Comics this week

Countdown to Final Crisis #25- After weeks of mostly crap, Countdown is finally moving. With the title's name-change last week to Countdown to Final Crisis, the writers has finally decided that there's no more need to put the title in neutral. Not a moment too soon I say. There's still the problem of 2 page cameos, but at least we can see that the story is going somewhere. Even more amazingly, this week's pages are mostly taken up by Karate Kid's quest in Bludhaven and it's even enjoyable! A real leg up as most of the Kid's story were unreadable up to this point. Another good point is that the villain finally show up. Darkseid and his dark gods of Apokolips are finally making their move (like this book) and are gathering forces. Mary Marvel siding with Darkseid? Can't wait to see what happen there.

Countdown: The Search for Ray Palmer - Red Rain #1- I will admit I do not understand why so many people loved the Elseworld Batmen is a vampire story. It's good, but hardly a classic. And I can never get over the fact it's a story with a hook and nothing more.
However, DC listen to the majority vote and put the Red Rain Universe as one of the 52 Earths. As much as I dislike the world, this story is pretty good. The story is mostly about the Dick Grayson of Red Rain and how as a vampire-hunter, his hunt for the biggest, baddest vampire in the world, Bat-man! Like the entertaining Jokester's origin story in the Crime Society installment, this is a character driven story. Dick Grayson's quest to hunt down and kill the Bat-man that murdered his parents is the glue of the story and show more potential in the Red Rain Universe than I thought possible. Another solid look at a 52 world.

Annihilation: Conquest #1- Annihilation was THE sleeper hit that came out of nowhere. The original Annihilation retool the cosmic wing of the Marvel Universe and with the hit, came the sequel.
Conquest has a lot to live up to, and mostly it a success. Like the original, you can feel the effect of the war. The battles in this issue are brutal and very dangerous. This is where the book succeeded. The sheer scope of the war is amazing. You can see and feel that this is a galaxy-wide war and the people who are fighting in it take no prisoners and gives no quarter. Also, I like the fact Adam Warlock made a return. The bad thing of the issue is the main villain that showed up at the end. Him? That's the...guy that made the Phalanx into a threat that conquered the Kree? Annihilus and his forces I can understand, this guy...I have my doubts. Another problem I foresee is the amount of characters the writers are trying to squeeze in. The amount of characters involved means that even characters like Nova, Star-Lord and Drax the Destroyer can't even make an appearance. However, this is a good start and I'll be there for issue 2.