Countdown #37 - DC

The creative chores this issue fall upon Keith Giffen, who does the breakdowns, and David Lopez and Mike Norton with the finished pencils. It's actually a very nice looking book. Of course it starts out with a beautiful Shane Davis cover. I mean look at Ivy on the cover. Meowww!! Anyways we find out some more about Karate Kid this issue. It seems he has some kind of virus that Oracle can't identify. She thinks it's either extra-terrestrial, or from the future. And since this isn't her area of expertise, she refers him to a man named Elias Orr. She doesn't know much about him, but she knows about his work. So she gives him all the info that she has, and now he and Una are on a quest to find him. Zatanna has taken Mary Marvel back to her father's estate, Shadowcrest. I think that she thinks she's going to take Mary under her wing and mentor her a bit. She can sense the frustration and anxiety coming from her. And with the level of her power right now, that's not a good combination. We don't find out much about her plans, but we do get a pretty extensive tour of the house. Our group of microscopic travelers have come across a band of wizards. One of them comes out to wish our group luck, and to tell them that there's nothing they can do to help them. They've see Ray, but they don't know where he went. Actually, they're more concerned about the coming disaster, the Great Disaster. So they're sending themselves to a plane where they can work in peace until it's over. I assume it's the same Great Disaster that Karate Kid and Una keep talking about. The one from their history books. And Bob, the Monitor, also says it's the one he's concerned about. Piper & Trickster, in their attempt to stay out of sight, have unwittingly stumbled across Ivy's lair. She's asleep when they first get there, but then she's awaken to find them stumbling through her plants, raping them of their fruit and nectar . . . and she's not happy. So they aren't in a good situation. Holly, after talking to Athena last issue, tells Harley that she's supposed to attend a self esteem exercise. Harley informs her that that means she's in, and she better get ready to train, train, train. And finally, Jimmy puts all the pieces together in his mind. Not about his powers, but about Clark. With his powers has come all this information about other heroes. But whenever he thinks about Superman, he's been seeing Lois & Clark. He didn't really know what that meant. Until one nite when he and Clark are alone in the Planet cafeteria and all of the sudden it comes to him. He begs Clark to help him with his problem. Clark feigns ignorance, so Jimmy literally exposes him. As a backup now in this book, we've reverted to the 2 page origin stories of various heroes and villains. This issue's is about Poison Ivy. It's beautifully drawn by Stephane Roux. I never heard of her before, but it's a beautiful piece of work. Have I mentioned that I really like this series? If not . . . I do.