COUNTDOWN 6 Spoilers!

[Sean Walsh]

Basically the entire issue is told from the perspective of Cadmus employee #769440580 - aka Buddy Blank.

So from the start, I take it this is an alternate Earth, 'cause I'm pretty sure the normal DCU versions of Buddy & son are still in Bludhaven.

Karate Kid is very much dead, and the whole issue is showing how - just by being on this Earth - the Morticoccus virus has managed to spread all over the planet.

It has an animalistic effect on humans, and vice versa ("dogs with hands" is actually said), so mankind is going to go insane and destroy everything and everyone around it. And every time the virus comes into contact with a person (slowly thru physical contact at first, but it's airborne in no time) it affects them, then changes its very DNA structure around and continues to spread. So an antidote is temporary at best, because the virus will just work its way around it.

The reason for the highly advanced state of being this virus had: because the Kid was from the future, and thus the virus has 1000 years of human evolution to work off of (in addition to using a human body well kept by advanced medicines and hospital care). So anything Ray Palmer and Cadmus can come up with is basically useless.

The Challengers are stuck in Cadmus, and (no surprise) slowly go stir crazy. The JLA also show up and also get grumpy. They've all got the antidote....but again, it just means they'll turn slower.

So at issue's end, Hal Jordan takes off into space...........basically taking the virus with him to spread all over the cosmos. Whoops.

And that's it. The whole issue from one person's perspective, almost entirely about the virus (with some other bits - like Dubbliex working on Jimmy Olsen, and Jason's retrieval from Gotham). And they try to work the "they say they're from this Earth, or from one similar" bit, but Buddy's very presence seems to indicate the Challengers did not end up on their Earth after all...

[Captain Smith]

Sounds really dumb. A GL could vaporize the virus except for PIS. 1000 years of human evolution is really meaningless if you know much about science.

Spreading it through the universe - full of highly advanced civilizations etc. - that would have to be FTL, etc.

The series is really ridiculous now. I dropped it.

[Raker616]

Good to see that with only 5 issues left DC has vastly improved Countdown from the lame mediorcre title it was when it first launched smh.

[Jack Zodiac]

Wait, so they're blaming the anthropomorphic animals from Kamandi on the virus in this world instead of the drugs that polluted the water? So the "Great Disaster" isn't that everyone on Earth dies, is that's every human being on Earth becomes animal-people and the animals become people-animals? Pfft!

Also, an entire issue done in first-person narration from a completely random character (yeah, I know, Buddy Blank's "important" to the Kamandi-verse and blah, blah, blah)? Fantastic! I guess if forty-six issues of the rest of the cast sucking hard wasn't grabbing people, do whateverthehell ya' want, right?

So, who was the villain back-up this issue?

[Hawkman]

I liked it. I thought the way they narrated the storyline through Buddy's internal exposition was sorta neat, if not anything revolutionary. I'm also anxious to read the next installment now, which isn't something Countdown has invoked very often in me, especially as of late.

However, my biggest qualm remains that clearly the series is not at all what I thought I was signing on for when it began. It's not horrid, but had I known this wouldn't be a true lead-in to Final Crisis, I sincerely doubt I would've spent my cash on it. In fact, I'm sure I wouldn't have.

EDIT: ^ Back-up was Faust. Wasn't anything too interesting.

[Jack Zodiac]

I liked it. I thought the way they narrated the storyline through Buddy's internal exposition was sorta neat, if not anything revolutionary.

Definitely not.

And Faust, you say? I should've flipped through it, but I was in a hurry. Who was the artist?

[Hawkman]

Written by Scott Beatty; art by Jesus Saiz.

[carabas]

1000 years of human evolution is really meaningless if you know much about science.The recap is sloppy. It's not 1000 years of biological evolution but 1000 years of technological advancements. Which, if you compare our tech level with even 20 years ago, is kinda huge.

[Jack Zodiac]

Written by Scott Beatty; art by Jesus Saiz.

Eh. Beatty's written all of the villain back-ups, right? But Jesus' art? Nah. Who was the issue artist?

[Hawkman]

Really putting me to work, eh, Jack.;)

Mike Norton did the pencils, with Palmiotti on inks. It was pretty bare, I'd say. Not bad, but... plain, which has been a problem that's plagued this series from the start, in my opinion.

[Jack Zodiac]

Aw, that's a shame, too. Norton does some excellent pencils. Palmiotti's a pretty decent inker, too. Must've been a rush job. Hey, thanks for doin' all my footwork, man. :p

[Rattlehead]

Yeesh. How does this fit into anything that the series started out with??? It's taken a very random turn. It really does seem like once Grant rightfully decided he didn't want anything to do with this, they just started cobbling it together however they saw fit. What a monstrous mistake, and I'll never touch a weekly series by DC.

[Hawkman]

Aw, that's a shame, too. Norton does some excellent pencils. Palmiotti's a pretty decent inker, too. Must've been a rush job. Hey, thanks for doin' all my footwork, man. :p
Heh, no problem, really. And yeah, I usually like both of these fellas' work, especially Palmiotti, but nothing jumps out at you here. The art's clean and tells the story without err, but the characters almost look unfinished and the backgrounds are pretty bare.

On another note, did anyone else find it kind of odd that Cadmus keeps a pinball machine on hand?

[Shan Bruce Lee]

Having the story narrated by a "new" character made the story feel almost disconnected from all of the main characters the series has been following. There were only a few parts where the Atom felt like a main character. Other than that it felt like a completely different series featuring a completely different character.

[TheCrisisKid]

I thought it was great, and definitely suspenseful. This virus is definitely becoming a big problem.

My gut tells me that the Atom is going to die in the end though.

[Sean Walsh]

I thought it was great, and definitely suspenseful. This virus is definitely becoming a big problem.

My gut tells me that the Atom is going to die in the end though.

It kinda read like Lovecraft in the slow progression of how f'd this planet was. Except without the high quality. :p

And Ray's going to live through to be part of Jim Robinson's JUSTICE LEAGUE series.

[EZMOHR]

I didn't mind it. I did however not like that they made Hal Jordan stupid enough to fly through the cosmos knowing there was a good shot he was infected. Wow, this Hal was dumb....dumber than most Hals'.

[Michael P]

The recap is sloppy. It's not 1000 years of biological evolution but 1000 years of technological advancements. Which, if you compare our tech level with even 20 years ago, is kinda huge.

That still makes no sense. Viruses just don't work like that.

[Ungenesis]

Not to beat a dead horse, but since when has Countdown made sense?

[JCAll]

Pros:
-Mary Marvel knocked the @#$% out of Jason Todd. Green Lantern did too. That's worth the price of admission right there.
-Cover. Man, I love the cover for this issue for some reason.
-Ambush Bug update on the back. Just gotta tough it out til July.

Cons:
-It's all gonna go away. The whole story doesn't matter. It's an alternate Universe, Dream, something and none of it matters.
-Buddy Who? Of all the random characters to pick...
-Twice just isn't enough to see Jason Todd get knocked the @#$% out :p

Really I never expected to see the virus story go this far, and it looks good, but knowing that it doesn't matter just makes the whole thing "Bleh". And shouldn't Jimmy be using his God Powers to help out rather than just chillin' with his bug chick?

[worstblogever]

I did like the hopeless tone of the issue. The way the world isn't apparently gonna go out with a bang, but with a whimper.

However, Morticoccus as a virus acts more like the 80s movie "The Thing" and "Dr. Moreau" than anything else. Explaining the virus got stronger in Karate Kid isn't as much about virology as it is bacteriology, from a science standpoint. Check it...

*********************************
There's Staphylococcus aureus, the bacterium that causes Staph infections, right? Well, as medical science has developed antibiotics, strains of S. aureus have developed innate resistance to them because their life span to evolve (bacterium go through generations in hours, not 25 years like people) and survive in spite of these antibiotics. One such strand is MRSA, or Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus, which has learned to overcome treatment with most broad spectrum antibiotics. Hell, S. Aureus strands have been shown within a few years to develop resistance to antibiotics just created in labs but a few months or years earlier.

Our writers may be trying to apply a similar concept to a virus in Karate Kid, who has nanomites in his blood to treat disease... Morticoccus is supposed to be practically self-aware, right? It evolves freakishly fast. Well, if Karate Kid has medical nanomites in his blood, and Morticoccus has already learned to overcome 31st century medical treatments, what hope do 21st century medical treatments have? The virus is already a step ahead of them. And since its sentient, it knows it can lay dormant to be spread in carriers until going for a full blown outbreak.
****************************************

Now, I'm not gonna tell you that this all is clear based off the story we got to read in Countdown #6. I've lambasted this series a lot over its first like... 44 issues. I can't lie and say that this whole thing isn't a HUGE, HUGE reach, and they made the Green Lanterns into morons (especially since GL rings beat Despotellis, the sentient Yellow Lantern virus like what, 2 months back?). But I'll give this story credit for being unnerving as hell, and a lot better that some of the dreck we've seen in this saga.

It is still well short of the majority of 52, however. I gotta admit that. It's about the best anyone can do to create the world of Kamandi, I imagine.

[Spiffy]

This whole thing seemed to really go heavy on the "superheroes cause the destruction of mankind, er... I mean the whole universe" aspect.

I mean I was already balking a few issues ago with the whole "Wahhhhh! He's my boyfriend and you have to bring him back to Earth to cure him" nonsense, followed by all the "We can't just let him die" followed by "we can't kill him" and all that other junk.

It's like we are supposed to accept levels of stupidity piled on top of each other.

I wonder if this is supposed to lead to a DC version of Civil War. Do we suppose the powers that be are going to be very happy with these "heroes" after they brought this about?

And the "1000 years of biological evolution" IS pretty bad writing. But all they REALLY had to do to cleam this up was to disclose that somewhere midway nanotechnology was introduced into the human body and evolutionary jumps were accelerated a million times because of that. But they didn't bother.

Anyway, I wonder, are we supposed to be assuming that Una was completely OMAC free when she went into that whinefest to save her boyfriend? Because I have to tell you, traveling back in time to infect mankind out of existence sounds an awful lot like a pretty well delivered OMAC plot.

[worstblogever]

Anyway, I wonder, are we supposed to be assuming that Una was completely OMAC free when she went into that whinefest to save her boyfriend? Because I have to tell you, traveling back in time to infect mankind out of existence sounds an awful lot like a pretty well delivered OMAC plot.

Now that... would be an awesome, wicked evil thing for Brother Eye to do. Kudos for the idea.

[carabas]

And the "1000 years of biological evolution" IS pretty bad writing. But all they REALLY had to do to cleam this up was to disclose that somewhere midway nanotechnology was introduced into the human body and evolutionary jumps were accelerated a million times because of that.I hate to defend Countdown, but that is pretty much what they do. And the only place that speaks of any sort of biological evolution seems to be this thread's first post.

Of course, real-life viruses and bacteria do evolve at a rate far quicker than higher organisms, to the point that they develop immunities to cures that were invented less than a decade ago.

[worstblogever]

And while I might not be the biggest fan of the series, there's an awesome symbolism I just kinda had click in my head.

There’s four Horsemen parallels in Countdown, now. No, really. While usually, Death, War, Famine, and Pestilence are regarded as the Four Horsemen, some believe biblically it’s actually War, CONQUEST (some interpretations are strife), Pestilence (which gets famine lumped in with it), and Death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse

Let’s go with those four, and see who’s who?

Conquest: Monarch. I mean, he built an army, right? Wanted to conquer the whole Multiverse, and he destroyed Earth-51.
Pestilence: Morticoccus, duh. He’s destroying Earth-Whatever-Was-Featured-This-Week
War: Superman-Prime. He’s seriously one pissed off warrior, and he raged and blew up all of Earth-15. He’s been warring against anything he doesn’t see as his “perfect Earth”, too, and been part of a war (Sinestro War, of course). He’s my pick.
Death: Well, we don’t have one yet. But by Death of the New Gods, and the last four weeks of Countdown, I’m thinking we have Darkseid to look at.


Maybe it's just me, though.

[Gloom Cookie]

This series has me wondering if this was all planned out beforehand or if they're just making it up as they go along now.

[ShaggyB]

got to be making it up as they go, otherwise death of the new gods is cheapened along with sinestro corps war. Countdown hasnt really counted down to anything that i can see. no cirsis is being set up outside this virus.

[worstblogever]

got to be making it up as they go, otherwise death of the new gods is cheapened along with sinestro corps war. Countdown hasnt really counted down to anything that i can see. no cirsis is being set up outside this virus.

Well, and Darkseid collecting uber-power from Jimmy Olsen, his receptacle.

Just don't ask how he stuffed all that power in there.

[David Atkins]

Anybody else want a 'Resistance: Fall of DC' game now? :p

[titanfan]

Also, an entire issue done in first-person narration from a completely random character (yeah, I know, Buddy Blank's "important" to the Kamandi-verse and blah, blah, blah)? Fantastic! I guess if forty-six issues of the rest of the cast sucking hard wasn't grabbing people, do whateverthehell ya' want, right?

Yeah, once I realized it was a random character, I was like "WTF?!?!?" too. Horrible decision choice.

Where is the cute Green Lantern Chicken Pox Virus thing when you need him?

[Michael P]

Well, and Darkseid collecting uber-power from Jimmy Olsen, his receptacle.


That sounds very dirty.

[worstblogever]

That sounds very dirty.

Hey, don't blame me because Darkseid's a kinky freak. :D

[garin]

How did the virus escape and turn Gotham into a flaming ruin before anyone at Cadmus even developed symptoms?

[Phoney Bone]

Countdown hasnt really counted down to anything that i can see. no cirsis is being set up outside this virus.

Sure it is.

Morrison has stated several times that Kamandi will be part of Final Crisis. You can't have Kamandi in the story without Kamandi's world.

[Zeal]

I must admit, I find the story taking a turn for the worse. As others have mentioned, it feels disconnected from the Countdown arc and more like an entirely new story. I'm hoping they're able to merge this successfully with thew death of the New Gods, the monitors, the Presence, etc. It just seems seems completely out of left field.

And where the HELL is Superman Prime?! He has been missing for, what, over a month now?

[Sean Walsh]

And where the HELL is Superman Prime?! He has been missing for, what, over a month now?

.....isn't there a chance the poor bugger is finally dead? ;) :p

[Angelo2113]

I must admit, I find the story taking a turn for the worse. As others have mentioned, it feels disconnected from the Countdown arc and more like an entirely new story. I'm hoping they're able to merge this successfully with thew death of the New Gods, the monitors, the Presence, etc. It just seems seems completely out of left field.

And where the HELL is Superman Prime?! He has been missing for, what, over a month now?

I hope they're going to have him in Final Crisis, he really should be since he was in Crisis on Infinite Earths and he had a major role in Infinite Crisis. Im sure in Countdown they'll explain what happened with him and Monarch, unless they're going to have a seperate series for that.

[Emperor Time]

I hope they're going to have him in Final Crisis, he really should be since he was in Crisis on Infinite Earths and he had a major role in Infinite Crisis. Im sure in Countdown they'll explain what happened with him and Monarch, unless they're going to have a seperate series for that.

I agree completely. :D

[DeadXMan]

Why the hell is that earth's Hal Jordan an idiot?

he dose know that the ring can comunicate faster then he can fly. Now he's gone and doomed his universe.

[botch]

That still makes no sense. Viruses just don't work like that.

It's a comic book about a virus that mutates people into animals. Maybe you should stick to reading a newspaper.

[botch]

That still makes no sense. Viruses just don't work like that.

It's a comic book about a virus that mutates people into animals. Maybe you should stick to reading a newspaper.

[botch]

Pros:
-Mary Marvel knocked the @#$% out of Jason Todd. Green Lantern did too. That's worth the price of admission right there.
-Cover. Man, I love the cover for this issue for some reason.
-Ambush Bug update on the back. Just gotta tough it out til July.

Cons:
-It's all gonna go away. The whole story doesn't matter. It's an alternate Universe, Dream, something and none of it matters.
-Buddy Who? Of all the random characters to pick...
-Twice just isn't enough to see Jason Todd get knocked the @#$% out :p

Really I never expected to see the virus story go this far, and it looks good, but knowing that it doesn't matter just makes the whole thing "Bleh". And shouldn't Jimmy be using his God Powers to help out rather than just chillin' with his bug chick?

uhhh choosing Buddy Blank wasn't so random.

[botch]

I did like the hopeless tone of the issue. The way the world isn't apparently gonna go out with a bang, but with a whimper.

However, Morticoccus as a virus acts more like the 80s movie "The Thing" and "Dr. Moreau" than anything else. Explaining the virus got stronger in Karate Kid isn't as much about virology as it is bacteriology, from a science standpoint. Check it...

*********************************
There's Staphylococcus aureus, the bacterium that causes Staph infections, right? Well, as medical science has developed antibiotics, strains of S. aureus have developed innate resistance to them because their life span to evolve (bacterium go through generations in hours, not 25 years like people) and survive in spite of these antibiotics. One such strand is MRSA, or Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus, which has learned to overcome treatment with most broad spectrum antibiotics. Hell, S. Aureus strands have been shown within a few years to develop resistance to antibiotics just created in labs but a few months or years earlier.

Our writers may be trying to apply a similar concept to a virus in Karate Kid, who has nanomites in his blood to treat disease... Morticoccus is supposed to be practically self-aware, right? It evolves freakishly fast. Well, if Karate Kid has medical nanomites in his blood, and Morticoccus has already learned to overcome 31st century medical treatments, what hope do 21st century medical treatments have? The virus is already a step ahead of them. And since its sentient, it knows it can lay dormant to be spread in carriers until going for a full blown outbreak.
****************************************

Now, I'm not gonna tell you that this all is clear based off the story we got to read in Countdown #6. I've lambasted this series a lot over its first like... 44 issues. I can't lie and say that this whole thing isn't a HUGE, HUGE reach, and they made the Green Lanterns into morons (especially since GL rings beat Despotellis, the sentient Yellow Lantern virus like what, 2 months back?). But I'll give this story credit for being unnerving as hell, and a lot better that some of the dreck we've seen in this saga.

It is still well short of the majority of 52, however. I gotta admit that. It's about the best anyone can do to create the world of Kamandi, I imagine.

GL rings didn't beat Despotellis. A GL did. Guy got infected remember.

[worstblogever]

GL rings didn't beat Despotellis. A GL did. Guy got infected remember.

Yeah... but the GL who beat him is the GL smallpox. He's a lantern, he's got a ring. Why can't any other Lantern do the same?

[Laminator_X]

uhhh choosing Buddy Blank wasn't so random.
I'm still hoping against hope for some Kirby/Byrne-style One Man Army Corps whoopass, hopefully also dealing with any lingering Brother Eye problems.

[Choppa]

Sure it is.

Morrison has stated several times that Kamandi will be part of Final Crisis. You can't have Kamandi in the story without Kamandi's world.

CD isn't counting down to FC anymore.

.....isn't there a chance the poor bugger is finally dead? ;) :p

Nah, Johns is writing a post-FC story about him.

[JCAll]

uhhh choosing Buddy Blank wasn't so random.

Well, it sure as hell was till I decided to look up an obscure Jack Kirby comic from a decade before I was born.

[Angelo2113]

I hope Countdown is going to tie everything up from Death of the New Gods and Salvation Run to be ready for Final Crisis

[the4thpip]

CD isn't counting down to FC anymore.




Are they changing the title again then? Maybe to "Countdown to bugger all"?

[Phoney Bone]

CD isn't counting down to FC anymore.

Morrison has stated that he is using Kamandi, the birth of the Fifth World New Gods, the 52 universes, and Mary Marvel in "Final Crisis".

That would make it a continuation.

[Choppa]

Morrison has stated that he is using Kamandi, the birth of the Fifth World New Gods, the 52 universes, and Mary Marvel in "Final Crisis".

That would make it a continuation.

A continuation isn't the same thing as a conclusion. Didio said that CD is counting to issue #0 and to the DCU book. It's not going to go right into FC.

[mdg1]

Of course, Morrison is also using the New Gods...

[Shellhead]

Are they changing the title again then? Maybe to "Countdown to bugger all"?

"Countdown to Zero Sales" or at least "Countdown to Cancellation."

[Sean Walsh]

"Countdown to Another Weekly Series," most likely. :p

Or perhaps, "Countdown to A Non-Ending."

[LtMarvel]

Countdown is still one of DC's top sellers! I wish my favorite titles would put up Countdown numbers!

[Shellhead]

Countdown is still one of DC's top sellers!

That's scary! Maybe Grant Morrison actually worked out the Anti-Life Equation, and DC is using it to sell large numbers of really crappy comic bookrs.

[Sean Walsh]

That's scary! Maybe Grant Morrison actually worked out the Anti-Life Equation, and DC is using it to sell large numbers of really crappy comic bookrs.

If he's got the ALE, he sure is using it in strange manners that aren't necessarily resulting in great profits and sales for DC Comics.

.....unless these HIGH Marvel sales are about to take a tumble into the company's bankruptcy. ;) :p

[carabas]

If he's got the ALE, he sure is using it in strange mannersExtensive use of ale usually causes strange manners, as well as occasional loud singing, fighting and/or pregnancy.