Destroying Earths

[Sandy Hausler]

I don't get it. DC has just restored the multi-verse and the first thing they do is have one of the Earths destroyed by Superman Prime? Does that seem wrong or is it just me?

Sandy Hausler

[ShaggyB]

I don't get it. DC has just restored the multi-verse and the first thing they do is have one of the Earths destroyed by Superman Prime? Does that seem wrong or is it just me?

Sandy Hausler

nah that was bad ass. Zod got pwn'd, so did the jla for that world. If you notice hes just a few behind Bob and his crew. Plus i think at the end of this there wont be 52 earths just 5 - 10 or so if any.

[the4thpip]

If you look closely, you will notice that particular Earth had been wearing a red shirt since the end of 52.

[thehod]

Also remember that its only that universes Earth that has been destroyed, not the whole universe itself, so there is still a Mars-15, a Rann-15, a Thanager-15 etc, etc.

[Captain Mobra]

I sort of like that idea. That this one universe has no Earth, seems like you could spin alot of stories with that. I'm sure they won't, but hey I can dream.

[Jack Zodiac]

nah that was bad ass. Zod got pwn'd, so did the jla for that world. If you notice hes just a few behind Bob and his crew. Plus i think at the end of this there wont be 52 earths just 5 - 10 or so if any.

Nah. I think we're goin' back to infinity after all of this.

Meanwhile, Superchump-Prime destroying a planet was as far from bad ass as it gets, especially while he's making lame ass jokes while doing it. It almost read like they were making fun of the character while perpetuating the things they're making fun of.

[QuietRiver]

I seem to remember one of the Monitors saying that if even one of the 52 Earths was destroyed, the entire Multiverse would collapse in on itself and be destroyed. So with Prime destroying that one... everyone should more or less be doomed... what the hell?

[Jack Zodiac]

No, I think it's just New Earth. If New Earth is destroyed, the entire multiverse is destroyed.

[Choppa]

Feels like deja vu the way the Anti-Monitor was destroying Earths as a lead up to the original crisis. Intentional perhaps?

[Shellhead]

Feels like deja vu the way the Anti-Monitor was destroying Earths as a lead up to the original crisis. Intentional perhaps?

Definitely intentional. Homage or rip-off? Depends on if the resulting story is any good.

[Ian J.N.]

I don't get it. DC has just restored the multi-verse and the first thing they do is have one of the Earths destroyed by Superman Prime? Does that seem wrong or is it just me?
The multiverse can be used as an avenue for world-building, or as an endless supply of canon-fodder. It seems that DC has opted for the latter, which I find disappointing. A Utopian Earth of "heroes realized" is an interesting premise to explore. The Jokester, likewise, was an interesting new character. I would've liked to have seen more.

[Shellhead]

I actually was expecting DC to destroy an Earth in every issue of Countdown, until issue #0, which would end on a cliffhanger leading into Final Crisis.

[Slaughter]

I think that there is no place for a perfect earth in the DC Universe.

But I liked the idea of The Jokester. Pity they killed him, I would've loved a history with him and the other heroic chaps at Earth-3. Can't wait until the Justice Society of America battles the Crime Society of America. Total kickass awesomeness.

[drwho]

Oh Come on.We all know what will happen here. DC will end up destroying all 51 earths leaving just one DC earth and make 52 completely not matter. No stories last these days. :D

[ShaggyB]

Meanwhile, Superchump-Prime destroying a planet was as far from bad ass as it gets, especially while he's making lame ass jokes while doing it. It almost read like they were making fun of the character while perpetuating the things they're making fun of.

Sorry to disagree but when a character/ person talks crap to you while kicking the hell out of you it means they are tuffer than you. ie a bad ass. If Superman Prime is making "lame ass jokes" while destroying the jla and the entire planet earth of that universe then that means to him they dont even matter enough for him to care what hes saying.

Sorry if you dont like him but that does make him a bad ass when compared to any hero or villain on that Earth

[MythicBrawn]

I'm surprised that Batman of that Earth didn't take Superman-Prime down. Batman is supposed to be the be-all, end-all defeater of everyone in the DCU. So, why is Superman-Prime still a threat? Unless, it's the mainline DCU (whichever universe that is) Batman that is supposed to be able to beat everyone. I guess someone will say that Earth's Batman didn't have time to prepare. But, that wouldn't be right because Batman always plans for everything.

[ShaggyB]

I'm surprised that Batman of that Earth didn't take Superman-Prime down. Batman is supposed to be the be-all, end-all defeater of everyone in the DCU. So, why is Superman-Prime still a threat? Unless, it's the mainline DCU (whichever universe that is) Batman that is supposed to be able to beat everyone. I guess someone will say that Earth's Batman didn't have time to prepare. But, that wouldn't be right because Batman always plans for everything.

not the rumble threads yo. And Batman cant beat Superman Prime, his weakness is in a universe that no longer exists. Hes pre COIE. His power breaks the charts that are currently avaliable to dcu characters. Thats why hes the threat he is and why alot of people on the board hate him.

[blackphoenix]

No, I think it's just New Earth. If New Earth is destroyed, the entire multiverse is destroyed.


Personally, I would like to see New Earth destroyed and have us go back to having adventures between the various earths. New Earth has become too dark, complicated, and stupid. It needs to die. If anything, that would forestall Crisis 4 for another few years.

[4thHorseman]

was I the only one bothered that the only thing to really make Prime show any ounce of pain was a missile fired by Batman on Earth-15?

[Mr.50]

Am I the only one bothered by the fact that Prime hates everyone (all the heros from any Earth in the DCU), and he just destroyed one Earth, so why would he not just destroy all 52 different Earths in the different universes and be done with all the heros? I mean if he can just destroy one Earth like that why not destroy them all and be done with it?

Mr.50

[Xero]

It makes sense to destroy them if the 52 are only placeholders.

[Captain Smith]

I think most will be destroyed, if not all. KC Supes says his planet is destroyed. In Arena, other one bites the dust. Prime destroyed one.

I'd betcha that we are not going to see multiple JSAs or Marvels or weird GLs floating around that have nothing to do with the Guardians. The origins of the other GLs seem to be pulled out their butt.

A big burn down to one Earth again. Monarch said they all shadows of reality - doesn't sound to stable to me.

It's a shame as some good characters are getting killed. Those Bats in the Arena that got killed were worth keeping.

I think that the 52/Countdown ploy really isn't going anywhere good. Kind of jumped the shark for me this week.

[Iroquois]

Allegedly Earth-22 wasn't destroyed, Superman was just pulled out of it after the nuclear blast, thinking everyone died. I think it was Johns who said that Superman will be returned to that precise moment of his departure to continue the story of "Kingdom Come" as we know it.

I expect them to destroy most Earths, or pull some kind of stunt and just leave the number of parallel universes unknown. Destroying the Multiverse again, though possible, would be completely stupid after all the trouble they went through re-establishing it.

I'll concur with the comment about getting rid of this New Earth. During IC, I didn't want another reboot, but after the mess that followed it, get rid of them all. Reboot again and stick to something consistent and coherent.

[Shellhead]

Am I the only one bothered by the fact that Prime hates everyone (all the heros from any Earth in the DCU), and he just destroyed one Earth, so why would he not just destroy all 52 different Earths in the different universes and be done with all the heros? I mean if he can just destroy one Earth like that why not destroy them all and be done with it?

Mr.50

In comic books, lazy writers often take shortcuts with the characterization of villains by defining them as "crazy." Why did Superboy Prime do this and not that? He's crazy, that's why! Sure, some villains can be crazy. But it should be done sparingly, and with a more realistic treatment than "He's ca-razy!"

[IamtheRock3]

well arena deffintly doing away with some earth

I mean gotham by gaslight without batman, pretty pointless aint it

[Mulett]

I know 52 seems a lot, but the Countdown team do seem to be getting through them very quickly. Not just in terms of destroying Earths, but in terms of representing what/who is on each Earth.

Very little seems to be getting done in terms of really creative thinking/writing. It's like 'On this earth let's make Jason Todd Batman' or 'On this Earth, let's give Black Canary a red costume'. It is not exactly exciting stuff and seems a little facile.

They seem to be killing off an awful lot of characters quite randomly too. I'm just not sure how much room they will have to explore other really interesting Earths in future years.

Also, is there an Earth-1 or is 'new Earth' Earth-1 with the first numbered earth being Earth-2?

[Mr.50]

I know 52 seems a lot, but the Countdown team do seem to be getting through them very quickly. Not just in terms of destroying Earths, but in terms of representing what/who is on each Earth.

Very little seems to be getting done in terms of really creative thinking/writing. It's like 'On this earth let's make Jason Todd Batman' or 'On this Earth, let's give Black Canary a red costume'. It is not exactly exciting stuff and seems a little facile.

They seem to be killing off an awful lot of characters quite randomly too. I'm just not sure how much room they will have to explore other really interesting Earths in future years.

Also, is there an Earth-1 or is 'new Earth' Earth-1 with the first numbered earth being Earth-2?


New Earth is New Earth and Earth-2 is Earth-2. So far we don't know if there is an Earth-1 out there but there has been much speculation that the Superman of Earth-1 (Silver/Pre-Crisis Superman) will appear and because he has pre-crisis Kryptonian power levels he will basically kick all the bad guys asses! Of course he did not do that during COIE so I am not sure why he could do it now......

Mr.50

[The Joker]

Some people/characters are simply never satisfied.

Superman-Prime is one of these.

I mean, seriously. The guy goes on and on about finding "The Perfect Earth" with Alex in Infinite Crisis. Falls short of that, and "New Earth" is created. Prime isnt satisfied with the results ("I dont like this Earth!"), and decides to make an attempt to kill everyone. Is eventually stopped. Imprisoned. Released. Joins Sinestro Corps. Becomes Superman-Prime. Discovers that there really is a Multiverse that's been created. Finds Earth-15, a world of heroes realized, and probably the most perfect earth Prime would ever find.

And then promptly destroys it?

Due to it being .... boring?

*sigh*

It's no wonder why so many despise the guy. And no matter how much I enjoy the character, mainly due to his Pre-Crisis ties, I can certainly see why a majority of the folks on message boards hate the guy. I mean, the bloke has done some dastardly deeds. :D

[lonewolf23k]

I'm starting to think DC's introduced the 52 merely as a prelude for Final Crisis, in which they'll destroy ALL the Earths, only to build a new one out of it's pieces, essentially rebooting the DCU.

That's my theory, at least so far.

[Froggy]

I'm starting to think DC's introduced the 52 merely as a prelude for Final Crisis, in which they'll destroy ALL the Earths, only to build a new one out of it's pieces, essentially rebooting the DCU.

That's my theory, at least so far.

COIE redux minsus teh problems

[fightgar]

I don't get it. DC has just restored the multi-verse and the first thing they do is have one of the Earths destroyed by Superman Prime? Does that seem wrong or is it just me?

Sandy Hausler

it kind bugged me cuz i kinda started to like that earth....but he only destroyed the earth in the univrse...not the whole thing....theres still an chance that there are other heroes or even another GLC in the universe that survived and werent on the planet

[Lord Trigon]

what do you mean new earth being dark. that was the problem with earth one.

I remember reading some kinda mind game where earth one superman and earth two superman switched earth and in the end earth one was destroied because it was trying to kill it's self.

are you saying new earth is worse?

[Sijo]

It's not that New Earth is bad; it's DC's attitude of late. They have embraced Death as a solution to everything. Comic not selling? Kill characters in it! Character needs to be "badass?" Have him kill lots of people! Supporting character needs to go? Kill it! (see: Catwoman's baby) Still not selling? Cancel it but kill the main character! (see Impulse/Flash). Heck, 52 was mainly about various deaths, up to and including a literal rain of dead heroes, just because Luthor felt like it. Characters are even created nowadays just to kill them off, sometimes in the same issue. There's just no respect for characters anymore (or their fans.) They even dragged the first Superman out of his well-deserved retirement just to kill him off- brutally. Why? It's like DC is being written by Horror Movie fans these days. Forget rebooting their Universe, what they need to do is lose DiDio and his cohorts and put some people who respect DC's heritage in their places.

[Paul Newell]

It's not that New Earth is bad; it's DC's attitude of late. They have embraced Death as a solution to everything. Comic not selling? Kill characters in it! Character needs to be "badass?" Have him kill lots of people! Supporting character needs to go? Kill it! (see: Catwoman's baby) Still not selling? Cancel it but kill the main character! (see Impulse/Flash). Heck, 52 was mainly about various deaths, up to and including a literal rain of dead heroes, just because Luthor felt like it. Characters are even created nowadays just to kill them off, sometimes in the same issue. There's just no respect for characters anymore (or their fans.) They even dragged the first Superman out of his well-deserved retirement just to kill him off- brutally. Why? It's like DC is being written by Horror Movie fans these days. Forget rebooting their Universe, what they need to do is lose DiDio and his cohorts and put some people who respect DC's heritage in their places.
Unfortunately heritage doesn't sell....Death does.

[the4thpip]

Unfortunately heritage doesn't sell....Death does.

Justice Society currently sells better than ever before, and mostly focuses on heritage.

[Sijo]

Unfortunately heritage doesn't sell....Death does.
I would almost believe that, except DC's biggest rival, Marvel, has nowhere near the same level of carnage (outside books like Marvel Zombies or Punisher, where such stuff is a given) and seems to be selling pretty well. In fact, they have the opposite problem, they have resurrected so many characters nobody takes things like Captain America's death seriously. :rolleyes:

[Rik Sunn]

Sorry to disagree but when a character/ person talks crap to you while kicking the hell out of you it means they are tuffer than you. ie a bad ass. If Superman Prime is making "lame ass jokes" while destroying the jla and the entire planet earth of that universe then that means to him they dont even matter enough for him to care what hes saying.

Sorry if you dont like him but that does make him a bad ass when compared to any hero or villain on that Earth

Nope, it makes the writing on this book weak. There's nothing quite like introducing new characters just to kill them off, in an effort to show how "tough" your character is. There's way too much of it going on lately; it used to be "pick third- and fourth-string Titans from a hundred years ago to do it with," but now that we have a Multiverse, I think it's like, "We can make him really tough by showing how he can chump a Batman."

But it's NOT Batman. It's just another Titan-lite.

[Rik Sunn]

I would almost believe that, except DC's biggest rival, Marvel, has nowhere near the same level of carnage (outside books like Marvel Zombies or Punisher, where such stuff is a given) and seems to be selling pretty well. In fact, they have the opposite problem, they have resurrected so many characters nobody takes things like Captain America's death seriously. :rolleyes:

Marvel has just about as much death and destruction as DC, and there have been long periods of time in the relatively recent past where they actually had more. Bringing folks back isn't Marvel's exclusive domain, DC does it too.

[Shellhead]

Justice Society currently sells better than ever before, and mostly focuses on heritage.

The opening arc featured a bloodbath at a family reunion and hero who was practically created to be killed having his body thrown threw a skylight on to the JSA conference table. Recent issues of JSA involve a subplot about strange villain corpses being found.

[Iroquois]

I don't mind massacres and bloodbaths in the books, as long as they make sense and aren't there purely for shock value. If the world's gritty, then I'll read about the bloodbath and I'll see the heroes standing above it all, like examples.

What I won't take is what Sijo mentioned. Heroes killing to become edgy and "relatable" and heroes being killed just to make a book shocking enough to guarantee sales.

Any Universe/Earth is defined by its heroes. And that's why this New Earth is just a hell.

[Interro]

Supporting character needs to go? Kill it! (see: Catwoman's baby)

I'm not certain why you're passing judgment on books you clearly haven't read. Catwoman's baby, Helena, wasn't killed; she was given up for adoption. Standard fare for characters who want to keep their children from their lives.

Heroes killing to become edgy and "relatable"
Where is this occurring?

[xnef1025]

I think the reason they are so cavalier about destroying an Earth(or most of a country like in Arena) is because New Earth will be saved and stay the same, but the multiverse will be semi-rebooted back to its infinite-ness. Any worlds that were damaged or destoryed or lost their major players due to Prime or Monarch, will be restored thanks to the reestablishment of infinite possiblities instead of the limited 52.

[HotRod_Tim]

I really hope that DC neither limits the number of Earths to one nor go back to infinite earths. I just want them to set how their "alternate" universes are going to work and keep it that way. Stop changing it every other year.

[Sijo]

Marvel has just about as much death and destruction as DC, and there have been long periods of time in the relatively recent past where they actually had more. Bringing folks back isn't Marvel's exclusive domain, DC does it too. No, there's no comparison, at least not in recent years. Remember the big scandal when Marvel killed off Goliath and the New Warriors in Civil War? There has not been a *single* major crossover from DC since Identity Crisis that hasn't featured massive or pointless deaths. Heck, they're killing off characters almost weekly in Countdown and their latest attempt to revive the New Gods franchise is "The Death of the New Gods."

I'm not certain why you're passing judgment on books you clearly haven't read. Catwoman's baby, Helena, wasn't killed; she was given up for adoption. Standard fare for characters who want to keep their children from their lives
Because I stopped reading DC comics after 52 and swore not to buy any more until this blasted obsession with death is over, that's why. The thing is, I *still* love these characters and I try to keep up by reading online reviews (otherwise how am I going to know when things get better?) About Catwoman, I read somewhere the baby had been killed but that could have been a misreport. Since Catwoman is no major title I can see that happening, but stuff like Countdown is too widely reported on to be wrong. Also, I heard the Women in Refrigerators people got wind of it, so maybe DC changed their mind at the last minute. Maybe baby killing isn't up their alley. Yet. Cannibalism seems to be, however... :evilangry

[Captain Smith]

The idea of going back to just one Earth after all the fuss, is kind of silly.

There are alternate stories lines that have literary interest. Like Gotham or Vampy Bats. Red Rain, KC and the Nail were good stories.

So they will get done, again, as Elsewheres, then folks want them to meet. Hypertime was a failed way to do it. Marvel just buys into alternates with things like Exiles but keeps the stories in 616 or the Ultimates. If a 616 story gets out of control, like King Thor - it becomes a branch.

I agree that having a set of old fashioned Marvels and 'our' Bilzam is silly. Esp. if you kill off the Marvels. Resurrect Kal-L and ship him and PG to E-2.

I was always PO'ed at killing the original Kal-L and not even getting rid of Prime. If both went down - I could understand but it looks like we got Prime around forever.