Countdown launches new storylines

In an attempt to reinvigorate old fans, motivate subscribers and inspire new ones, DC Comics has launched one of its most ambitious and sweeping stories yet: Infinite Crisis. The series, which promises to be an instant classic, is already off to an incredible start.

Pushed by major box office hits, network television success and serious fans, reform is moving through the world of superheroes. Comic books are no longer bursting with gargantuan robots, monologueing super-villains and cheesy catch phrases. Gritty, real and involved stories have taken their place.

DC Comics begins its spectacular story arc with Countdown to Infinite Crisis, a giant 80-page book priced at only one dollar. Countdown, meant to be a throwback to the golden age of comics-story, price and all-sets in motion the events of five miniseries that will all lead into Infinite Crisis.

Countdown centers around two of the lesser-known superheroes of the DC Universe, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. At first this seems to be rather mundane, but as the story progresses, Beetle becomes the perfect vehicle for the reader to see what unfolds.

The story is a conspiracy-thriller with the fate of the world held in the balance. Beetle's jovial and convivial nature has made him less than respected by his superhero peers, but it also gives him unparalleled insight into all of their pasts, who they are as people and as superheroes and eventually the evil plans in their midst.

Devoid of the high-powered fighting, over-the-top plots and made-up science that has stigmatized the comic genre for so long, Infinite Crisis succeeds in making readers aware that these are all elements of a much too pristine past.

As the story progresses, Beetle's investigation reveals that someone or some group has been gathering the secrets of all of the world's greatest heroes to use as weapons in a ploy to wipe them from the earth.

This contrast between the ordinary and the extraordinary is what sets Infinite Crisis apart from all of its predecessors. Instead of attempting to wow readers with bright lights, tights and magic, the writers have set the forces of the typical against those of the incredible.

The villains in Infinite Crisis are revealed to be no more than regular people, insane with the notion of cleansing the world for only the "true" citizens of Earth.

However, the real pinnacle of Countdown comes in its very final scenes. The unexpected but simple ending is what makes this story the perfect beginning to one of DC's largest projects to date.

The collaborative efforts of Alex Ross, Jim Lee, Geoff Johns, Judd Winick and many more already make Infinite Crisis a milestone in comic publications, so it should be no surprise that DC unofficially heralds Infinite Crisis as the sequel to their golden age masterpiece production Crisis on Infinite Earth-a work so well known that fans and all others recognize it on the spot as a figurehead in pop culture.

DC Comics has also attempted to generate a large amount of anticipation and excitement with the timing of their comics' releases.

Countdown was kept in complete secrecy until a week before its release, and Infinite Crisis will not even make its debut until all five miniseries have run their courses to the finish, five months from now.

Whatever unfolds in the following months, there are sure to be more surprises, more excitement and some moments that true fans will place in their pocket-protector for a lifetime.

If you are interested or intrigued, DC Comics has set up Crisis Counseling at their homepage: www.DCcomics.com.