''DC Countdown'', commonly referred to as ''Countdown to Infinite Crisis'', is a one-shot

publication To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Convention, articl ...

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, ...

" storyline. It was released on 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,'' which was meant 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 (comics), Flash, and Superman has drawn critical accl ...

, Greg Rucka, 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 ...

, while the art chores were divided up, generally on a chapter by chapter basis, between the penciller-inker teams of Rags Morales & Michael Bair, Jesus Saiz &

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 & Marc Campos, and

Phil Jimenez Phil Jimenez (born July 12, 1970) is an American comics artist and writer known for his work as writer/artist on ''Wonder Woman (comic book), Wonder Woman'' from 2000 to 2003, as one of the five pencilers of the 2005–2006 miniseries ''Infinite C ...

& Andy Lanning. 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 (comics), Birds of Prey'', ''Supergirl (comic b ...

pencilled and inked his chapter.

Synopsis

The main plot concerns Ted Kord, the superhero and former

Justice League The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...

member known as the Blue Beetle, 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 superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

dismiss Kord's concerns, either politely or, like

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

, who now remembers that the League had mind-wiped him, outright (Batman would later regret his behaviour). Only Booster Gold, 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, who is revealed to be using his Justice League files and Batman's satellite, 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 events of '' Day of Vengeance'' are foreshadowed, when the Beetle confronted the wizard Shazam, but no particular hints about that title are 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'' 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