Countdown : Arena #1 - DC

Another neat idea. But, I'm not sure what the goal is? Other than thinning the herd a bit, I'm not sure why this story is really necessary. But, I'm sure, when it comes down to the final conflict . . . all will be revealed. Hopefully! Anyways, the idea here is, Monarch is still trying to build his army. And, for some reason, he's got it in his head to add all these super-heroes to the group. But, he's smart enough to know that he only needs 1 Batman, or 1 Wonder Woman or 1 Zatanna. So, with a multi-verse of characters to choose from, how does he pick which version he wants to strengthen his forces? His idea is to pull the different versions to this neutral zone . . I think he said it was in the Bleed . . . where's he's constructed an Arena. Once there, the variants of each character, basically, will fight for the survival of the fittest. He wants them to kill each other. That way he also eliminates opponents in the process. He's already got a huge variety of characters. He's got variants of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Firestorm, Zatanna, the Ray, Green Lantern, Robin . . . and the list goes on and on. Our first battle is between versions of Nightshade. But before that, he has a warning, "Several of you possess the means to travel between dimensions. Do not attempt to escape. The consequences will be far more severe than you can possibly imagine. Trust me." The Nightshade battle eventually leads to the Shadowlands . . another dimension . . and from there, the victor decides that she's going to go home to get her husband to help her get out of this situation. But, when she gets there, she finds Monarch there already, holding her husbands lifeless body in his hands. His consequences for her actions? On the planet she lives on, he wipes out everybody in her whole country. "You . . you killed them all. My terms were clear. And I do not tolerate mutiny. It should be an honor to join my army. To fight for my cause. For you . . it will be a punishment." We immediately move in to the battle between the Batman's. And it appears that the victor will be the Red Rain Batman. Meanwhile, one of the Supermen is trying to formulate a plan for a mutiny. This is a four issue series, but it's going to be weekly. So it's very fast paced. It's written by Keith Champagne and drawn by Scott McDaniel. Like I said, I'm not sure what the outcome of this is supposed to be, but in the meantime it'll be neat to watch some of the battles.