Countdown to Final Crisis #1 - DC

Well . . this is the end of the Countdown. Or . . actually . . last issue's fight between Darkseid and Orion was the end. This . . this is as the title suggests . . Loose Ends. Basically, we see where all the Challengers, that we've come to know and love, over the previous months, have decided to do after their adrenaline pumped, universe spanning, adventure. Unfortunately, they all, in their own way, feel let down. Bored! Morose! Which is why, one by one, they all start showing up at Ray's house. Well except for . . the Piper. He's decided "This is my chance to settle some unfinished business . . this time on the side of the Angels." Jason Todd, who's gone back to his one man show, Gotham Chainsaw Massacre, or Jason Krueger: Nightmare on any street. Mary Marvel, who's decided to feel her oats and tries to take out Black Adam. And Buddy Blank, who on his world, has gotten a gift from Brother Eye and is now OMAC. Not the mindless drones that have been buzzing around lately, but the OMAC from the Jack Kirby mini-series back in the 70's. It's about time. Oh yeah . . also Harley and Holly haven't quite decided what they're going to do yet, but . . they'll probably be doing it together. Whatever "it" is. Meanwhile, the rest of our group . . Kyle, Donna, Ray (reluctantly), and Humbug or Ambush Bug or Forager or whatever her name is . . . have decided that they're going to be the one's to . . . Monitor the Monitors. Remember that question from the original Crisis series back in the 80's . . Who Monitors the Monitors? Well . . now we know. I just wonder if they know what they've bitten off here. And how will the punish them if they're bad? I guess we'll just have to wait for that story . . sometime in the near future . . I hope. Like I said, I thought this issue was anti-climatic . . but . . I still enjoyed it. There's still a lot of plot threads hanging on this one. And we still have Final Crisis, The War That Time Forgot, The Rann/Thanagar War, the Legion of 3 Worlds Crisis . . and anything else I'm leaving out . . coming up this summer, so . . don't think for a second that things have calmed down. You know what they say . . this is the end . . the end of the beginning.