COUNTDOWN TO ADVENTURE #1 (of 8)

**MattBrady** · 08-23-2007, 07:45 AM

DC Comics has provided Newsarama with a preview of Countdown to Adventure #1 (of 8), due in stores next week.

Back in May, we spoke with DC’s Dan DiDio about the miniseries, and the threads it picks up from 52 which sends the “space heroes” (Adam Strange, Animal Man and Starfire) back into space, he said:

“There were certain threads that were left with the team itself,” Didio said. “What happens is that we find out a little bit about Adam Strange’s adventures on Rann, and ultimately some of the troubles that he finds there will cause him to pull back his old friends, Starfire and Animal Man to help him with a returning menace in outer space.”

And would that returning menace share a name with a fabulous rock band whose hits spanned the ‘70s and ‘80s?

“Yes – the menace is from Boston,” Didio laughed. “But more seriously, there’s a good chance of that, yes.”

We were referring to, of course, Lady Styx.

Each issue of the miniseries will also feature a Forerunner story, picking up her storyline from Countdown.

The solicitation for the issue reads:

Written by Adam Beechen and Justin Gray; Art by Eddy Barrows, Fabrizio Fiorentino and Julio Ferreira; Cover by Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert

Flying out of the pages of 52, it's Adam Strange, Starfire and Animal Man in an explosive new series! Now that they've returned to their respective homes, where do they go from here? Find out what the future holds for these heroes in the DCU!

And in the 8-page backup, from the pages of COUNTDOWN, it's a tale of Forerunner! Find out more about this awesome new character and her relationship with the Monitors.

DC Universe | 48pg. | Color | $3.99 US

Disco Cookie · 08-23-2007, 08:17 AM

Thanks very much - I'm having that! Will be great to see Starfire and A-man back in action too. Not so taken with Forerunner yet though happy to give her a chance.

Lady Styx is one thing but the universe ought to fear the new menace out to destroy the multiverse - REO Speedwagon!

And pardon my dirty mind but whew, Adam Strange - great butt...who knew?

BubbaKanoosh · 08-23-2007, 08:18 AM

Glad to see Animal Man is back.

NightRiver · 08-23-2007, 08:36 AM

Willing to try this, but im leary after getting burned with Countdown.

ElijahSnowFan · 08-23-2007, 08:41 AM

preview art, dialogue seems ok...

i liked the grouping of these three characters in 52...

yet, have tremendous dislike for Forerunner and Countdown, so much so that i dropped the series weeks and weeks ago.

wow. this is a tough, tough call.

AnthonyL · 08-23-2007, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NightRiver

Willing to try this, but im leary after getting burned with Countdown.

I'm taking the route of "if it's spin off of 52, more so than Countdown, it'll probably be good"

For instance, Booster Gold by most of what I've read was a great 1st issue. I picked up Black Adam, and it has me intrigued.

Sure, that's just two examples, but I think situations and characters of 52 were more well accepted by fans, and they want to have more.

Countdown? Well, if it bothers you, just pick this up and don't read the Forerunner back up

Anthony L

Grievous · 08-23-2007, 09:00 AM

preview looks good, im sold.

Grievous · 08-23-2007, 09:02 AM

by the way, adam strange looks awesome sauce

NeroMan · 08-23-2007, 09:12 AM

I'm gonna pick up this manga because it stars my new favorite character, Forerunner!
Or as we call her over at Gaia Online, "4chan"
She's kawaii.

Zenstrive · 08-23-2007, 09:18 AM

Looks good. Wonder if this is Countdown to Adventure (of rescuing Champ) ?

NightRiver · 08-23-2007, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnthonyL

Countdown? Well, if it bothers you, just pick this up and don't read the Forerunner back up

Thats an idea. I really like Adam Strange so i feel its a must purchase because of that. So I will give it a try.

SpyGuy · 08-23-2007, 09:38 AM

I'm really hoping this mini-series actually does "count down" to the return of ADVENTURE COMICS as an anthology series featuring Animal Man and Adam Strange. Preferably written by someone other than Adam Beechen, though.

ElijahSnowFan · 08-23-2007, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnthonyL

Countdown? Well, if it bothers you, just pick this up and don't read the Forerunner back up

see, that's the thing. i don't want anybody in DC's sales department to think that one cent of what i'd be paying for the book would be an endorsement of that lame-ass character.

that's what makes this tough. i find that character so lame, and the Countdown series so bland and uninteresting, it's just a tough pill to swallow that somebody might even think that my purchase is an endorsement of that part of the book. when in reality, nothing could be further from the truth; i'd be picking it up for Adam Strange, mostly.

POWRSURG · 08-23-2007, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnthonyL

I'm taking the route of "if it's spin off of 52, more so than Countdown, it'll probably be good"

For instance, Booster Gold by most of what I've read was a great 1st issue. I picked up Black Adam, and it has me intrigued.

Sure, that's just two examples, but I think situations and characters of 52 were more well accepted by fans, and they want to have more.

Countdown? Well, if it bothers you, just pick this up and don't read the Forerunner back up

Anthony L

Wow, I can't believe how much I disagree with this post. I clicked this article hoping to find out how related this was to Countdown (which I feel is a much better story than 52). For me the the space stories was one of the more boring stories in 52 so I needed something i n this article to help sell this mini for me. =/

Innercaine · 08-23-2007, 09:54 AM

As someone who felt that the Lady Styx Storyline was really built up to be this big cosmic menace.. and then saw it kinda fizzle out with the obscure Omega Men mini-series.. I really appreciate this.

My signature has recently been saying "Don't fizzle the Anti-Monitor like Lady Styx", and while I think editorial decisions don't have a damn thing to do with my signature on Newsarama, it's still nice to get my wish, even if it wasn't personal.

It looks great, and if it's a Countdown mini or not, I'm looking forward to it.

(And my signature has now found a more worthy topic

)

flamebird867 · 08-23-2007, 09:54 AM

Looks good.

Kevin T. Brown · 08-23-2007, 09:57 AM

Hmmmm, so that preview is more like the Countdown from Champ to Chump?

Eddy Barrows?? Where the hell was this type of art in the past? That preview is not indicative of what he's produced lately.... which a VERY good thing. I was already on board, but seeing this just sealed the deal.

newfoundma · 08-23-2007, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Disco Cookie

And pardon my dirty mind but whew, Adam Strange - great butt...who knew?

Wow. Truth. I didn't notice that on the thumbnail, but now that you point it out, that is totally glaring. Look out Hawkgirl, you have competetion!

AnthonyL · 08-23-2007, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElijahSnowFan

see, that's the thing. i don't want anybody in DC's sales department to think that one cent of what i'd be paying for the book would be an endorsement of that lame-ass character.

that's what makes this tough. i find that character so lame, and the Countdown series so bland and uninteresting, it's just a tough pill to swallow that somebody might even think that my purchase is an endorsement of that part of the book. when in reality, nothing could be further from the truth; i'd be picking it up for Adam Strange, mostly.

LOL. I get where you're coming from. If you buy it, people in charge might think you actually like it for Countdown stuff, and then they might announce yet another countdown tie-in.

Quote:

Wow, I can't believe how much I disagree with this post. I clicked this article hoping to find out how related this was to Countdown (which I feel is a much better story than 52). For me the the space stories was one of the more boring stories in 52 so I needed something i n this article to help sell this mini for me.

Well, there is the Forerunner back up if you need your countdown fix...but I can see where you wouldn't want to waste the full price for a few pages of backup story.

I'm on the fence about getting this myself. Like you, I thought the space part of 52 was the weakest, though overall liked 52 a lot (the Jones covers didn't hurt it, I probably would of picked it up just for them!)

Then again, I never really like space stories. I remember thinking the Rann/Thanagar War was the least interesting to me out of the Infinite Crisis stuff as well.

Which is why i'm hesitant to buy the collections of Marvel's Annihilation series...because most of their space stuff has bored me to tears as well.

Guess space just isn't my cup of tea

Anthony L

Grievous · 08-23-2007, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnthonyL

Then again, I never really like space stories. I remember thinking the Rann/Thanagar War was the least interesting to me out of the Infinite Crisis stuff as well.

Not a star wars fan?

I hear ya dude, space is not the final frontier for everybody.

I thought day of vengence was the weakest Infinite crisis lead up mini.

But Green lantern is great, same with nova and co

jedifish · 08-23-2007, 11:02 AM

That was a pretty good preview. Interesting.

brazilgilliam · 08-23-2007, 11:03 AM

Becaues of Didio's comments about how the fans aren't putting their money where their mouths are, I'm just not buyng any Countdown tie-in that isn't by names I like and frankly after reading this preview, I'm glad I'm not going to be picking this up.

Speedball93 · 08-23-2007, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnthonyL

LOL. I get where you're coming from. If you buy it, people in charge might think you actually like it for Countdown stuff, and then they might announce yet another countdown tie-in.

Well, there is the Forerunner back up if you need your countdown fix...but I can see where you wouldn't want to waste the full price for a few pages of backup story.

I'm on the fence about getting this myself. Like you, I thought the space part of 52 was the weakest, though overall liked 52 a lot (the Jones covers didn't hurt it, I probably would of picked it up just for them!)

Then again, I never really like space stories. I remember thinking the Rann/Thanagar War was the least interesting to me out of the Infinite Crisis stuff as well.

Which is why i'm hesitant to buy the collections of Marvel's Annihilation series...because most of their space stuff has bored me to tears as well.

Guess space just isn't my cup of tea

Anthony L

I would highly recommend Annihilation to you. It is not so much a space story as much as it is a great story. If you like Marvel at all, this was the highlight of last summer.

boem104 · 08-23-2007, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by POWRSURG

Wow, I can't believe how much I disagree with this post. I clicked this article hoping to find out how related this was to Countdown (which I feel is a much better story than 52). For me the the space stories was one of the more boring stories in 52 so I needed something i n this article to help sell this mini for me. =/

I agree, I am enjoying Countdown. I accept that a series with 52 issues will take some time to build.

Also the space story was the only story in 52 I totally skipped over. I just saw no connection to anything else going on. So I am looking foward to this series. I love Adam Strange and Starfire, so let's see what happens.

DaVeO · 08-23-2007, 11:36 AM

Like what i do with most series nowadays I'll get the first issue and if I like I'll buy the trade. This nonsence about supporting or not supporting Countdown is kinda stupid. If a story is good who cares? I stopped getting Countdown but I'm getting The Search for Ray Palmer. Pick and choose, that's what I do.