The end of “Countdown” is one of the most frustrating conclusions in recent memory no matter how you slice it. But, when you take the Mary Marvel story and put it in the spotlight, it becomes baffling and nonsensical. Let’s dig into the, thankfully, final installment of “Countdown.”
Written by Paul Dini, Keith Giffen, Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Adam Beecham, and Sean McKeeverCover by Stéphane Roux
Penciled by Scott Kollins, Tom Derenick, Jesus Saiz, Mike Norton, Freddie E. Williams II, Carlos Magno, Jim Starlin, and Jamal Igle
Inked by Scott Kollins, Jimmy Palmiotti, Wayne Faucher, Mark McKenna, Keith Champagne, Freddie E. Williams II, and Rodney Ramos
Colored by Tom S. Chu and Pete Pantazis
Lettered by Travis Lanham and Ken LopezWith the recent devastation behind them, the new Challengers return to our universe to face their next challenge. Also this month: a returning hero, a surprising future for Pied Piper, and Karate Kid fulfills his destiny
It is at this point in the series where everything begins to coalesce on Apokolips. Mary, now powerless and on Paradise Island, jumps through a Boom Tube to join the fray. In #11, we see her bite Mad Harriet on the nose while powerless, which is both something a puppy would do and also sort of dope. In the next issue, we see Mary somehow discover the gods – the gods who give her and all the Marvels their power – on Apokolips, and she redeems herself in their eyes. For her redemption, she is given back the powers of Shazam, and Mary Marvel is back!
This should have been the end of Mary’s story, as it would have seen a full character arc for her. She started off powerless, gained Black Adam’s power, lost it, and then regained her rightful position in the Marvel family. And, for the next six issues, it appeared that way. Mary becomes a cog in the wheel for most of these issues, being a powerful, but sort of unimportant piece of the story, which sees the gang show up on an incorrect Earth. The story gets so convoluted that there are two full issues of narration, sans dialogue, to attempt to tell a much bigger than 44 page story without having the heavy lifting of making characters say things. These issues end with the revelation that this is the origin story of Kamandi, which is the most Dan DiDio shit ever, even if it makes next to no sense.
But then comes issue #4, where we see that Mary is starting to turn bad again, for reasons that she doesn’t really understand, and is never really revealed to us, either. She’s just regressing, and doesn’t seem all that bothered by the idea. So, the writers put Mary on a path for almost 50 issues and decided here, at the 5 yard line, to just reverse course and undo almost the entire series’ worth of Mary stories. It makes no sense whatsoever. If the idea was to use this series to get Mary ‘evil’ for “Final Crisis,” then why not make it a slow burn? This is the dumbest way to achieve that goal.
For example, remember when Mary was so disgusted at the idea of being a concubine to Darkseid that she nearly killed Jean Loring? Yeah, I do as well, but the writers don’t, because she’s super willing to work for him again, and at this point should know that there is no way that he would actually do what he says he will. And, unfortunately for her, Darkseid gets dead in #2, something that clearly didn’t stick, as he’s back in “Final Crisis” just a few months later. So again, the second heel turn has no real purpose.
Mary’s part of the series ends with a conversation with Black Adam, where he basically laments what she’s become. Also, what did she become? Adam has his powers back, so it’s not his power, and the power the gods gave her was her old power. I know Darkseid gave her a pill or some shit that was supposedly her power, but again, that makes no sense.
Continued belowWhy am I even trying to make sense of this?
The one part of this issue that is memorable is Black Adam essentially telling Mary “I should beat your ass, but child abuse is wrong” and then flying away. I feel like Black Adam speaks for all of his, but our ire is pointed at the writers, who aren’t children, and therefore might’ve been due at least a hurts donut or a paddling.
Anyway, “Countdown” is trash and I’m never going to read it again, until I take on another stupid project like this one.
Coming up next is a fun detour – the all-ages “Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam” series! See ya on Friday!
