You know what's funny about "Running Around Looking For Crap"? It's that the series was SO hated that in a following issue of Booster Gold on the chalkboard it says "Ignore Countdown" which is DC saying "Yeah this series is entirely non-canon."

DLC: The Comic Book.

I thought his name being Bob was a joke. That is his actual name. All of my what

"You know after he's done tending the slave pits on Apokalips, he just plays with them." Now just imagining the doll scene from Space Balls with some character substitutions.

My towns library, only has Countdown to Crisis in its comic book section, no joke. Really sums the town up..

“It’s a dead-baby monster that eats poop.” And suddenly Edmund Macmillan had a brilliant idea for a game...

The Mary Marvel stuff is even stupider when you realize that one super hero in the DCU, Osiris, got his powers from Black Adam as well, and from what I've read, Osiris is actually a pretty good kid. Heck, during Blackest Night, he sacrificed his life in order to stop a Black Lantern Sobek from further harming the citizens of Khandaq. Sounds like a hero to me.

It's pretty sad how interesting some of these stories sound. Searching the entire multiverse for Ray Palmer in an epic tale to stop a coming disaster, an entire issue dedicated to a funeral where we can see some humanity in characters and how they grieve and the consequences of losing friends and loved ones, a murder mystery involving somebody MURDERING GODS, Jimmy Olsen finding out Clark's secret. Interesting story ideas, to be sure. Too bad it's all shit.

You know, this may be awful but I will give it one thing: Forager is adorable.

Linkara has said several times that the Teen Titans are his favorite super-hero group, with the Technis Imperative and Devin Grayson's run on the title being what got him into comics. I'm in much the same boat although, being older, it was the arc that had Duela Dent joining the team for me. As such I've always had a soft spot for the little loon and Countdown axed her in it's very first issue. DC caught some flack over yet another Titans death (they were dropping like flies at the time and would continue to do so for several years) and claimed that Dent's death would send ripples across the DCU! ... I've seen more ripples on a Pringle's chip.

Linkara says, "This is why kids don't read comics anymore, they're more mature than the writers!" Actually, when I go to one of the local bookstores where I live, there are whole sections of graphic novels geared toward Elementary and/or Middle School aged children. There has been much controversy about if graphic novels should be counted as reading. Although I don't pretend to be an expert on learning, graphic novels can be (and are) instrumental in getting reluctant readers to read something not assigned by a parent or teacher. Since kids these days (who take a daily dose of irony along with their KZfaq and/or TikTok) are more visually oriented than we were growing up. You have to get people in the church before you can preach to them.

Countdown is basically just a series of vaguely related filler moments, with some sort of beginning, middle, and end fit into there somewhere.

For those wondering why this comic sucks so much. The DC editors (Dan DiDio specifically) hated 52 because the executives gave the writers more authority over the book than them. So when they made Countdown, the point was that the editors would have complete control over every issue's creation, because they (supposedly) had better judgement than the writers themselves. Yeah......

This feels like every additional plot thread was meant to sell another batch of comics....And that just proves how greedy some people can be...

8:08 - This is literally a great monologue to use to describe almost any reconning of a previously evil character with questionable morals into a "but the devil made them do it" story. This retconning CAN work, but it often makes the character uninteresting and gives them an excuse rather than having them be a legit foil for the morally good hero and/or it cheats them out of being complex.

Its truly astounding how a series can have way too much happen, yet Also have absolutely nothing happen.

I kinda wish Duela Dent and The Jokester were permanent characters.

As someone not familiar with the DC cannon this sounds like a marketing hub-series to push a load of mini-series. Y'know, for teh monies. XD

So wait, it took HALF of the whole series to get all this information, JESUS! even the subspace emissary gives MORE information in one fourth of the subspace emissary.

Man, everything 52 did right, Countdown did completely and utterly wrong.

So basically countdown making fear itself look like a masterpiece

It's a testament to the insane genius of Grant Morrison that he was somehow able to make something as crazy awesome as Final Crisis, out of the aftermath of this shit-heap!

3:17 Behold! I am the Monitor of Universe 52! There are some who call me...Tim?

Donna Troy IS Rambo! ...I'd probably watch that...

So that's why it's "disaster stoppin' Ray Palmer"

I enjoy it when Marvel puts in footnotes to reference events in other books when they're referenced. In most of the DC solo series, since everyone doesn't live in the same city, they're not really necessary, but they'd really be helpful for event series. Not that this excuses Countdown doing silly stuff like this.

I can't even imagine what it was like to read Countdown when it was first coming out. And for as much pain as I'm sure this review was for Linkara, I feel like the Countdown reviews are what made him the badass he is today! This is the kind of rite of passage that makes any great critic.

Jeez, i forgot how raw the og theme sounded...

Knowing what's coming up in the following episodes of this, "Donna Troy: First Blood" is going to be my happy place from here on out

At least we can all agree that Zatanna is SMOKING HOT

Trickster, pied piper is not allowed to get married because dc refuses to let any characters get married.... because.... because... no one really knows and it annoys everybody

I think the main reason people don't read comics as much as they used to is simple. It has continuity so thickly intertwined that you'd be lost after missing one issue. This story continuium is also why many Nickelodeon shows are self-intertwined so they can air them in whatever order they plead. Sure, the MCU had the same issues but those movies are easier to get hold of and don't cease printing after the next film comes out. Even then, places like Netflix and Amazon Prime provide ways to watch these films.

I find it funny how past Linkara says there's no way he could do 51 issues for a review since Linkara has done several retrospectives

Love triangle between Donna, Green Lantern and fucking Red Hood?? Damn, Rest In Peace Terry Long and her son.

Writing tip: If you have multiple teams of characters looking for different things: DO- reveal they are all, unknowingly, looking for the same thing in shocking, unexpected twist. DON'T- meander along for 51 issues and reveal that most of the plots are unrelated and ultimately pointless.

Salvation Run was actually very good. Mostly because it told it's own story and had barely anything to do Countdown. It was just an awesome tale of Super-villains fighting for survival and their different personalities clashing.

Do you think the writers (or maybe I should say editors) ever realized that having Piper and Trickster running around handcuffed together is like the most cliched fanfic prompt next to High School Au?

I love this end theme. It should be used more often.

2:42 Stones and Glass Houses, Jason Todd.

I know it's been years, but I still can't forgive the murder of Duela. I will say this though: for a character known for appearing like 2 dozen times in 30 years, sometimes going 5 years a stretch without a single mention, I'm glad the writer on Teen Titans at the time (I can't recall if it was Beecham or McKeever...funny how both were tied to this series) thought she was important enough to warrant a funeral scene. A WELL DONE funeral scene. I wish every Titan DC has killed off was worthy of that. The only other one I can think of in recent years was Terra II in 52, and I think that was part of a group memorial scene for all the characters Black Adam killed in the WWIII mini, and even then I got pissed off with it because Rose Wilson said she didn't really even know the characters that well: BULLSHIT, ROSE! You were best friends with Tara back during your first stint on the Titans, and Kyle said that you and her worked like a well oiled military tandem!

"What did you see?!" "No I did not see you playing with your dolls again." "Good!"

Some say EA was inspired by this comic

Look on the bright side...at least Final Crisis chucked Countdown into the incinerator.

5:11 I don't know why this part makes me laugh so hard, but it does. Thanks, Lewis.

Countdown= Dan Didio's wet fantasy of pointlessly and shamelessly killing off characters. Are we sure he isn't a serial killer?

man comic book writers really need a guy who walks around asking what their working on and then hit them in the face with a stick

Bill The Monitor: Hey, we don't choose our names. I just popped into existence Bill the Monitor. Gatator of Universe 17 got a cool name. I work in Universe 6. Its where Linkara reviews holographic comics, and Nostalgia Critic reviews old forms of media.

Anyone remember that scene where Biff threw a ball on the roof? Most of these plot hooks are the comic equivalent of that scene.

They had a book called Countdown which tells the same story essentially but cuts out a LOT of the unnecessary garbage from it. It's a novel that's actually not a bad read if you ask me, though they still had to keep the dumbest part about Mary Marvel becoming evil a second time...

@2:48-2:54 Continuity Alarm: EH! EH! EH! Linkara: That was a Bit Delayed wasn't it? Continuity Alarm(You made a Good Point): Eh! Eh! Eh!

Man looking at these old ones and then the new videos you can see how far linkara got!

Me: Can someone explain countdown in 20 words or less? Linkara: THESE COMICS SUCK! Also Me: Ya did it in 3 didnt think you had it in you.

If I could redo the storyline I think instead of that stuff with the virus and everything connected to it I would have Bob the Monitor's group, Monarch's group, and the Apokiliptans going against each other in pursuit of the Anti-Life Equation (that's it, that's the whole story). The forces of New Genesis intervene in an attempt to hold Darkseid up when Monarch's forces enter the fray. That's what causes the New Gods to start dying, gaining the attention of the heroes not already involved in the conflict. While this clusterfuck is happening Bob's group is moving around under the radar in fear of attracting either faction's attention and finding Ray Palmer by total accident and unfortunately running into Superboy Prime (not aged up due to stupid reasons and with his man-child tendencies dialled way the hell down to make him bearable). Of all people it is Jason who talks down Prime and gets him into a non hostile mindset to cooperate, the two start talking and eventually reach a surprisingly meaningful conversation over how they'll never be able to get back to those happier times and have to make due with what lies ahead (you know, character development). Which is great timing because their search for the Anti-Life Equation takes them to the Antimatter Universe and they find an alive but heavily injured Anti-Monitor and it's revealed that he has the Anti-Life Equation. Even with Prime's help the Anti-Monitor is too far out of their weight class, but his help keeps them alive (barely) until other people get there. Darkseid and Monarch are soon to follow Bob's group and the last part of the story is just a three way fight between Monarch, Darkseid, and the weakened Anti-Monitor for control of the Anti-Life Equation. The last panels are of a universe destroying explosion and Darkseid standing triumphant with the Anti-Life Equation finally in his grasp to kick off Final Crisis. Not sure if this fits into the then continuity all that well, but at least it isn't an incomprehensible mess like the actual Countdown is.

1:26 Has anyone noticed that Linkara's left hand is on Harley Quinn's butt? It's not even like he's just trying to support her and that it was an accident since he could just use his arm. It really looks like Linkara's using the excuse of carrying Harley Quinn as an opportunity to cop a feel on her ass. Well, it doesn't look like she minds...

Well.. on the topic of the name “Mr Action” it could be a reference to the fact that Superman appeared in ACTION comics bearing in mind that doesn’t lessen the stupidity of this comic

8:30 Oh hey, it's my problem with the Dark Side of the Force from Star Wars when it's presented as a corrupting influence you can't stop rather than choices people make nearly summed up years and years ago.

well I suppose after a tough day working the slaves pits he uses the toys as a sort of stress reliever, although it makes it harder to take him seriously after that revelation...

I love having your little retrospectives on these episodes as you upload them here. It's a nice look at what you were thinking and how you were going about them at the time, adds some flavour to it.

I know he's entitled to his own opinion but it still blows my mind that he went with the current song over the one in the credits.

You feel hold when you realize this video is 10 years old.

03:31 WOW THIS COMIC PREDICTED ITS OWN OUTCOME! lol

The worst part is, countdown was literally the first time Trickster ever expressed any homophobia. Which would be fine if it was the first time he'd ever been shown interacting with Piper, but it's most definitely not. After Mirror Master framed the Piper for his parents' murder, the Trickster was the first person Piper went to for help after he broke out of prison, and once Trickster finds out that Piper was innocent, he ended up intentionally seeking him out to bring down the unreformed Rogues. They proceed to work together just fine. Prior to that, in the 90's, when the Pied Piper believed the man running for president was actually the Top (he wasn't, but he Vice President was), Trickster is the one he chose to seek out when Wally West wouldn't believe him. Prior to that, they had both been members of the same super villain team. In which they seemed to work together just fine. So I'm supposed to believe that Piper through all those years kept willingly associating with this guy who is apparently homophobic? Or did something happen to make Trickster suddenly freak out about the fact that gay people exist? Did Trickster get drunk and wake up next to some dude, and now he's taking his own uncertainty about his sexual orientation out on the only gay man he knows? We'll never know, because he was shot in the head before any of this could be clarified.

Bob Monitor. Monitor Refrigeration.

I gave this two issues and was like nope. I can't believe how many people kept reading the series because no one seems to like it.

you know, for a story that was an editorial mandate, the editors could have been doing their ACTUAL job a bit better than...the NON-EXISTENT EDITORS FOR SUPERMAN AT EARTH'S END!!!

If there’s one thing I’ll forever be thankful to this review for, it’s the only reason I first discovered “Countdown to Insanity” when i first watched it over a decade ago and it’s remained one of my favourite songs ever.

Why doesn't Linkara use that ending song more? It's almost as good as the usual one. Like, 99.9% as good.

So THIS is where Earth-11 came from. Gotta say, conceptually, it's easily my favorite.

Watching Linkara I sometimes wonder how DC became such a big player on the market

That ending song sounds really good; Like, damn, that was stellar!

Sending the villains off to a random planet to fend for themselves. Jim Kirk can tell you that's a bad idea that will absolutely come back to bite you in a revenge served with a side of Moby Dick references!

So from what Linkara is describing, "52" isn't so much a comic story... as it is a throw-away zone for things that are happening BETWEEN about half a dozen other stories? Goodness, I haven't seen anything like this since the Dragonlance novels! D:

5:21 That... is just five levels of wrong.

Let's move on to the love triangle: Donna and Kyle had a thing back during said Titans run with Terra II and Rose, at the same time her and Roy Harper were burying their timultuous relationship. It was a good story, at a time the Titans were known for being a shell of their former selves. Seriously, everything from after the Trigon Seed/Evil Bikini Raven era was really good though. I loved the Siege of Zi Charam, because of the stuff with Roy, Donna, and Kyle, and because of the crush between Damage and Terra II (Rose's stint came just after that story, and was the beginning of the wind-down of that Titans series, sadly, but those issues were pretty good too and Impulse's crush on Rose was both sweet and something I was glad Johns touched on in his reboot of the team). Anyways, I said all that to say this: I can understand them still having feelings for each other...but why Jason? Jason was 13 when he knew Donna, and that was long before she met Kyle!

I'd need a flowchart that covered an entire wall to keep up with this...

The ending theme in this video is EASILY superior to his opening theme he's been using for so damn long

What's funny about the Mary marvel subplot is there were, I believe, two black Adam miniseries following up on the events of 52 and WWIII, and both completely ignored it. Hell it doesn't even make sense for him to have his powers in countdown because at the time the only powers he had were those he was siphoning from Isis' bones, and he did so VERY rarely and wasn't in a position to give them away, since they were the only chance of bringing her back and didn't want to use their finite power.

The intro is a godsend

3:30 Bob, you... are my number one.... guy!!

It's a little funny that out of all the heroes they could've sent the legion sent triplicate girl... without her two other parts. So the one character on their roster who can't do anything.

I still maintain futures end is dc’s new 52 countdown

If her father is the Jokester, shouldn't Duela Dent be "The Jokester's Daughter"? (I know, the Jokester didn't exist until after they killed her, but still, seems a bit odd.)

5:43 for the win.

3:00 Bam? Maybe the "bam bam" that Red Hood heard were the punches of the Monitor?

The gun wielding crazies line is supposed to be ironic

This was back when you lived with your parents, wasn't it? I hafta say, you've come a long, long way since. These days, you can scream with impunity.

Mechakara!

So how did the epicness that was Final Crisis come out of a debacle like Countdown again?

to this day we still haven't gotten a solid explanation for buddy blank and brother eye from linkara. Kindof feels like one of those things he's planned to get to at some point.

I'll read this whole comic line, i feel unclean

I suppose one could explain this all away by saying it was the ineffable will of Bob.

Holy moley and because I've been reading comics as far back as I can remember I can't lock down if that's from Robin the original Batman TV series or the original Golden Age Captain Marvel! This series went completely under my radar and boy am I glad I was able to skip it until this....recap. Thanks Linkara. Thanks for taking one for the team. By the way WHERE did you get the four finger bionic glove at the end of the video? I MUST KNOW FROM.... Yeah yeah I know the internet. Heavy sigh

14:39 that is tecnecly a continuity error as oberon is human and is in constant contact with MM and BB and has been thrown into both New genisis and Apocolyps(sorry about the spelling).

I've been so entertained and only just thought.. does Linkara even curse? Don't get me wrong i don't care if he does or doesn't it won't change my judgement of him I love the guy he makes me laugh regardless but I've never thought of it till he did the 'inaudible swearing'* so yea again would just like to know it anyone has ever heard him curse?

Countdown Aka “DC comics presents The Runaround”

dont worry,DC will fix the deaths of multiple teen titans by erasing them from reality in the new 52

I think a Donna Troy movie that was similar to a Rambo movie would work.

NGL, though, "Mr. Action" was super on brand.

Holy fucking shit, that closing theme kicks ASS So so so so good! Argh, why is THIS piece of awesome not the regular closing theme? Guy-with-acoustic-guitar is not high on my personal list of types of music I like, anyway. Though the normal one is OK, I think I have heard it too many times by now and I just might be tired of it through overplay. This ending theme though?! Wow wow WOW is it good. I would actually listen to it just on it's own as a song, and I don't remember ever having said that before about a show's theme song. Make this one the end theme on a permanent basis!

I utterly hate Countdown. And it has my most hated character in the DC Multiverse that being the whiny nostalgia-blind comic fan in comic book form Superbrat-Prime.