Countdown!

[Tony Bedard]

So the news has leaked about this upcoming event, and I get to play along! yay!

So let me know if you have any questions.

I probably won't answer them :evilsmile but your posts will bring me closer to my nefarious goal of catching Ron Marz's post total!

[Joe Acro]

This seemed more appropriate to post here.

Yeah, get 'em all. The others are written quite well, actually. I'm especially delighted by McKeever's stuff, but was laughing out loud at some clever stuff in Beechen's last script and wishing I'd thought up some really cool stuff in Justin & Jimmy's last script, so...


Another thing -- COUNTDOWN has some cool really cool changes in store for certain characters that you won't wanna miss.

Honest.But it's a weekly series. That means I'd have to spend more money. :mad::(

[Tony Bedard]

Ah, you're in the comics store every week, anyway, right?

[the4thpip]

My wallet was kind of looking forward to 52 ending.

(moan)

Maybe I'll just drop my last 4 monthly Marvel titles.

[Joe Acro]

Ah, you're in the comics store every week, anyway, right?Sadly, no.:( But maybe I'll get the chance to look at them anyway and see which ones I want to buy.:)

[MatthewDiCarlo]

First off Tony, Congrats! It must rock to be part of such a big project, and I was excited to see your name there, since I've been a big fan of yours since Crossgen, and I swear that your Rogue arc was my favorite 6 issue Marvel arc of 2005 (and i barely even like Rogue as a character, so that's saying a lot). I'll give you some ones that you might even be able to answer.

#2. Tell me that you're going to get to play with some of the DC Sci Fi elements. I've been wanting to see you write Vril Dox forever(or at least since you used a bunch of "shades of grey" characters in Negation), but the Fourth World stuff that they've mentioned could be right down your alley too.

#3. What DC characters, past those, are you looking forward to working with the most?

#4. You've got to tell us about some of the creative environment here. This is unlike anything I've come across comics wise, with one lead writer, and a number of guys doing the individual issues. I know it's not a direct collaboration like 52, but I'm still a little iffy on exactly what it IS like.

#5. and for the heck of it, what are some of your favorite DC runs? Since you can pretty much tell some of your favorite Marvel stuff from Exiles, but I'm not sure where you stand when it comes to DC.

Thanks,

Matt

[Tony Bedard]

Matt, I'm dying to write L.E.G.I.O.N. Vril Dox rox! But I have gotten to fill in on LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES some and I hope to have more to do on that title. Stay tuned...

I'd also love to do a LOBO story and/or a GL CORPS story. Oh, and COUNTDOWN should offer some cosmic action, too!

I'd love to do something with Aquaman some day. I also like Wonder Woman.

Working on this series is probably closer to working on a TV show. It's the same system that yields LOST, 24, ALIAS, and all the other shows we love. It doesn't work for everyone. For example, I'm good friends with Garth Ennis, and I think he'd rather crawl through broken glass than work in this style. Me? I like collaborating. I think I did better work under similar circumstances at Crossgen, where all my creative team was on site. So I'm really jazzed aabout this. Plus, you get a friendly competition going in which each writer tries to outdo the others and everyone ends up bringing their A game. At least that's how it should work!

Favorite DC runs include Alan Moore on SWAMP THING, Grant Morrison on ANIMAL MAN, DOOM PATROL and JLA, Mike Baron on THE FLASH, Mark Waid on THE FLASH, John Byrne's SUPERMAN, John Arcudi's MAJOR BUMMER, Tom Peyer on HOURMAN, Denny O'Neil on THE QUESTION...there's more but that's enough for now, right?

[MatthewDiCarlo]

Peyer's Hourman is such a great run! Course all that you mentioned were, but that's overlooked way too much.

Pull in Snapper. There hasn't nearly been enough Snapper Carr/Jimmy Olsen interaction in DC history.

Are you going to get any issues with Jim Calafiore, since you seem to do a really good job at giving him great scenes to draw that are right down his alley?

[Tony Bedard]

Yeah, Jim's working on an isssue of mine right now.

Great idea about Snapper. Has he been seen since HOURMAN? I wonder what he's up to.

[General Grievous]

Cool tony,

as you know General grievous knew in advance about COUNTDOWN.(Generals like to keep up their info database on everything)

anyways i look forward to buying this countdown.

but Tony, the day they start missing dates and falling behind and being late i will drop them as quick.

Ps. just looked at my siderman collection,
and you wrote breakout, mandrill, controller, ironclad ect ect????

two words tony. brilliant story

[MatthewDiCarlo]

Yeah, Jim's working on an isssue of mine right now.

Great idea about Snapper. Has he been seen since HOURMAN? I wonder what he's up to.

Best as I can remember, he was used briefly as the advisor to Young Justice (this was in the very scary period where PAD was writing both Snapper and Rick Jones at the same time, which I think is one of the causes of global warming). I don't remember seeing him used since.

Great to hear that you're working on an issue with Jim. You guys make a good team.

Thanks for answering the questions.

Matt

[elias_A]

Tony, can you give any hints if the Bat-Family is involved in Countdown?

Especially Cassandra Cain?

And is there any chance War Crimes wasn't the final word on the fate of Stephanie Brown (The Spoiler), or that her death might at least be addressed in Countdown?

[MatthewDiCarlo]

Tony,

Is it set up so the different writers each get a single character/story or do all of the stories get time each issue?

If so,is there sort of a DC Challenge thing going where P&G or Sean McKeever are going to leave you with some absurd cliffhanger that you'll have to think your way out of?

[Tony Bedard]

What's happened is that Dini has laid out a basic outline for all the sub-plots, and we have weekly phone conferences to figure out what little bits will appear in each issue. Sometimes, a particular sub-plot won't make it into a given issue. Once we've gone over the basic story beats, each individual writer goes off and writes up a script.

We have a lot of latitude to come up with our own stuff or change up the order of events, etc. Whatever will make the story work. It;s a very dynamic process, not color-by-numbers or writing by committee.

[General Grievous]

i would reckon any issues or story arc's pertaining to the new gods in COUNTDOWN will be aptly delt with by Grant morrison?????

Mr Miracle??? Grant morrison????

i'd say so

[General Grievous]

question tony,

Do ya like speedsters????

who's ya fav runnner and have you pitched any stories for speedsters.

[Tony Bedard]

To be honest, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about speedsters. I suppose the Flash would be my favorite, mostly because they've come up with so many novel ways to use his abilities beyond simply running fast, but I haven't pitched any Flash or Quicksilver stories.

[MatthewDiCarlo]

Do you think your time as an editor is helping you with this specific project, given its collaborative nature?

Actually, that's not a bad question in general, how your editorial experience impacted your approach as a writer, if at all.

[General Grievous]

Tony, where have ya been?

you have not posted in ages,

[Tony Bedard]

Just trying to get some work done and I was also away from home for a few days. Sorry!

As for Matthew DeCarlo's question, being an editor had a big impact on how I work. I understand the process and politics that my editors have to deal with, and it helps me to anticipate problems. Also, I got to see scripts by some of the best -- Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis and Azzarello among them -- and seeing how lean those scripts are helped me to shape my own scripts and keep them pretty spare and punchy.

And I also spent years critiquing artwork, which helps me now when I review the books I work on, checking for mistakes or suggesting better ways to visualize certain things.

Yeah, being an editor helped a lot!

[General Grievous]

cool, welcome back tony!

Things are really going well for you..

countdown, legion, JSA classified. Black canery.

We'll all support your work(as long as it's top notch!!!)

Question. whats the ending of countdown?? my doctor told me i need to know this or i'll die unhappy

[Tony Bedard]

The end of Countdown? That's easy:

BLASTOFF!!!

[Crimson]

So the news has leaked about this upcoming event, and I get to play along! yay!

So let me know if you have any questions.

I probably won't answer them :evilsmile but your posts will bring me closer to my nefarious goal of catching Ron Marz's post total!

Do you think this book will be easy for new DC readers?

I'm reading Dini's Detective (And just dropped Action Comics and Wonder Woman) and besides the key moments in DC history that every comic fan knows... I know nothing about DC.

I like alot of the writers on this book, so do you think it'll be a good jumping on point to get introduced to the DC verse?

[MatthewDiCarlo]

The thing I wonder the most about the book is the fact it's going to push the entire universe forward another year, when they just did the OYL jump. I'm really not a fan of characters aging in real time, namely because you could have a 6 month story right now which takes place over a day or two. The characters should generally age as the story dictates.

It made sense with 52 as DC decided to make the OYL jump to A) allow for comics to come out while Infinite Crisis was still going on, B) give a sense of mystery and raise interest on how some of the changes happened and C) Give a solid and fresh jumping on point for their entire line hopefully drawing a number of new readers (though the sales didn't quite work out that way unfortunately).

But here I just don't get why they're going for the month to month system. The only benefit I can see in it is that it makes delays in the monthly titles so crippling that they'll be avoided at all costs.

From a "good story" point of view, I think that 52 has been working not because of the "1 week, 1 week in story" device but DESPITE it. It's much more of a hinderance than a help in my mind, as it prevents more time being spent on important moments and character development has to either be rushed or character arcs have to be made over a much longer span than they would be.

[Tony Bedard]

I think COUNTDOWN will touch upon so many farflung corners of the DCU that it will give you a good cross-section of the whole universe. As for it being a good jumping-on point, check it out and you tell me.

Did you feel 52 was a good jumping-on point? Seriously, I'm curious. Sometimes we get so steeped in this stuff that it's hard to step back and look at it objectively. I like the focus 52 has on certain lower-profile characters. COUNTDOWN has some of that going for it, too, but with more appearances by our top-tier heroes, too. I'm eager to see what you think.

[negation]

Awesome for you, huge project for you to land on, Hope you get an ongoing ( how long is your contract with DC )

[Crimson]

I think COUNTDOWN will touch upon so many farflung corners of the DCU that it will give you a good cross-section of the whole universe. As for it being a good jumping-on point, check it out and you tell me.

Did you feel 52 was a good jumping-on point? Seriously, I'm curious. Sometimes we get so steeped in this stuff that it's hard to step back and look at it objectively. I like the focus 52 has on certain lower-profile characters. COUNTDOWN has some of that going for it, too, but with more appearances by our top-tier heroes, too. I'm eager to see what you think.

I never managed to get into 52.

Countdown interests me as it's lots of writers I enjoy and as you said it touches alot areas of the DC universe, so I was hoping it would allow me to learn about these characters.

I can't wait to read it, I have the first 8 issues orderd so I can give it a fair shot.

[General Grievous]

Awesome for you, huge project for you to land on, Hope you get an ongoing ( how long is your contract with DC )

2year exclusive writing contract.

so far we know tony spaloni will write a one shot JSA story starring alan scott
he will continue legion of superheroes after mark waid.
he will co-write countdown
and he has a 4part batman confidential story with rags morales
and he has a black canery mini coming to.

busy man

[Azrael52]

Countdown, Black Canary, Legion . . . all books I'm gonna be pickin' up. I already get Legion, and I'm about to pee myself waiting on Countdown. Plus, Gail's got me hooked on Canary, and your backup story was pretty cool in 100 of BoP.

[thorionthei]

Did you feel 52 was a good jumping-on point? Seriously, I'm curious. Sometimes we get so steeped in this stuff that it's hard to step back and look at it objectively. I like the focus 52 has on certain lower-profile characters. COUNTDOWN has some of that going for it, too, but with more appearances by our top-tier heroes, too. I'm eager to see what you think.

Hey Tony while I'm enjoying 52 I don't think it's a good jumping point at all. Infact I thought they were doing it on purpose cause DC in the past was so complicated. Kind of like an Anti-Crisis thing...DC thinking they probably alienated nore old readers than they brought in new readers. I admit I always read Marvel cause as a kid DC comics was confusing. Earth1? Earth2? Superfriends? etc. But despite it being complicated it was their best stuff...I thought DC has gone back to being complicated. :)

[MatthewDiCarlo]

Tony,

Building on an issue from before, I was hoping you could clear something up for me.

From what I understand, the ongoing DC titles will be running alongside Countdown.

My first worry was in the aging of the characters, but really, that's not the end of the world. Part of DC's charm is in how its characters have aged to give three or four distinct generations all active at once.

I'm also not too worried about DC's delays as of late.

I'm a bit more apprehensive about the idea that the whole universe will be moving one month for every month of comics published. Is this the case? Because it is going to cause some real problems for the individual titles and character development if that's so. If one storyline in a comic (Let's say Robin) takes three months to come out and covers one or two days, story-wise, will the next issue be set 3 months later? Or will every issue have to cover a month. And if that's not the case, how can books tie in to Countdown, since they'll assuredly be months behind.

Or do I just understand how this is going to work wrongly?

Thanks.

[Joe Acro]

I have a related question to Matthew's. Is Countdown starting immediately after 52 (timeline-wise) or do events start around the same time as stories currently being published?

[Joe Acro]

I've noticed that Countdown, unlike 52, won't run the course of a year continuity-wise. So, what exactly is the timeline?

There were a couple of minor continuity problems in the issue you wrote. Killer Croc doesn't break away the same this week as last week, which I guess is understandable given the different artists and it being a weekly series. Also, I don't know of a time in Justice League of America where they locked up Karate Kid. Maybe this was done off-panel? And if so, around what part of the story?

It wasn't a bad issue, though.:)

[Crimson]

I have a related question to Matthew's. Is Countdown starting immediately after 52 (timeline-wise) or do events start around the same time as stories currently being published?

I'm not Tony but this has caused quiet a bit of confusing...

How it goes is Infinite Crisis, 52, One Year Later and then when Countdown starts is now.

So while Black Adam seems to have been missing all of a month, in reality about year has passed between 52 and Countdown.

Is that right Tony or am I way off?

[Crimson]

I think COUNTDOWN will touch upon so many farflung corners of the DCU that it will give you a good cross-section of the whole universe. As for it being a good jumping-on point, check it out and you tell me.

Did you feel 52 was a good jumping-on point? Seriously, I'm curious. Sometimes we get so steeped in this stuff that it's hard to step back and look at it objectively. I like the focus 52 has on certain lower-profile characters. COUNTDOWN has some of that going for it, too, but with more appearances by our top-tier heroes, too. I'm eager to see what you think.

Having got up to #43 I'm not sure if is a good jumping on point... I spent the first few weeks searching around review sites to find out who the people actually are as their names weren't spoken on the page.

I'm settled in now and I know who the core cast are so becomes alot easier to follow. Although I do have the odd problem with characters, for exampleCaptain Cold popped up suddenly with no explanation for who he was or where he came from.

There is also alot of time focusing on broader storylines where the core Countdown stories are far more interesting.

I'm enjoying it but I don't think I would recommend it to someone in my situation (Reading a handful of DC titles at the most) as you are being thrown into the deep end... it's alot of work to figure out what is going on.

I managed to get 52 though at a bargain price so I'll see how they match up.