CONNECTING THE COUNTDOWN & FINAL CRISIS DOTS WITH DAN DIDIO

[MattBrady]

This week sees Countdown to Final Crisis #7 hit, which is followed by DC Universe #0 and then, Final Crisis #1. The three aren’t connected – directly, but yet they all work together to tell the larger picture of the DC Universe…in their own ways.

Confusing enough yet?

We sat down with DCU Executive Editor Dan DiDio to connect the dots between the three, get some teases on what’s coming up and who’s involved, and even perhaps get some connections to Seven Soldiers?

Newsarama: Dan, we’re at the point where Countdown ton Final Crisis is in the home stretch, DC Universe #0 is coming, as is Final Crisis itself. Before we get into the specifics of the connections between the three, let’s nail this down – is there a linear progression from one to the next to the next, or is the throughline (if there is one) more thematic?

Dan DiDio: There are a lot of themes and characters that carry through from Countdown into #0, and then ultimately into Final Crisis. One of the things we saw though, was when we had events break as big as things like the Sinestro Corps War, I thought it was important for us to reflect those stories in our #0 book as well. We’ve already hinted about what “Blackest Night” is, and hinted at the big story that’s coming a year from now, but it’s not that it’s just going to fade away and disappear until it starts – it will be prevalent throughout the Green Lantern books, so we wanted to reflect that.

Plus – there are other big stories coming. There’s a big story coming up in Wonder Woman that really throws off the status quo in that series. This is a story that Gail has really championed and pushed through, so we wanted to reflect that in the #0 book too. That’s one of the reasons why we went from Countdown #1 to DC Universe #0.

And the other thing too – and this speaks to the collected edition aspect, which we have to consider, we wanted a definitive ending for the book so that when people bought and read the series of collections as they come out, they will feel that they have had a complete story experience. So we want to wrap up a lot of the storylines and beats from Countdown in issue #1, because the zero book is supposed to serve as a springboard to all the events that followed. The title also makes it easier for us to wrap our heads around it too – this is a separate entity, a separate project. It doesn’t need to be collected up in with all the Countdown material.

NRAMA: A clean break?

DD: Exactly. And we needed that – for collected edition reasons, for story reasons, and for going into Final Crisis. And also – and to be very frank, one of the reasons that we didn’t call this Final Crisis #0 is that J.G. Jones is working on all the art for Final Crisis and we wanted the Final Crisis title and book to be his moment, his story, his book. So I didn’t want to put something with the Final Crisis name on it without J.G.’s involvement.

And although J.G. has contributed a small piece to DC Universe #0 as Final Crisis moves forward, it will really be J.G. and Grant’s work, and I want it to be whole and pure in that sense. More importantly, I’m in close contact with Grant and J.G., and not only are all of us extremely confident that we’re going to tell the strongest stories possible, but it will be there when everybody expects it to be.

NRAMA: Talking about the continuation of the threads from Countdown into Final Crisis, let’s get specific, or as specific as we can. You’ve said before that Final Crisis is when “evil wins” in the DC Universe. You can’t have a day where evil wins in the DC Universe without Darkseid…

DD: Absolutely. And based on the final events in both Death of the New Gods and Countdown, you would think that would be difficult to do, but as I’ve started saying, look towards things that were set up in Seven Soldiers of Victory, and ultimately at some of the threads that are going to be set up at the end of Countdown, and you’ll get an idea of what’s on the way with Darkseid in Final Crisis.

NRAMA: Grant mentioned the Seven Soldiers ties of Final Crisis when we recently spoke with him. When he originally came to you with the idea for Seven Soldiers, was Final Crisis even on the books? Or was this all a subtle thread that he laid down that perhaps one day he would get back to?

DD: When I first met with Grant when I got to DC, he had a “Crisis” idea – he always had a vision on how the DCU can progress and grow and go through a metamorphosis. That was something that was set down over five years ago, and…I’m speaking from a weak memory here, but I think that in some ways, it might have been reverse – some of the ideas from Grant’s larger “Crisis” idea actually went into Seven Soldiers more so than the other way around. He had ideas on what he wanted to do with the DCU way back when, and this is his chance for him to really tell that big story.

NRAMA: Going back to the “connect the dots” theme…the New Gods as they were portrayed in Seven Soldiers: Mr. Miracle seem like you could match them up with what has happened or perhaps where things may be headed, given that they were shown as no longer being in their original bodies, being on earth, and being more or less “avatars,” which is what has been hinted that Jimmy Olsen is carrying. Any credence to that notion?

DD: I think that’s a very clear assessment. I’ll add that there will be echoes of that story that are playing through the DC Universe as well. Not directly tying to Final Crisis, but rather there to show that this is one cohesive universe.

NRAMA: Are you suggesting that readers have perhaps already read stories or seen the DCU as it exists after Final Crisis?

DD: I won’t say that, but I will say that they will have seen some of the events that will be playing out throughout Final Crisis already. There were several great themes taking place in Grant’s Seven Soldiers, but probably the key beats that will be expanded upon are centered around the four-part Mr. Miracle miniseries.

NRAMA: Moving along with continuing characters – the Monitors. Again, just like you can’t have evil win without Darkseid, can you have a Crisis without Monitors?

DD: Nope. One of the things that you’ve seen in Countdown that really plays a central role in the DCU is that the Monitors started out as a homogeneous race, and now are becoming very distinctive and separate in their personalities, and you’ll find out why they’ve started to separate in that fashion as we get into Final Crisis.

NRAMA: Well, folding those last two together, in Seven Soldiers , there were characters with Dark Side…

DD: The Dark Side Club – a group of characters with names and attitudes that were very reminiscent of a number of the New Gods. That will be coming into play in the DCU, both in Final Crisis and outside of Final Crisis as well in a number of series throughout the year, too, including Teen Titans.

NRAMA: Again touching upon the comment about evil winning – the villains…

DD: Right - what’s the point of evil winning if the villains can’t celebrate?

Again, so much of what we’ve been doing and so much of what we’ve been weaving in with the villains of the DCU is essential to the storylines of Final Crisis. We’ve hinted at and teased with images of the character Libra, and he will come to be center stage for the super villains in the DC Universe.

NRAMA: Center stage how? When he appeared previously, he was fairly minor and fairly lame…how does one go from lame to center stage?

DD: Well, I find it hard to believe that a story by Grant and J.G. will leave anyone feeling lame [laughs]. I will say that you’ll see Libra in DC Universe #0, in a Justice League story that wraps up some of the throughlines from Salvation Run, and more importantly, you’ll see Libra front and center in Final Crisis.

NRAMA: With Libra – in his last/only appearance…he…what, dissipated?

DD: He became one with the universe, right.

NRAMA: So his return then – is this something that’s just happened, or did he return earlier than what’s being shown, and has been lying low for a while?

DD: [laughs] I’m sorry – there’s some static on the line with that question…can we try a different question?

NRAMA: How about we touch upon the teaser images that you’ve used – there’s been one for Libra, one for Mongul and one for Brainiac with two bottled cities. Is that something that will come to play in Final Crisis, or is that a Superman-centric storyline?

DD: That’s only because we can only fit two bottled cities in the picture [laughs]. But yeah – that’s for Superman – he’ll be front and center in some of the Superman storylines coming up in the remainder of the year, Mongul will be the same in some of the Green Lantern storylines coming up, and Libra will be in Final Crisis.

NRAMA: Any more of them coming?

DD: Yeah – the next ad will be of Hush, which means he’ll be coming into play in upcoming Batman stories.



NRAMA: Batman or Detective?

DD: That’s going to be in Detective. Those “anti-motivational” ads are there to give broad stroke ideas of the exciting things that are going to be happening in the DCU throughout the year. They’re not just about Final Crisis. Again, the way we structured it is that you don’t need to buy every single book in the DC Universe. Final Crisis is the major event, but these other storylines will be occurring in parallel. We have major storylines with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Justice League occurring throughout the year. Everybody and everything will be involved in major stories and major events.

NRAMA: Getting back to the Final Crisis throughline – it’s been said both by Grant and you that the Alpha Lanterns will be playing a role in it. Does that touch upon the idea that the Guardians are involved in Final Crisis?

DD: The Alpha Lanterns and Guardians do play a prominent role throughout Final Crisis. Because Geoff and Grant were working so closely together, Geoff had the opportunity to really establish the Alpha Lanterns in their own right prior to their appearance in Final Crisis so that everybody knows who they are and knows what their motivation is, so when they appear in Final Crisis, they can hit the ground running.

NRAMA: Countdown put a lot of Jack Kirby’s DC characters and settings front a center for a revisit or reinterpretation. Will that continue into Final Crisis, or will that be lessened, given that we’re moving from the Fourth World into the Fifth World?

DD: Everything that Kirby created plays deeply into the Fifth World concepts. The Kirby contribution to the DC Universe was a great one, and we want to pay tribute to it, while integrating it fully within the DC Universe so it doesn’t stand off to the side, separate, but it a fully functional, operating part of the DCU.

There are so many rich ideas, so many wonderful stories that we can expand on, take advantage of and grow from. We took the OMAC concept and reinterpreted it and brought it forward through the DC Universe – that will continue to grow and play into Final Crisis and throughout the DCU. We use the joke, which is not really a joke, that Final Crisis is all about the DC Universe, from Anthro to Kamandi – the first boy on earth to the last. That’s something that you’ll be seeing also. There are so many great concepts and ideas from Kirby that will be brought into Final Crisis - some that you’ve seen in the past, some that haven’t been seen in a very long time. The Kirby creations were great material for stories then, and is great material for stories now.

NRAMA: Finally – let’s hit the schedule one more time…May is #1, and then the break happens in…

DD: The break happens in August, but we’re not going to let things sit with nothing coming your way. There will be a lot of excitement in that month coinciding with that break. We have a number of one shots that will fill in the gap of what happened during the break, but also we’ll be starting a couple of key storylines in their own projects that will tie into Final Crisis by the series’ end.

[Tomwaitsfan]

First post Is that hush?

[Marius665]

HUSH IS BACK BABY!!!

[gwangung]

....the DC Universe is getting darker because the villains are winning hm?

[phunengames]

I was hoping you would ask him to spill the beans on the 2nd teaser image.

[GSHAG]

HUSH?! (in best marv albert voice) YES!!!!!!!!!!!!

[alaska1125]

It'll be interesting to see how Hush fits into the big picture. Not quite "New God" level.

[von Doom, M.D.]

Hush, eh?

Could be interesting IF it's Dini.

And is this the third or fourth "anti-motivational" image?

There was Mongul, then Brainiac. Is the Libra one out, or is Hush the third one?

[rpi]

As pumped as I am for most of it, I'm dreading that Darkseid vs. Jimmy picture. I cannot think of a limper way to finish off as limp series as Countdown was. Also, after what Lieberman did with Hush, I'd have been more than happy to never see the character return. If Dini's writing it then that's promising...I guess. On the other hand, I'm very happy to see Seven Soldiers being touched on again. I do kind of wonder if all the secrecy with Final Crisis isn't going to end up backfiring? I know I should be excited about it but I'm not really because all I know about it is that it starts with Kamandi, ends with some other kid or something, and is being done by Morrison and Jones. Oh yeah, the New Gods are in it somewhere. Wooo?

[Marius665]

Originally Posted by alaska1125

It'll be interesting to see how Hush fits into the big picture. Not quite "New God" level.

who cares? as long as he kills some one

maybe, a red ring...na, he don't need it

I'm so happy he's back I wanna slap someone, where's my boss?

[yonofui]

Originally Posted by Tomwaitsfan

First post Is that hush?

Yeah! Hush is back! DC left him in the limbo for so long...

And why are the Hulk and the abomination fighting in the first image? This is how they see in the movie, right?

Sorry I could not resist!

[Fecal Yeti]

Why wasn't didio asked how many issues have been completed and if they're still on schedule????

[Tomwaitsfan]

Originally Posted by Fecal Yeti

Why wasn't didio asked how many issues have been completed and if they're still on schedule????

Don't worry bout it. It'll come out!!!

[greenflameuk]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

And also – and to be very frank, one of the reasons that we didn’t call this Final Crisis #0 is that J.G. Jones is working on all the art for Final Crisis and we wanted the Final Crisis title and book to be his moment, his story, his book. So I didn’t want to put something with the Final Crisis name on it without J.G.’s involvement.

And although J.G. has contributed a small piece to DC Universe #0 as Final Crisis moves forward, it will really be J.G. and Grant’s work, and I want it to be whole and pure in that sense. More importantly, I’m in close contact with Grant and J.G., and not only are all of us extremely confident that we’re going to tell the strongest stories possible, but it will be there when everybody expects it to be.

Wonder if that'll be enough to shut up the people complaining about the book being late or possibly having fill-ins?.

[ubuking]

I can't wait for this.. When can we have some previews?

[adama]

Is Spectre reaching for the hand of.... God?

[izzatrix]

those of us who love Morrison will pretty much love anything he does and it will be hit or miss for a lot of other folks. Still a lot of his plots and ideas from his 7 Soldiers crossover
were pretty high concept. I'm not sure how they'll play in Peoria.

[TheMaxx]

Awesome! I hope that they act like that Gotham Knights crap never happened.

[EMeadow]

Very interesting to see how Seven Soldiers is working in this, especially Mr. Miracle.

Its at least a way to keep the characters around, while letting their old looks die (if they all get transported permanently into those bodies, or just Darksied does).

[alaska1125]

Jimmy Olsen vs Darkseid...I may now officially have been reading comics longer than I should have.

[EMeadow]

Originally Posted by adama

Is Spectre reaching for the hand of.... God?

Its gotta be Krona.

[Marius665]

Originally Posted by TheMaxx

Awesome! I hope that they act like that Gotham Knights crap never happened.

Amen to that

[jmcl89]

Originally Posted by Fecal Yeti

Why wasn't didio asked how many issues have been completed and if they're still on schedule????

"I’m in close contact with Grant and J.G., and not only are all of us extremely confident that we’re going to tell the strongest stories possible, but it will be there when everybody expects it to be."

I don't know if he's telling the truth, but he did answer the question.

[Jiminy Snick]

Just had to nitpick, but before I do, let me say that I do in fact like some of what Dan Didio has done at DC, and at least he is pushing, sometimes it may not work, but at least he is pushing some good ideas, and I am looking forward to Final Crisis.

I suspect at the very least that Final Crisis will wash the bad taste of Countdown out of my mouth.

I think that the OYL jumps and Countdown were both mis-steps on DC's part - though I liked all the new OYL titles, and Superman and Action. I think Wonder Woman would have been good had it been finished, and look forward to reading the completed story at some point.

Okay, with a smirk on my face, and a tounge in my cheek, I have to nitpick now:

Originally Posted by MattBrady
Dan DiDio:Plus – there are other big stories coming. There’s a big story coming up in Wonder Woman [B

that really throws off the status quo [/b]in that series. This is a story that Gail has really championed and pushed through, so we wanted to reflect that in the #0 book too. That’s one of the reasons why we went from Countdown #1 to DC Universe #0.

I'm sorry, but "status quo" in Wonder Woman? I am liking Gail's storyline so far, and think anything she will come up with will undoubtedly be great, but comments like this from Dan hammer home my impression that he is totally out of touch right now.

Wonder Woman, and post OYL, hasn't had the remotest possible chance to develop anything even approximating a "status quo".

and this speaks to the collected edition aspect, which we have to consider, we wanted a definitive ending for the book so that when people bought and read the series of collections as they come out, they will feel that they have had a complete story experience.

This cracks me up to no end - does Dan really think that TPB or HC sales of Countdown are actually going to be that big? My god, if I bought Countdown as a trade, I would wonder even more why the hell, every few pages is a retread of what I read 6 or seven pages earlier!

[SouthtownKid]

Jimmy Olsen tussling with Darkseid has to top the list of things I never thought I'd see. Better him than Snapper Carr, I guess.