COUNTING DOWN: MIKE CARLIN ON COUNTDOWN #8

**MichaelDoran** · 03-07-2008, 06:55 PM

So – this week in Countdown to Final Crisis #8 - what were the haps?

Revelation time – Solomon was responsible for Captain Atom becoming Monarch, all of this has been a game to Solomon and Darkseid, Jimmy’s been collecting the powers of the New Gods as they’ve been dying, and Solomon basically takes his ball and goes home in a tiff after sending all of the heroes (including the terminally infected Karate Kid) back to Earth.

Once again, we ask Editor Mike Carlin about what’s going on.

Newsarama: Darkseid's revelation of Solomon rupturing/injuring Captain Atom in Bludhaven - that was way back in Battle for Bludhaven, right?

Mike Carlin: Yupper!

NRAMA: And… if we can play armchair psychoanalyst ... it was the injury, as well as the revelation of a Monitor and the multiversity what started tipping Atom towards Monarch?

MC: Is that a question or a statement? Solomon definitely pushed Captain Atom towards the Dark Side with his actions there.

NRAMA: If you had to hazard a guess, what kind of contact did/have Solomon and Monarch had?

MC: I’d say very little overt contact... Monitors start by manipulating from afar!

NRAMA: Mike - editorially speaking, is Monarch...redeemable as a character?

MC: Or do you mean Captain Atom? We’ve seen heroes return from worse madness!

NRAMA: Since we're tying things all together with previous storylines, in The Lightning Saga, it was said that one of the Legionnaires who came back would have to die, correct?

MC: Looks that way... Get your Interlac Eulogies ready...

NRAMA: Ray's monologue about Morticoccus - in #15, he went to great pains to explain how he was immune to the virus, and he had/was inoculating individuals throughout the multiverse with his genetic code to grant them some level of immunity. Doesn't he have the cure or at least a treatment? Why's he trying to figure out how to make an antidote against it using KK's blood?

MC: He’s going to need a huge batch of inoculation fast, all of a sudden... His mind is racing with what few options he has at hand...

NRAMA: And why isn't he doing his Boy in the Bubble impression if this virus is so deadly. Ray's right - all the heroes should be infected, shouldn't they?

MC: Keep readin’, Flu Believers!

NRAMA: The standoff with Jimmy - that was, essentially because he has Boom Tube access more than anything else, right? Take us in his head - he knows who Darkseid is...why's he willing to risk all of this for that?

MC: Because Jimmy’s been through a lot in this series... He’s growing and learning... And is finally taking some responsibility for the safety of his universe. Mr. Action in action.

NRAMA: In short, what Solomon said - Jimmy's been collecting and holding the powers of the New Gods as they've been dying? That's why they're "souless" when found?

MC: Yup... That’s what the ‘Mon said!

NRAMA: But how do his powers relate to that revelation? Was there a New God of the Porcupines?

MC: I’d wager we’ve never seen every New God of Apokolips and/or New Genesis... And except for premature cancellation I’d bet Kirby always meant to get to Ned Needles, Tailor to the Gods!

NRAMA: Solomon's role in this game - he says he cannot allow Darkseid to gain possession of Jimmy's powers. Okay - but what are the terms here...Darkseid wins...will he, what...just rule over all? Trigger a new creation event that will result in the "Fifth World?"

MC: Simply can’t tell ya what’s coming in the rest of the series or the series that follows. Sorry.

NRAMA: And if the Monitor wins...well, he wanted to become the OmniMonitor, we knew that, but what would that mean? Absolute rule, absolute power over the multiverse? Was he going to be a benign dictator?

MC: Looks like we won’t find that out for now, either... As he didn’t get what he wanted.

NRAMA: Just so we're clear on what we've seen - Piper: alive or dead?

MC: We haven’t seen a body... Have you?

NRAMA: Are we done with Brother Eye, Monarch, Superman Prime and the other "big bads" from the series to date? What dogs are left in this fight as we count down?

MC: Everyone’s on stage now... And for the immediate future the Morticoccus might just be the biggest bad in play. Oh... But there is at least one big bad who will be returning to the show in an issue or three!

NRAMA: Alright - they're back on earth...let's hear that tease-down for #7...

MC: Next week in Countdown to Final Crisis #7... Holly & Harley head home to Gotham... The Challengers are challenged by the Justice League... And Jimmy Olsen takes Action at Cadmus— but is it too late?!

phunengames · 03-07-2008, 07:05 PM

Earth - 1?

PyroTwilight · 03-07-2008, 07:08 PM

Ah so they are indeed on an alternate Earth. Possibly the one that Ray Palmer/The Ray from Countdown Arena is from.

Azziekun · 03-07-2008, 07:08 PM

If that is Earth 1...then I think we have a SERIOUS problem on our hands...

Binker · 03-07-2008, 07:12 PM

Quote:

If that is Earth 1...then I think we have a SERIOUS problem on our hands...

What do you mean?

caats19 · 03-07-2008, 07:13 PM

that'd be kinda a lame earth-1. i would guess it didn't have people who were supposed to be from other worlds. but palmer is old school

Skyrider · 03-07-2008, 07:15 PM

Whoa...that looks like New Earth - 1 to me!

phunengames · 03-07-2008, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caats19

that'd be kinda a lame earth-1. i would guess it didn't have people who were supposed to be from other worlds. but palmer is old school

No they alway get wierd when asked about earth 1so it is something they have been build to if it is 1.

Cousin Cory · 03-07-2008, 07:26 PM

As others seem to be alluding to, I would have expected that Earth-1 would be more likely to have a Ray Palmer than a Ray Terrill, but we may have been too quick to assume that the new Earth-1 would be pretty much a carbon copy of the old Earth-1. (I can't remember... did the Atom show up at all in the Super Powers comic books in the 1980s? If not, maybe the Challengers are on that Earth... it would be fitting, since Darkseid and the New Gods were so important to those books... in fact, weren't those Kirby's final published DC works? Plus, they did have a Hall of Justice on that Earth!)

Old_Chum · 03-07-2008, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Binker

What do you mean?

I think he's referring to the Virus-laden Karate Kid that might kill everyone!

edcoyote · 03-07-2008, 07:30 PM

So this week they came home to an Earth, and weren't sure which one they were on.

Next week, they'll just split up and go their separate ways, each one likely infected with the virus. Yeah, that makes sense.

So all the Silver Age Jimmy weirdness was really tied into the presumption that there just happened to be "elastic" and "porcupine" New Gods that Kirby didn't get around to telling us about? Well, then the reason Jimmy knew secret identities he shouldn't have known must be because there was a New God whose power was to know the secret identity of heroes and villains he/she never met. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket!

Couldn't it just be "MAGIC"?

rwe1138 · 03-07-2008, 07:30 PM

Holly & Harley's powers were only temporary? That kind of sucks. I loved that bit.

DeadTed · 03-07-2008, 07:32 PM

I think is DC UNIVERSE ZERO.

ShadowPsykie · 03-07-2008, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Binker

What do you mean?

i think he means superman-emo is suposed to find it...

ShadowPsykie · 03-07-2008, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwe1138

Holly & Harley's powers were only temporary? That kind of sucks. I loved that bit.

hopefully they get them back when they go back to thier real earth

i mean, they did what they were asked... then again, maybe they are not done with thier trials, Like Artemis said...

Clem · 03-07-2008, 07:39 PM

I knew it'd be a parallel Earth the moment i looked at the cover. Batman hasn't used the capsule belt in years. Everythings about pockets with him these days.

ThePinkPeril · 03-07-2008, 08:10 PM

Holly and Harley got ripped off, did they even get to use their powers for more than one issue?

jaysncards · 03-07-2008, 08:13 PM

Not to be a continuity freak, but didn't Ray Palmer leave, with no one seeing him since, before Infinite Crisis? How then, could he have expected to know the access codes to the Hall of Justice, which wasn't built until the destruction of the sateltie and, indeed, was a part of "One Year Later?" (Even if they WERE on the earth they thought?)

ElijahSnowFan · 03-07-2008, 08:36 PM

Dear Lord,

Please let DC reverse the hell that Captain Atom has been through. Because this Monarch crap was, is, and will always be ridiculous.

Manipulated into becoming Monarch? Damn. I kinda want to be a smart-ass here, but it's just so bad, I don't even want to talk about it anymore.

Just want a "walkaway" from that entire concept, PDQ.

canugrok · 03-07-2008, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElijahSnowFan

Dear Lord,

Please let DC reverse the hell that Captain Atom has been through. Because this Monarch crap was, is, and will always be ridiculous.

Manipulated into becoming Monarch? Damn. I kinda want to be a smart-ass here, but it's just so bad, I don't even want to talk about it anymore.

Just want a "walkaway" from that entire concept, PDQ.

Agreed.

...and...sorry...but Flash coming in and saying "What's the crisis?" and donna saying we've gone to..."...Zero..."
ugh...heavy handed dialogue. Hit us over the head, why don't you?

I'll see this to the end, and I'm curious as to what will happen in FC, but...I'm just not enjoying these last issues.

I've been supporting this series, but it's been a big let down.

RunnerX13 · 03-07-2008, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edcoyote

So all the Silver Age Jimmy weirdness was really tied into the presumption that there just happened to be "elastic" and "porcupine" New Gods that Kirby didn't get around to telling us about? Well, then the reason Jimmy knew secret identities he shouldn't have known must be because there was a New God whose power was to know the secret identity of heroes and villains he/she never met. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket!

Couldn't it just be "MAGIC"?

I don't think Jimmy was necessarily emanating the powers of specific Gods, but when you mix all the raw power together you could probably do anything.

RunnerX13 · 03-07-2008, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edcoyote

So all the Silver Age Jimmy weirdness was really tied into the presumption that there just happened to be "elastic" and "porcupine" New Gods that Kirby didn't get around to telling us about? Well, then the reason Jimmy knew secret identities he shouldn't have known must be because there was a New God whose power was to know the secret identity of heroes and villains he/she never met. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket!

Couldn't it just be "MAGIC"?

I don't think Jimmy was necessarily emanating the powers of specific Gods, but when you mix all that raw power together you could probably do anything.

KirkWarren · 03-07-2008, 09:01 PM

Didnt last issue end with Apokalips exploding from Piper's Queen song and Donna trying to wake up the knocked out Kyle to shield everyone? This one starts with Ray off spying on Darkseid and everyone else fine and dandy without a trace of any explosions talking to Jimmy and friends, who show up unexplained, and Kyle is awake and flying around nilly willy. It felt like I missed an issue. Even if we assume Apokalips didn't completely blow up, it doesn't even look like anything happened despite the last page showing half the planet blowing open in the last issue.

tralfaz · 03-07-2008, 09:03 PM

i just want Final Crisis already... make the pain of Countdown go away Mr Morrison

mpdfuzz · 03-07-2008, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KirkWarren

Didnt last issue end with Apokalips exploding from Piper's Queen song and Donna trying to wake up the knocked out Kyle to shield everyone? This one starts with Ray off spying on Darkseid and everyone else fine and dandy without a trace of any explosions talking to Jimmy and friends, who show up unexplained, and Kyle is awake and flying around nilly willy. It felt like I missed an issue. Even if we assume Apokalips didn't completely blow up, it doesn't even look like anything happened despite the last page showing half the planet blowing open in the last issue.

Move along there, nothing to see here... these are not the sensical stories you are looking for...