Countdown To Final Crisis - Related Events

Related Events

Since Countdown attempts to be the backbone to several DC Comics titles, some events and plots play out in different comic book series.

Meanwhile, the Amazons invade Washington, D.C., led by a recently resurrected Hippolyta and Circe. The mini-series concluded with the revelation that the goddess Athena has in fact been defeated and replaced by the Apokoliptian New God Granny Goodness, suggesting that the shelter that Harley Quinn and Holly Robinson are staying in is actually a Female Furies camp.

Tying into the Karate Kid storyline is the Justice League of America/Justice Society of America crossover "The Lightning Saga". The fight between Batman and Karate Kid is shown in both Countdown and Justice League of America. Dawnstar, Starman, Dream Girl, Timber Wolf, and Wildfire are all discovered stranded in the 21st Century. Initially, it is believed that they came to the present to save Lightning Lad. It is later revealed that the Legion actually came to retrieve an (as of yet) unknown person, whose "essence" is now stored in one of the Legion's "lightning rod" devices. The Legion then escaped into the future, leaving behind Starman and Karate Kid. An unforeseen consequence of the Legion's actions was the return of Wally West and his family. Brainiac 5 confirms this by implying West's return was a freak accident, but that they still retrieved the correct person the Legion came for.

The final arc of The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive, "Full Throttle", features the Rogues successfully killing Bart Allen, the fourth Flash. Within Countdown, both the buildup to this as well as its aftermath is felt. Bart's funeral is held and Piper and Trickster are forced on the run from superheroes and villains alike, which also ties into the upcoming Salvation Run. Connecting this story to "The Lightning Saga" is Wally's return to Earth. Wally's new vendetta against the Rogues is witnessed in Countdown where he finally catches up to Piper and Trickster, the remaining Rogues having already been captured in All Flash #1.

Salvation Run, by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges and Sean Chen, is the story of various supervillains who have been captured and deported via Boom Tube technology to another planet. Regarding Countdown, Newsarama asked writer Willingham "Just to try and point out an example of this in action, would it be safe to say that Pied Piper and Trickster would have found themselves on this world had they not escaped capture in Countdown?", to which the response was "That's a fairly safe guess." The Suicide Squad, behind the attempted captures of Piper and Trickster were also shown to have captured other Rogues in All-Flash #1 who are pictured on the cover for issue #1. In Countdown, after escaping Suicide Squad member Deadshot, Piper and Trickster later evade capture from four other members in Gotham City. Among those captured in the limited series include Lex Luthor, Scandal Savage, and the Joker, and the title refers to the planned escape from the planet as led by Luthor.

As well as playing a prominent part in Countdown, the story thread centering around the Death of the New Gods is playing out in other books. Outsiders: Five of a Kind: Week Three: Thunder/Martian Manhunter featured the deaths of New Gods Grayven and Speed Queen at the hands of a mysterious God-Killer, while the New God Knockout was killed in Birds of Prey #109. This appears to be leading into the Death of the New Gods limited series written and drawn by Jim Starlin, which saw the demise of all of the characters created by Jack Kirby for his "Fourth World" metaseries. After the conclusion of the Death of the New Gods limited series, DC editorial revealed that the "Fourth World" concept would be replaced by a "Fifth World" concept some time in the future.

In Captain Carrot and the Final Ark, October 2007, written by Bill Morrison, with art by co-creator Scott Shaw, The Zoo Crew reunite in the midst of growing strife between the land and the sea creatures of Earth-26, sparked by Starro. Unfortunately, they encounter Starro and most of their powers are neutralized except for Pig-Iron. Furthermore, that Earth is rendered uninhabitable and the Crew has an ocean liner loaded with refugees transported off the planet by the Just-A-Lot-Of-Animals. Unfortunately, the ship is accidentally sent to New Earth. Although the Justice League encounter the ship and land it safely, all the passengers, including The Crew are transformed into their animal forms indigenous to that Earth and, although they all apparently still have their human level intelligence, they are unable to speak. However, some time in the future, the Crew will discover that their powers have been restored. In Final Crisis #7, Captain Carrot is seen in the climactic battle with his humanity and powers restored and Pig Iron is with him.