Countdown Presents: the Search for Ray Palmer

Countdown to Final Crisis

by Sean McKeever

Ray Palmer, The Atom, is missing! It's up to heroes Kyle Rayner, Donna Troy and Jason Todd to join forces as the Challengers of the Beyond and scour the multiverse for him, visiting several of DC's varied universes along the way.

Their search takes them to the Wildstorm Universe, the gender-reversing world where Superman and Batman are Superwoman and Batwoman, and the worlds seen in the the classic tales SUPERMAN: RED SON, BATMAN: GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT and more.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Dc Comics

157 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

After writing indie comics (such as the ensemble teen-drama The Waiting Place) for six years, Sean got his big break writing an issue of The Incredible Hulk for Marvel Comics in 2001. Since then, Sean has written hundreds of comics for Marvel, DC Comics and other publishers, including notable runs on Sentinel, Inhumans, Mystique, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, Gravity, Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Birds of Prey and Teen Titans.

Best known for delivering introspective, character-driven work, Sean also wrote several weeks of the Funky Winkerbean syndicated comic strip, much of which has been reprinted in the celebrated collection, Lisa's story: the other shoe.

In 2005, Sean won the Eisner Award for Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition.

Sean continues to write comic books; he also writes for the videogame and animation industries.

Reviews

[ß · Rating 4 out of 5]

im closing my third eye after looking @ the ratings bc i love how jason is an asshole in this but like not EVIL.......and i love his dynamic with donna and kyle so 😗✌️😗✌️

[Rigoberto · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mini-stories from this tie-in to Countdown to Final Crisis was average. The stories relating to Red Rain, Gotham by Gaslight, and Superwoman/Batwoman were not that interesting to me, with the artwork not being that good in my eyes. The Red Son story was pretty dark, and fit the tone of the Red Son universe, though the artwork wasn't that great to me. The Crime Society story was well done and the artwork was good. It was somewhat heart-breaking when we see 3-Face find out that Jokester had disappeared, especially with what happened to him later in the Countdown series made this event more sad. As for the Wildstorm tie-in, it was pretty good to see how the Authority had interacted with the group, though I was hoping for more. Overall, this book does not need to be bought, since the stories are bland and really do not contribute much.

[Chris Proctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed most of this. What Arena tried to do (show us some of the alternates)I think this book did really well, probably because they are in their 'natural' environments. The only weak link, in my opinion, was the final story involving the opposite sex versions of the hero's we know so well - it was way too short and too shallow.

No real beginning, middle or end but still an excellent romp nonetheless. Read it and see for yourselves.

[Jerry Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

One learns absolutely nothing from a visit to parallel Earths by a trio of superheroes from the DC Comics Universe in search of another, the Atom. The search, however, does give readers a glimpse at what the alternate Earths look like compared to our own, especially as those Earths have varying version of the superheroes - and villains - we have come to know over the years. Then again, for as long as DC Comics' superheroes have been around, the origins of many of them keep changing still.

[Colin Parfitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Four heroes travel to an alternative earth.

Split up and look around.

Meet a superhero who is different to how they are in DC continuity.

Heroes find symbol of Ray Palmer.

Four heroes travel to an alternative earth.


There's no progression, the story doesn't begin or end, and nothing of relevance happens.

Go and read Red Son or Gotham by Gaslight instead.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok. A collection of one shots built around the conceit of having an odd group of characters try to find The Atom Ray Palmer who is moving through the multiverse. It is basically an excuse to look in on some Elseworlds worlds, a Victorian Batman, Communist Superman etc. It's ok, a mix of different writers and artists but generally a decent standard throughout.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just pointless and repetitious. Hardly worth writing a review for. A bunch of heroes wander through alternative Earths looking for a guy who is always at least three days gone. Repeat, repeat, repeat. No subplots to speak of. Just endless cameos of comic book characters from different realities.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of awful. No wonder the lead-up to final crisis is so reviled at large. If countdown to final crisis is anything like this I'll probably stay far away. Yikes. How did they go from the really fun infinite crisis stuff and all the lead-ins to this?

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fun to see the character of Ray Palmer (The Atom) become relevant again, but this could have been done in such a better way.

[James Bowman · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of stories with four characters (Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner, Jason Todd, and "Bob" the Monitor) traveling the multiverse in search of (as the title suggests) Ray Palmer. Basically, this was an excuse to explore worlds in DC's recently revived multiverse:
- Earth-50: The Wildstorm Universe. This story is OK, pretty much what you'd expect of more traditional superheroes encountering folks like the Authority.
- Earth-3: Home of the Crime Society, evil counterparts of the Justice Society. However, this story is focused on the heroic Jokester. And it's by far the best in the collection, arguably the main reason to read it.
- Earth-43: Where Batman became a vampire. We get two stories here, centered on this world's version of Dick Grayson. They're just OK.
- Earth-19: Where Batman emerged in Victorian times. This story's not bad, but its main strength is that it hints at an interesting larger Victorian DCU.
- Earth-30: Where Superman was raised in the Soviet Union. Decent setup, but pretty disappointing overall, as a major chunk of the story just clones the original Red Son graphic novel.
- Earth-11: Where everyone's genders are swapped. This story doesn't do anything interesting with the idea, instead riffing on the Amazons Attack storyline. Wasted opportunity, and kinda dull besides.

Basically, read this for the Jokester story, but the rest is missable. (C+)

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was probably even more fun to write than to read, since the authors got to make up 6 different Earths. One where Superman is Russian, one where the genders of all the heroes are reversed, one where the good guys are bad guys etc...

It led to some cool situations, but they we're always just a step behind Ray Palmer. You have to wait for Countdown 18 to find out what happens.

The art in this series of one-shots was hit or miss, sometimes great, sometimes bad and sometimes just average.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Our intrepid (inept and always arguing) heroes hop thru different Earths in the DC Multiverse which allows DC to showcase several alternate worlds without actually telling a real story. Some of the art is good, some not so good. Some of the stories have potential to be more, but never will be. Mostly it is just a waste of time and adds nothing to the Countdown story line.

[rui ♡³ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars for the unintentional gay. jaykyle + long-suffering donna is apparently the exact dynamic needed to get me to finish my first dc comic lmfao

edit: i forgot they made jason look like a middle-aged man going through his fourth mid-life crisis. dc sweetie he’s younger than nightwing and just as attractive C’MON

[Heather Robinson (GFB) · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable storyline if a bit confusing. Some issues were definitely better than others. The art at times though was pretty bad... The team was enjoyable I love Donna. And Bob being Bob is just delightful. Dick was in one issue maybe my fav issue. I am almost finished with my post-UTRH pre 52 Jason Todd read thru 😭

[Andy Dainty · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pretty poor collection of elseworld stories where the protagonists do naff all to affect the status quo, just bicker from world to world, and also fail to achieve their objective; that apparently comes in Countdown Vol 3.

[S · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one came in my library's Batman: Gotham by Gaslight I had no idea who Ray Palmer was tbh

[Brannigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It got two stars because there were only two issues out of the whole thing worth reading the rest was boring. I was also disappointed with the lack of Atom in a story about finding him.

[Lizzy DeMarco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the other two. Perhaps because I had not read the rest of the "Countdown Presents" arc.