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The whole things is ridiculous. The character simply hasn’t had the time emotionally to believably make this transition.
If it’s legit, it’s the dumbest character progession ever. If it’s just a fakeout, then it doesn’t work because it’s too soon to seem anything but a fakeout.

I’m still holding out hope that Mary’s playing Darkseid somehow. But then, I’m a sucker.

I think MasonK’s right, and it is a fakeout. And contrary to Stephane, I think it *is* working, simply by the fact it’s got so many people screaming about it.

This is one of the most discouraging effects of the Internet (along with people getting up in arms about comic books and movies that haven’t even been made yet.) It’s like a writer can’t even have a plot twist anymore, because he’ll be pilloried for the zig that comes before the zag a month or two later.

(And, yeah, if this *is* the new status quo, it’s bad, a crime against a great character and/or women in general, I’ll never ever ever ever buy another DC book again, yada yada yada, but at least give the story a chance to finish before condemning it, maybe?)

I skimmed through #4 in the store, and was astonished at how badly it was all handled. “Oh, hey, remember that whole progression through from innocence to corruption to redemption you had, with Eclipso? Yeah, well, we’ve only got about three issues left, and you need to be evil. So here’s a Big Sphere of Evil Power ™. Want it?”

“Yeah, OK.”

Wait, 49 issues hasn’t been enough time for MM to transition emotionally?

That seems impossible.

Unless you’re talking about Countdown (which you are), in which case it’s absolutely true! And ridiculous.

It’s not like Mary was ever “fully recovered”. Seriously, read any scene with Mary Marvel from after the last Eclipso fight: it’s clear that she’s not quite recovered her sanity (the scene right before Mary goes to Apokolips is a good example, as she’s obsessive and implusive in a way that her character shouldn’t normally be.) If you want a horrible metaphor, she’s an alcoholic who fell off the wagon with Darkseid’s help.

This plot point would work better if the two part Great Disaster insert hadn’t robbed the series of whatever momentum it had.

Here’s a quote from Grant Morrison:

“…we’re going to take what’s been happening to Mary Marvel beyond all acceptable limits. I think fanboys should enjoy that one. There’s going to be a big definitive battle between Supergirl and Mary Marvel.”

i think it would be a bigger crap on the character of darkseid to have him be fooled by mary marvel. he’s supposed to be the ultimate badass.

Yeah, its going to look bad for Darkseid no matter what. Good thing he’ll likely be dead by the end of Death of the New Gods.
Until Darkseid 2.0, anyway.

I believe he’s almost certain to be the one who survives DotNG so he can headline FINAL CRISIS.

The general thing is dumby-dumby-dumb, but you gotta love that shot of her beating Donna Troy with Kyle Rayner.

…and the rest of the Marvel Family members are otherwise occupied to let this happen? They must be in on it.

Sleestak:

The other Marvel Family members have been busy off in The Trials of Shazam, with Billy taking over for the dead (well, deader) wizard and Junior going through various tests and what-not to become Captain Marvel. So, yeah, sadly, they’ve been otherwise occupied while Mary’s been going bad.

What struck me from what I saw was how generic her “evil Mary” act was. It could be any female supervillain, really- there’s nothing unique to her and her personality.

It seems like a waste of 48 issues of character development ot me (regardless of whether it’s a good status quo for her).

It seems like it almost HAS to be an editorially driven reverse course to prepare for Final Crisis. Otherwise, it’s some of the worst storytelling I’ve ever seen. How do you pay off 48 issues of character development and then just haphazardly do a reverse course? That’s absolutely insane.

It’s like a writer can’t even have a plot twist anymore, because he’ll be pilloried for the zig that comes before the zag a month or two later.

Isn’t that exactly what the writers want, though? I mean, if people are angry because they fell for your plot misdirection, then you’ve done what you set out to do.

i think it would be a bigger crap on the character of darkseid to have him be fooled by mary marvel.

I don’t know.

I think I would rather be fooled by Mary Marvel than have my ass handed to me by… [gulp]… Jimmy Olsen?!?

You know, I’m kind of glad I stayed out of this whole Countdown fiasco; but now I’m wondering which way the pendulum will swing with Trinity (and DC isn’t even saying what it’s about, only that Supes, Bats & Wondy are in it). I know this is fodder for another column, but I’d be interested to know how you guys feel about the series.

Isn’t it fascianting that just one issue of “Secret Invasion” was, what, at least two or three times more enjoyable and competently handled than 49+ issues of “Countdown”?

First “52″, now this, and “Trinity” to follow.

On the one hand, “Trinity” gets what was critically missing from the prior two series – DC’s Holy Trinity. But over 70+ years of pages and continuity, DC’s shown they can screw those characters up, too – if given the chance.

See, I thought 52 was all kinds of fun. Genuinely exciting, full of great characterization, plot twists that were unexpected but made perfect sense, and a sense of wonder about the DC Universe.

Countdown was the opposite – the characters served the plot, the plot went nowhere (full issues tied into other DC events and very little to do with the story), and entire Earths were destroyed for no reason at all.

I hope Trinity falls closer to 52 than it does to Countdown, but (Busiek fan though I am), I don’t expect it to reach the highs of the first series.

So you actually read modern mainstream DC books expecting something other than stupid resolutions? I think a DC book is only noteworthy if it manages to not be resolved in an utterly stupid way, which is rare since Didio took over.

Years from now I expect to see a tell-all interview with Paul Dini about how “Countdown” ended up as a trainwreck, but I think we all already know the answer.

Since I have a lot of respect for him as a creator, I want to believe that much of the story was editorially mandated and he just attempted to connect the dots for a nice-sized paycheck. Remember how exciting it was to hear that Paul Dini was writing a weekly comic book? Or remember this promo image: http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/Countdown/countdown_t.jpg
How many of those characters (especially the ones front-and-center) actually played a role that was more than a cameo appearance at Black Canary’s bachelorette party?

The lesson of Countdown, comes from the difference between this project and the more successful, more acclaimed 52:

52: What four highly-accomplished writers (Morrison, Waid, Rucka, and Johns), working close together and limited editorial control, can do with C-list characters

Versus…

Countdown: What five good, but less accomplished writers (McKeever, Beechen, Bedard, Palmiotti, Gray) working seperately from editorially-mandated plots can do with C-list characters

The difference isn’t all that surprising, is it?

Luckily it seems with Busiek/Bagley Trinity with have a more cohesive hand…

What resolutions??? Every DC book these days just feels like a lead-in to the next crossover. When’s the last time a mini-series from DC even had a proper ending? Blue Beetle and maybe Birds Of Prey are the only books that have managed to pull off a fairly self-contained ending/resolution in the last several months…

Yes, Countdown is lame and all that, but I was just checking to see if it is fair to complain about the Mary Marvel thing after Countdown ends and she’s still in her current (really dumb) status quo.

You figure the end of a 52 issue series is a fair point to complain about things that happened in that series, right?

So no “You can’t knock it, because it may be revealed months from now that it is all a twist!”

If a twist comes from a separate writer, is that even a twist?

I’m thinking the Mary Marvel thing will go as Grant Morrison describes. He would know, since he plotted Final Crisis.

Maybe Mary recovers after Supergirl beats her senseles, and MM ends up working with Freddy again.

Oh, and Freddy is calling himself Shazam, since that’s his NEW magic word. Gotta keep that tradition alive… maybe he should call himself Fred.

Billy Batson? He’s calling himself “Marvel” now. I wonder what Joe Q had to say about that… is it a handshake deal with DiDio, maybe?

Hey, it’s DC. At least she’s not in pieces in a refrigerator, and even if she does die as a result, they just might erect a statue in the Marvel-Cave.

So you actually read modern mainstream DC books expecting something other than stupid resolutions? I think a DC book is only noteworthy if it manages to not be resolved in an utterly stupid way, which is rare since Didio took over.

And Marvel books are so much better?

Can we please stop with all this crossover BS. I have a crazy idea. How about some good self contained stories where the reader doesn’t have to buy ever damn book out in a month just to read.