. One of the few finer plot points is the parallel kept with Kingdom Come since the Spectre has a witness who accompanies him; though instead of a respectful old seer we get a young, wayward killer who gets his heart pulled out by the Spectre in an act of justice, and his soul decides to follow Crispus Allen and the Spectre in a form of retaliation.
In this issue, another character is added to the mess: the Huntress. So things get even more confusing. Plastic Man's temptation in the first few issues was handled superbly, with an exploration of his psychological weaknesses being exploited by Eclipse. In contrast, Huntress’ temptation was a poor “I feel angry, and he is looking at me, hypnotizing me”. Character-exploration is being discarded in order to advance the plot (though where it is advancing to, I cannot see). And the non-linear exposition doesn't help at all.
Perhaps this all indicates some disliking of the story, but the art doesn’t do it for me either. The inking is too sketchy, and things like the monster's corpses and the souls look underworked. It is not technically bad, but it's not satisfying.
Dr Fate' story is far better. It was not written for this series or meant for this format, but given Gerber's health problems (which ended in his lamentable death) it ended being published this way. Gerber narrates a new beginning for Dr Fate as Kent V. Nelson; a successful psychiatrist, who makes the wrong decisions at the wrong time, and ends up at the bottom of the social bucket. A street bum who finds a golden helmet in a chance of fate.
Then he begins a journey of psychological evolution, facing his inner demons, encountering psychological aspects of his personality manifested as images. This travel is made real by the helmet. And through this travel, he learns the rules of magic (in the 10th age of magic) which are new to him anyway.
This psychodrama is handled in several levels of 'fiction'. Inza, whom Kent meets as another chance of fate, is an Indie comic writer and publisher. Kent reads the comic and shows us a way of interpreting the comic we are reading. And the fiction inside Inza’s comic relates to the fiction inside Fate's comic on a symbolic level. And you may ask: but, wait a minute, didn't Kent Nelson die like, ten years ago? Yes he did. He is still dead. This is another Kent Nelson, and another Inza, repeating a cosmic cycle of shamanic/Magic initiation. Another Dr Fate in another era of magic, yet still the same Dr Fate.
In this issue Nelson continues his downward spiral into depression, he finds out about the original Dr. Fate, and the weight of the heritage pushes him deeper into self deprecation. And the loathing he feels for himself makes him quit the helmet of Dr. Fate. The exchange of sarcasm and wit between him and Maddy, the occult bookkeeper, was fun and intelligent.
The art is adequate to the story. A bit sketchy, a bit weird, not too cartoonish (unless where it is pertinent, like inside the Killhead subplot). Colors are not dark eithe in spite the tone of the story, and it does transmit the Las Vegas atmosphere. Inks add weight to the shadows in the magical perception scenes. Justiniano is a very flexible artist and manages to generate different feelings in his art with the different planes of existence being explored.
This mini-series follows the line set in Infinite Crisis, of having a group of miniseries complementing the main story, each focusing on different aspects. And as was/is the case of other past miniseries, some of it feels forced. The evident editorial adjustments in the Countdown to Infinite Crisis affect the story in here, and it damages the quality of the book. So far, it has been kept away from the Shadowpact (and I hope they are not thinking of creating another group with the Eclipso minions at the end of this miniseries). So far in my opinion, it has not been good enough in the grand scheme of things.
RATING:
Spectre/Eclipso
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpg
Dr. Fate
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/dcnone.jpg
Buy COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY online now from X-World Comics and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=25883)