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Countdown Presents: Lord Havok and the Extremists
Spinning out of COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS, this title collects the complete miseries by Frank Tieri and Liam Sharp. Discover why Lord Havok and his deadly team are so important to the future of the DCU — and how the fate of the multiverse lies in their hands.
144 pages, Paperback
First published September 2, 2008
18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 15, 2019
A newish origin story for the Extremists. DC missed the boat for this title by about 20 years. The Extremists were old villains from Justice League International back in the 80's. All the characters in this dimension were basically doppelgangers of the Marvel universe where the Extremists were all analogs of the major Marvel villains (Dr. Doom, Magneto, Dormammu, Dr. Octopus, etc.). They destroyed their Earth and came over to ours with the last three remaining faux Avengers. In this retconned origin, there's also a version of Marvel's Civil War. I'm not sure how any of this tied into Countdown other than Monarch and some alternate universe heroes make an appearance.
The writing on this is really flat, dark and gritty. Liam Sharp's art wasn't up to it's usual level either. All around this book is a fail.
The writing on this is really flat, dark and gritty. Liam Sharp's art wasn't up to it's usual level either. All around this book is a fail.
September 6, 2016
so here in the second- or third-to-most-recent reset of the DC Universe (ugh, Countdown), we get a new(-ish) origin of Lord Havok and the Extremists. debuting between the pages of the jokey Justice League International of the 90s, this super-powered group of terrorists were modeled, in typical I suppose "humorous" JLI style, after various Marvel Universe super villains. originally I found them to be quite tedious - but then I found the jokiness of Justice League International to be tedious as well. hey I was a super serious, artistic, judgmental DC Vertigo type of guy back then, don't judge me.
it's a crazy postmodern world these days in the DC comic business with so many iterations of so many characters and so many "new" characters that are actually old characters from other comic companies bought by DC. sometimes the pomo insanity of it all works and sometimes it doesn't. in this case, it surprisingly does.
Frank Tieri worked on Marvel's overrated Civil War storyline and maybe he was hoping his corporate overlords wouldn't notice this side project because he steals and steals and steals from it. whatever, I liked his thefts. it was fun seeing lame versions of Iron Man and Captain America being ridiculous. it was especially enjoyable seeing a constantly shirtless, middle-aged liberal do-gooder type (it's like I'm writing about myself here) named Blue Jay who first appears to be a parody bizzaro version of Hawkman, but who later transforms into a version of, I guess, Ant-Man? anyway, fun! and speaking of bizzaro, there's a cameo from Bizarra, a bizarro Wonder Woman. and also, just as briefly, there's Bob the Anti-Monitor and Herr Superman and a gay Thor named Wandjina and one of my favorites, Zombie Commissioner Gordon, who is sensibly kept on a chain leash. and so many more. it's like an embarrassment of bizarre riches. my favorite part of the book is the sad and tragic back story of poor little lovelorn Gorgon, constantly picked on and full of angst. such a tender tale and it features a character who looks like this:
so overall I rather liked this one. it was sort of sloppy and thoughtless, this throwing together of different characters and this weird rewriting of the characters themselves, but it also was a lot of chaotic, satiric, surprising fun. the art is nothing special, although there were some amusing moments of characters looking thoughtful right before slaughtering other characters.
one thing I didn't like: the murder of two children at two different times. I get why they did it and it didn't feel particularly exploitative, but that kind of shit is my personal bugaboo and I hate having to deal with it whenever it appears.
it's a crazy postmodern world these days in the DC comic business with so many iterations of so many characters and so many "new" characters that are actually old characters from other comic companies bought by DC. sometimes the pomo insanity of it all works and sometimes it doesn't. in this case, it surprisingly does.
Frank Tieri worked on Marvel's overrated Civil War storyline and maybe he was hoping his corporate overlords wouldn't notice this side project because he steals and steals and steals from it. whatever, I liked his thefts. it was fun seeing lame versions of Iron Man and Captain America being ridiculous. it was especially enjoyable seeing a constantly shirtless, middle-aged liberal do-gooder type (it's like I'm writing about myself here) named Blue Jay who first appears to be a parody bizzaro version of Hawkman, but who later transforms into a version of, I guess, Ant-Man? anyway, fun! and speaking of bizzaro, there's a cameo from Bizarra, a bizarro Wonder Woman. and also, just as briefly, there's Bob the Anti-Monitor and Herr Superman and a gay Thor named Wandjina and one of my favorites, Zombie Commissioner Gordon, who is sensibly kept on a chain leash. and so many more. it's like an embarrassment of bizarre riches. my favorite part of the book is the sad and tragic back story of poor little lovelorn Gorgon, constantly picked on and full of angst. such a tender tale and it features a character who looks like this:
so overall I rather liked this one. it was sort of sloppy and thoughtless, this throwing together of different characters and this weird rewriting of the characters themselves, but it also was a lot of chaotic, satiric, surprising fun. the art is nothing special, although there were some amusing moments of characters looking thoughtful right before slaughtering other characters.
one thing I didn't like: the murder of two children at two different times. I get why they did it and it didn't feel particularly exploitative, but that kind of shit is my personal bugaboo and I hate having to deal with it whenever it appears.
January 30, 2012
I wonder how carefully Marvel's legal offices read this series. I also wonder what inspired DC to release something that's not even parody, just a very, very lightly adapted version of Marvel's Civil War. That aside, there are indeed some interesting storytelling moments, but not enough to make me like the book as a whole.
July 12, 2018
This was a lot better than I anticipated. A crossover event, featuring not only third tier characters at best, but characters deliberately modelled on Marvel heroes and villains, looked like being a tough read.
Writer Frank Tieri manages the near impossible and gives Lord Havok and his cardboard villains actual personalities, actual motivations, and makes them far more interesting. You care just a little bit more.
That being said, we have a lot of cliche here. The heroes are as bad as the villains, everyone has a grey moral code, the Countdown Monarch stuff is a little forced, and some characters were in it more for the sight gags than anything else.
It was harmless fun though, and it made these characters interesting, which was no mean feat.
I’d recommend this. Just.
Writer Frank Tieri manages the near impossible and gives Lord Havok and his cardboard villains actual personalities, actual motivations, and makes them far more interesting. You care just a little bit more.
That being said, we have a lot of cliche here. The heroes are as bad as the villains, everyone has a grey moral code, the Countdown Monarch stuff is a little forced, and some characters were in it more for the sight gags than anything else.
It was harmless fun though, and it made these characters interesting, which was no mean feat.
I’d recommend this. Just.
October 15, 2021
I really like the covers on this series. That was about it. First off it said the series was going to be 8 issues, but it ended up being 6. Then the covers showed that it should be read at a certain time during the Countdown series, but then the inside said the events happened at least 10 issues off from what the cover said.
Then on to the story. I never really understood what was going on. I'm not sure if it was because I wasn't familiar with ANY of the characters involved, or it was just written poorly. Maybe a little of both. Either way, it didn't make for very enjoyable reading.
Then on to the story. I never really understood what was going on. I'm not sure if it was because I wasn't familiar with ANY of the characters involved, or it was just written poorly. Maybe a little of both. Either way, it didn't make for very enjoyable reading.
August 28, 2020
For years I have been wondering why this had such a low rating on Goodreads. Now I kind of get it. This was just a "gritty" DC version of Marvel characters. Mostly Avengers, but there was a Magneto/Prof. X combo analogue, as well as a Wolverine and Dr. Doom. Conventional DC characters were given cameos, at most. It was very dissatisfying.
August 21, 2025
Barely coherent, but still kind of fun. Anti-heroic versions of Sabretooth, Magneto, and Dr. Octopus team up to take on some alt-universe Avengers in a sidelong spoof of The Ultimates and Civil War. Specifically the not-Avengers from Giffen and DeMatteis' Justice League? Huh? It's interesting to see where Liam Sharp started, knowing what a great artist he is today.
July 5, 2019
I've read Frank Tieri writing Bad Guys before, and enjoyed it--Weapon X was dumb, but really fun. This is just a joyless slog, though, with flat, boring character with nonexistent motivation and no clear goals or needs.
And holy shit, Liam Sharpe was an entirely different artist a decade ago.
And holy shit, Liam Sharpe was an entirely different artist a decade ago.
Want to Read
February 16, 2024Tomo final de la Cuenta atrás a ningún lado de DC. Listado de personajes pendientes.
March 30, 2008
Some spoilers!
It seemed to be a very boring series in the beginning, but one scene captured my attention: when Lord Havok kills the czar and his wife, he hesitates briefly to kill their child. It really raised my curiosity that made me keep reading. A great twist and revelation at the end of the book.
It seemed to be a very boring series in the beginning, but one scene captured my attention: when Lord Havok kills the czar and his wife, he hesitates briefly to kill their child. It really raised my curiosity that made me keep reading. A great twist and revelation at the end of the book.
Read
September 28, 2008Part of Final Crisis
March 26, 2012
An utter and complete waste of time. This book should not be read, and it's down right deceiving as it was nothing to do with the "Infinite Crisis" book.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews