Speaking of things to complain about, I've been reading the 2007 DC Comics maxi-series Countdown that I acquired from the collection of late Friend Michael. While the series was still coming out, I asked Mike if it was worth reading, and Mike's short answer was "no." I happy to report that he was right.

For many years, when I wanted to moan about a comic, I'd just call Mike. But he's not here anymore, so I might as well blog-bitch about it instead. If you don't care about superhero comic books, sorry. I'll try to complain about something else next post.

Still here? In that case, as I'm sure you know, Countdown was the follow-up to 52, which was both critically and commercially successful. 52 was a 52-issue weekly series, meaning a new book was released each week instead of once a month. It was an incredible collaboration between a team of very talented creatives that told the intertwined stories of several heroes. It's good. If you have any interest in long-form superhero comic book stories, read it.

The 52 issues of Countdown, on the other hand, while trying to plug the financial hole left by 52's conclusion, only succeeds at being a mess. Producing a weekly American superhero comic book is incredibly difficult, so DC reduced the number of writers and increased the number of artists (and apparently gave the latter instructions never to coordinate styles). Yet at the same time, they exponentially increased the number of crossover titles, mini-series, and tie-in one shots in a transparent effort to squeeze extra sales out of a captive audience. This plot dispersal and art clash makes reading the Countdown series feel too often like you're skipping chapters. There's no continuity to anything; it's all more confusing than satisfying, a marketing exercise designed to frustrate and alienate attentive readers.

Is it the worst thing I've ever read? No. It's not even the worst thing I've read from DC in the past 6 months. It's just not very good, and I thought Mike would want to know that I agree with him.

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I interviewed Vince Sullivan at Comic-Con back in, I believe, 1993. I don't recall him saying he wanted a character that had unearthly powers. I think he just wanted one as colorful [as Superman] and able to do amazing things.

—Mark Evanier, newsfromme.com, July 6, 2026

If you don't know, Vince Sullivan was the first editor of National Allied Publications' Action Comics and Detective Comics when they both sold for 10¢. By all accounts (including Bob Kane's, right at the start of chapter 4, "A Vision Inspired by Da Vinci," in his notoriously inaccurate autobiography, Batman & Me), it was Sullivan who in early 1939 encouraged a young Kane to create a character that eventually became The Batman.

The point here is that by 1993, when Detective Comics cost $1.25, I had already been collecting Batman comic books for years. I eventually acquired most of the Batman comics that had been published during my lifetime, but I never seriously considered trying to own a complete run because the early issues seemed impossibly distant. Fifty-four years was a long time! No one could ever catch up on that many comics!

However, as the anecdote above about Batman's literary origin indicates, the man who ordered his creation was still very much alive and attending comic conventions at the time. (He died at age 87 in 1999 when Detective Comics cost $2.25.) Five decades probably didn't seem so long ago to someone who lived through them. And now that an additional 33 years have passed, I have to admit that 1939 is starting to feel closer than ever to me, too.

Which is not to say that I'm harboring any rekindled urge to collect 'em all. I quit collecting Batman when DC "killed" him off in 2009 when Detective Comics regularly cost $2.99 (though Batman's death was marked up to an opportunistic $3.99). Add that a copy of Batman's first Detective Comics appearance sold at auction in May for $1,525,000, and I think we can all agree that the best time to buy one has long passed me by. I wonder how long Sullivan held on to his?

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The latest Supergirl movie opens today, and while I wish it nothing but the best of luck,* I don't plan on seeing it.

True, I'm in the 1% of people on this planet who didn't care for last summer's Superman, and you're probably right to call me a grumpy old man with no sense of humor. But I just can't get past the fact that James Gunn gave Superboy's dog, Krypto, to Supergirl when she already has her own perfectly close-up ready pet, the adorable Streaky the Super-Cat.

cover blurb and interior art from Action Comics #261, February 1960

They say a lot of things to warn you away from comic books, boys and girls, and some of them are actually true. But they don't tell you that one day your head will be so full of familiar adventures that you'll get actively angry when new storytellers come along and screw up the classics by randomly giving Pegasus to Hercules.

Bah, I say. Bah.

*I do, in fact, want more movies set in the DC Universe. If they make enough, sooner or later, they'll make one I actually like, even if only by accident.

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Last night I was lying in bed reading The Tick Omnibus comic book. Not to brag, but it's the 1990 limited edition first printing, numbered 1446 of 3000, hand signed by Tick creator Ben Edlund, art director/letterer Robert Polio, and editor George Suarez. You know the one. Anyway, the point is that I was reading Tick comics in bed, and what should start crawling up my leg?

It could have been worse. I could have been reading issues of Poison Ivy. Or Hellboy.

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Superman/Batman Secret Files #1, 2003

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Superman: The Man of Steel #54, March 1996

Technically speaking, nothing can hold back the darkness forever. For a Spirit of Vengeance, the Spectre can be a real downer.

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Welcome to the 20th annual Wriphe.com Superman Month! What a nice, round, mature number.

This time last year, DC Comics was celebrating the impending release of their latest Superman movie with the "Summer of Superman" publishing initiative. One year later, Superman is literally nowhere to be seen in the DC Universe. Earlier this year, the Man of Steel won a tournament to the death and then disappeared from existence. His comic books are still being published with various children in his stead in a storyline that DC is calling "Reign of the Superboys." DC tells us it is selling very well, but the Superman fans I know don't seem very enthusiastic. I don't blame them. Who wants to pay $5 for a comic that doesn't feature their titular hero?

"Who wants to pay $5 for a comic?" I hear you asking. You make a good point. But this month is about Superman, not the economics of nostalgia.

I also hear some of you you asking, "Who cares about Superman?" I do, for one, and not just for nostalgic reasons. Superman might be a morally inflexible overgrown boy scout in bright pajamas, but at my advancing age, I increasingly enjoy the company of strong characters who still believe that Truth, Justice, and the American Way aren't all mutually incompatible.

Superman: The Man of Steel #80, June 1998

Yeah, he can be a bit preachy. Nobody's perfect.

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Justice League America #81, October 1993

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The Superman Sunday Special newspaper strip, April 1, 1984 (written by Bob "The Answer Man" Rozakis)

According to the Editors of the Encyclopaedia Britannica:

"What is April Fools’ Day?"
Although the day has been observed for centuries, its true origins are unknown and effectively unknowable. It somewhat resembles Hilaria, a festival of ancient Rome, held on March 25.

"How did April Fools’ Day start?"
Some suggest it originated in France with the Edict of Roussillon in 1564, while others believe it relates to the equinox that occurs on March 20 or 21 (the Northern Hemisphere’s vernal equinox and the Southern Hemisphere’s autumnal equinox), a time when people are fooled by sudden changes in the weather.

"Unknowable"? Very funny, Britannica. Superman can travel through time, so I'll be taking his word over some mere mortal encyclopedia editors.

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Mom shares her New York Times digital subscription with me, so I assumed that was why the algorithm thought I could use an ad linking me to this:

While my appreciation for spandex is well documented, what struck me about this particular advertisement was the obvious modesty-preserving panty liner the model was using. That crotch bulge seems so familiar....

Oh, right. It's how Dan Jurgens draws male superhero crotches.

Superman #123 limited edition "Glow-in-the-Dark" variant, May 1997

Maybe that ad was targeting me after all.

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