I Want My Dollar Back!

Just read DC Countdown, and like many on the blogosphere, I thought the book stunk.

Stunk like a big cow pie in the middle of Kansas on a hot June day.

There's a much better (and funnier) criticism of the book elsewhere, but hoo boy, I want my mind wiped after reading this book. (Ok, it's a lame Identity Crisis joke, but still...) Cardboard plotting, lame first-person narration, poor art, and a real sense of "hey, kids, we're now grim and gritty!"

And screw spoiler alerts - I thought the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League had its moments (not a big fan, but read the book consistently), but what in the name of Chthulu is wrong with these guys? Why does Blue Beetle, all of a sudden, need to be seen as some kind of lame character rather than as one with potential? (I'm also extremely disappointed with the Jason-Todd- as-Red-Hood reveal in Batman). It's poor, shoddy, lame fan fiction at its worst. (Funny thing is, I also picked up the Starman: Sons of the Father trade, which is everything DC Countdown (or most books published by DC) hopes to have become - an inteligent use of continuity, making it part of a grander tapestry. Instead, it's like going to a buffet and focusing on desserts rather than meat and vegetables.

(And for those of you who downloaded the book illegally - don't you even dare make comment. I'm tempted to even demand you send me a dollar - if everyone else has to suffer economically, so should you, and no matter what holier-than-thou attitude you demonstrate, you're still pirates).

The really sad thing - DC is now offering a second publishing at $1.99

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

But there is hope - check out the House of the Ded Contest, where you can win a copy of Bluesman, Book 1. All it takes is a simple e-mail. Thank God that, now, I know which books to read and put back on the shelf, and which books I should buy and enjoy.