Countdown (to Final Crisis)

Building a year-long weekly comic book series around an ensemble of sub-A-list superheroes might sound like a risky gamble, but DC pulled it off in the middle part of the '00s with the acclaimed 52. So why wouldn't it work a second time, especially if it led in to the company's next big Crisis event? Your humble host tries to explain Countdown to Final Crisis, with detours into looking back on Dan Didio's tenure as DC's creative head honcho, dispensing some hard truths about the New Gods, and exploring other creators' fundamental inability to get on Grant Morrison's level. Also discussed in this episode: the Kirby vibe and how to get it, the Teen Titans' questionable definition of "ally," those boring Monitors and their boring pontificating, and Darkseid takes a cue from Rick Moranis.