Countdown to Mystery #6 Review

COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY #6 (OF 8)
Written by Steve Gerber and Matt Sturges
Art by Justiniano and Walden Wong and Stephen Segovia

I have no idea what the Eclipso story is trying to accomplish at this point. It just keeps going off in random directions whenever a plot is starting to emerge and I can't figure out what the story is even about, aside from making Eclipso a man again.

Thankfully, the Dr Fate half of this book is a lot of fun to read. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I don't like magic-based characters or books and it always ends up being some deus ex machina type plot where a magic item or word or artifact solves all the problems and ends any plot problems for the writer.

This Dr Fate story is nothing like that and focuses on the more cerebral side of things as a former pyschiatrist deals with wrapping his head around the concepts of being this supposed supreme magical being. I usually dislike overly verbose books, but the writing is so well written, I don't mind the rather large number of thought boxes and dialogue heavy pages of this story. I'm saddened to know there won't be an ongoing follow up by the now deceased writer of this story.

Verdict - Dr Fate - Must Read, Eclipso - Check It

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Countdown to Mystery #5 Review

COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY #5 (OF 8)
Written by Steve Gerber and Matt Sturges
Art by Justiniano & Walden Wong and Stephen Segovia

Just as this series looked like it was building to something, both stories take detours into excessive exposition land.

In the Eclipso story, the new / old host takes a joyride around the universe looking for ways to kill himself or Eclipso before it can take him over completely. He does this while the narrative boxes try to impress us with relatively pointless astro-physics calculations.

On the Dr Fate side of the coin, we get an interesting comic within a comic story as the new Fate tries to learn more about the woman that rescued him and was subsequently turned to oil and sucked down the drain. He does this through the comic she writes and I enjoyed the pyschobabble as Fate tried to analysis the woman's life as he was reading the book.

However, both stories killed any momentum they had and the Eclipso one has taken a strange twist with the new host / death of Jean Lorring last issue. I'm sure the Fate one will lead to bigger things as that mystery unfolds, but Eclipso's seems like a waste of space right now.

Verdict - Check It

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Countdown to Mystery #4 Review

COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY #4 (OF 8)
Written by Steve Gerber and Matt Sturges
Art by Justiniano, Walden Wong and Stephen Segovia

I was really enjoying the Eclipso half of this book until this issue. We find out what happened after the Mary Marvel fight in this week's Countdown and it's not pretty. Apparently, the new female Eclipso look wasn't cutting it, so they've gone back to square one and stuck the Eclipso power in the old, male host body. The difference? Spectre has anticipated this through voodoo magic or something (beats me how he knew) and has turned the Eclipso power into something the host can control. I guess Eclipso is a good guy now? I don't really care at this point.

Thankfully, the Dr Fate half of this book is still rocking it. Still lacking a bit on the whole magic part, but the new Fate is a great character and I'm enjoying his coming to grips with his newfound abilities. Now, if only DC could split this book in half, make the Fate book an on-going and save me the extra couple dollars a month on the Eclipso story.

Verdict - Check It.

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Countdown to Mystery #3 Review

COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY #3 (OF 8)
Written by Steve Gerber and Matt Sturges
Art by Justiniano and Walden Wong and Stephen Segovia

This series is really shaping up to be one of the best Countdown tie-ins. Both stories were excellent this month, but I'm not sure exactly how the Dr Fate story is related to Countdown though. Maybe he will eventually show up to combat Mary Marvel and Eclipso or maybe DC just didn't think a Dr Fate mini-series would hold its own without the tie-in status, who knows?

Speaking of Fate, this issue explores more of the new Fate's abilities and gives us a trip to his inner self after meeting up with a possible love interest at a magic shop. The computer subroutine acting as a new age magician spell was a nice touch with this new age of magic in the DC Universe. However, this story is still a little lacking on the action and magic. A bit too much inner dialogue and soul searching, but otherwise still entertaining.

The Eclipso back up story more than made up for the lack of action in the Fate story, but again suffered from lack of story and explanation for what's going on. It's like these two stories are on the opposite ends of the spectrum and if they both met half way, this series would be incredible. This time around saw Eclipso duking it out with the Creeper before catching up with an entertaining Batman and Plastic Man encounter. Segovia draws an incredible Batman and I'd love to see him get a crack at a Batman title. In fact, he does an excellent job with all the art in the Eclipso story.

Verdict - Must Read. Two entertaining stories that compliment each other nicely. Not a perfect book, but definitely enjoyable. Check it out, one or both of the stories should appeal to you.

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Countdown To Mystery #1 Review

COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY #1
Written by Steve Gerber and Matt Sturges
Art by Justiniano & Walden Wong and Stephen Segovia

This was a strong start to another Countdown tie-in. If only Countdown itself would learn from these mini-series tie-ins. Each one seems to offer more story and development than the actual series that spawned them.

First, I would like to say I have never been a big fan of magic-based characters in comics, but decided to give this issue a try based on the exquisit cover and, hopefully, a more fleshed out story related to the faltering Countdown. I was not disappointed in either regard. The first half of this issue is devoted to the return of Dr Fate. My only real complaint was with the pacing of this issue. Far too much of the issue is spent catching readers up to date on the previous history of Dr Fate and magic in the DCU. This would have worked much better if they had broken it up over a couple issues, intersperced with more action or non-history segments. As it was, I felt like I was reading a text book instead of a comic book for most of the Fate half of the book. However, it did the job and that ending with the splash page transformation into Dr Fate was more than enough to entice me to come back for more of this story next month. With the backstory taken care of and the helmet in our new hero's hands, this story should really take off next month and I expect big things.

The Eclipso side of things was kind of the opposite to Fate's half. Mostly action or random dialogue and little explanation of things. It served its purpose though, as I am curious to find out how Eclipso returned from space, how this syncs up with her appearance in Blue Beetle and ESPECIALLY with that last splash page with Darkseid claiming to have created the Eclipso entity.

While not the best issue this week, it definitely enticed me enough to want to come back next month and find out more about each half of this double header issue. The only problem with this issue might be readers' reluctance to pick up a more expensive issue if they are only interested in one part of the story, much like the problem Countdown to Adventure faces with its dual story nature. With this issue though, I'd wager it was one of the strongest Countdown tie-in mini's so far, so it isn't as big an issue in my opinion. Take a chance on this issue, more than likely you will enjoy at least one of the stories.

Verdict - Check It

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Countdown to Mystery Archives

Archives - Back Issue Bins - DC - Countdown to Mystery

Countdown to Mystery

Countdown to Mystery #1 - Verdict - Check It
Countdown to Mystery #2 - Verdict - Check It
Countdown to Mystery #3 - Verdict - Must Read
Countdown to Mystery #4 - Verdict - Check It
Countdown to Mystery #5 - Verdict - Check It
Countdown to Mystery #6 - Verdict - Check It
Countdown to Mystery #7 - Verdict - Check It
Countdown to Mystery #8 - Verdict - Check It

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