Readers who didn't enjoy Identity Crisis would be well advised to steer clear of this one-shot, as it boasts a similar tone. The three writers embrace that darker take on super-heroes here. Though I had some problems with the plotting of Identity Crisis, I enjoyed the emotional conflicts that dominated the series, and so, I enjoyed what Rucka, Johns and Winick had to offer here. There are glitches in the storytelling here, with some of the achronological plotting coming off not nearly as clearly as is needed. But overall, the story works, and what makes it work isn't the investigation into a conspiracy or the sense of community among super-heroes. Rather, what draws the reader in here is one man's conflict with his own self-image and inferiority complex, and his determination to shunt those feelings to the side so he can focus on larger issues.
Ted Kord, AKA the Blue Beetle, once again finds himself in the unenviable position of watching the business empire he founded crumbling around him. As he sees his life coming apart around, he discovers that it may not be as accidental as some might imagine. Funds have been siphoned off from his company, and he finds that he's not the only victim. Something big and secret is going on, and it's linked to people throughout the super-hero community. Given his status as a second-string hero who's often been seen as a joke at times, Beetle has trouble getting his colleagues to listen to him, so he turns for help from his closest friend and a fellow second-stringer.
Given that three writers worked on this special, the narration is remarkably consistent in tone, but the same can't be said of the art. The shifts in art teams are limited to chapter breaks and different focal points in the plot. The publisher clearly wants to connect this story to Identity Crisis, and putting the IC team of Rags Morales and Michael Bair in the first slot was the right way to go for that. Ed Benes's self-inked work is far too dark, even darker than the tone the story calls for; I suspect the artist's work would be better off inker by someone else. Ivan Reis's work in the penultimate chapter is a little too rough in tone, and it fails to show the reader the kind of detail that's called for by the plot. For example, the Beetle spots something important in the shattered remains of his goggles, but even with a closeup, the reader isn't shown what's grabbed the hero's attention.
Despite the reference to a coming "Infinite Crisis" on the cover and in the story's title, the plot here isn't at all cosmic in tone. That's why the tee-up for the Day of Vengeance limited series is so out of place in this story. This comic is about a mystery, about one man's efforts to expose a conspiracy of massive proportions, but it's nevertheless grounded. The Beetle's glimpse at the Spectre's new mission and at the magical world behind the Marvel Family contributes nothing to this plot.
This plot is unusual in that it delves into minor continuity points from the past while overhauling the status of continuity as it has been for a few years now. In order for this story to work, secret identities aren't quite so secret among super-heroes. If you wear a mask, you know just about everybody else's secret ID, and they know yours, so it would seem. It's a throwback to the 1970s and '80s, to pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity. It's necessary to buy into that idea here for the story to work. And the story does work, for the most part. Yes, knowledge of the humor-era of the Justice League and associated characters helps out a lot here, so it's not the most accessible of scripts. But for a longtime super-hero reader such as myself, it's also a lot of fun to see such a diverse array of characters come together here.
The events of Identity Crisis really burned writers Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis when it came to a sequel to their Formerly Known as the Justice League. That sequel is now unfolding in JLA Classified, and while it's goofy and funny, readers who have also read IC will no doubt feel a taint on the fun. DC Countdown is going to add to that taint. It's not a criticism of Giffen and DeMatteis, and it's not the Countdown writers' fault. Maybe the higher-ups at DC OK'd the JLA Classfied arc to lull readers of multiple titles into a false sense of security. Maybe they just wanted to get the archived material out there. But publishing both works during the same timeframe strikes me as a bad idea.
Super-hero genre fans and DC readers in particular will buy this comic book. No review is going to deter them because it's such a good value. The cheap cover price is a smart move on the publisher's part. It will attract readers who don't normally delve into DC super-hero titles. It could even attract new readers to the medium. There's no doubt that this is a great value.
That value is this publication's greatest strength. Second to that is the strong sense of character that serves as the main focus of the book. This is all about Ted Kord and his own insecurities. He's an accomplished man, a brilliant inventor and a man whose adventures can only be topped by a select few. And still, he feels like less than he is. That sense of failure, of powerlessness, is something to which we can all relate. We've all felt like Ted Kord does here, but that's also tempered with the strength he exhibits in the face of those feelings. 7/10
