Countdown: Arena

Countdown to Final Crisis

by Keith Champagne

The Monarch kidnaps a number of famous superheroes from alternate dimensions, including Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, to fight against themselves for a position in his army.

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

168 pages, Paperback

First published August 12, 2008

Reviews

[Sesana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basically a waste of time. It adds literally nothing to the Countdown story and is just an excuse to see different versions of Batman and Wonder Woman duke it out. And I hated the art style, which can best be described as an inferior take on the old DC Animated house style. Entirely pointless.

[NarraTea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing more than pure fun, being able to see three alternate versions of our favorite DC heroes duke it out in battle is enough to get you to read this little treat. It’s not the best story, but sure as hell fun. WARNING though, it ends in a cliffhanger, so might have to consider reading the Countdown to Final Crisis arcs.

[James Bowman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This miniseries, perhaps more than anything else, shows how badly DC wasted the potential of their new multiverse after Infinite Crisis. We get a bunch of characters from these various earths, many of which are interesting concepts (like the magic-themed Earth-13 characters or the metaphysical Superman of Earth-16), only to slaughter most of them in the course of various brawls. (Probably the worst is the Blue Beetle fight - I still have trouble believing something as horrific as the Scarab would be from Captain Carrot's Earth.) The creators try to make things interesting, mostly with the various ways the heroes try to get out of the fighting, but it's ultimately pretty pointless. This could have been fun - and admittedly there are moments here and there - but it's pretty disappointing overall. (C+)

[Vigneswara Prabhu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this story after reading the Batman Vampire by author Doug Moench, which is definitely a story worth reading.

While researching that character, there was this excerpt about him going up against Batmen from other Elseworlds stories. Which was definitely a premise I'd love to explore.

Unfortunately, other than said three-way, there is little to mention about this lead up to a not so exciting comic book event.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a "slug-o-thon" this wasn't bad. I liked the bickering of the Superman's and each version of the hero seemed to have a distinct personality. My biggest problem was how powerful Monarch is. If 3 Superman's, 3 Wonder Woman's, 3 Firestorms, and 3 Green Lanterns, can barely scratch him, I think he's basically the most powerful person in the DC universe. Also not a fan of the art.

[Drake Zappa · Rating 3 out of 5]

From what I know this adds nearly nothing to the overall plot that it's supposed to tie into but when I picked up 1# as a kid and saw batman fighting vampire batman? I wasn't complaining then And I don't see the point in complaining now. It's not breaking any new ground but it's a fun read I expect especial for younger teens or may be people that are into the elseworlds stories.

[Frizzy - · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a great choice for a first time comic reader. I managed to find this book at the kids house that I was babysitting.

I loved seeing the various Superhero’s though, especially Superman and Batman. The variants were fun. I will be completing the whole series, although I hope to branch out to story driven comics.

[Derek Moreland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it as wretched as every other Countdown-related series? Yeah, pretty much. But at least this one tries to have fun with the premise, and after subjecting myself to the joyless slogs of Lord Havok and the Extremists and Salvation Run, this felt like a breath of appropriately goofy air.

[Brent23 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing wrong with pure dumb fun like a battle royal. If you're looking for anything more than that then im sure it's not for you. But for anybody else looking to see various heroes duke it out, you'll be in for a rather nice treat.

[Hugh Pfabe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun choice of characters, but the story itself is mindless, contradicts itself in a key moment, and ultimately serves no purpose at all.
I wanted to like this is a popcorn, action story way, but it was disappointing even for that.

[Gabor Hernadi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ‘Battle Royal’ of alternative versions of superheroes of the 52 different worlds sounds interesting but at the end just a boring fight festival.

[Nightmare · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the novel ended abruptly but I did enjoy it overall and I hope to get my hands on another graphic novel with answers to what happens.

[Zachary King · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bad. Bad, bad, bad. The very definition of "editorially mandated." Story goes nowhere, except from slugfest to slugfest. Characters are only occasionally recognizable, and its relationship to Countdown proper is impenetrable. The only delight is the tickle in your brain if you actually recognize these multiversal doppelgängers.

[Chris Proctor · Rating 2 out of 5]

By far the weakest of the Countdown tie-ins so far. As far as I can tell it adds absolutely no depth to the main series and is really just an excuse to get some of the 'alternate' superheroes in the mix.

Very disappointing - as a stand-alone I probably wouldn't have given it more than one star...it gets two only because of the rest of the Countdown series.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the appeal of alternate universes and battle royales are teased in this collection, the series exists to gather together an army of DC icons (from different backgrounds) for a future war. Unfortunately, the end concept never plays out and the book leaves one unfulfilled.

[Hillingdon Libraries]

Find this book at Hillingdon Libraries

[Colin Parfitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Assorted versions of DC characters (Wild West Wonder Woman, Vampire Batman, lots and lots of Firestorms) gather in an arena and fight it out until there's only one version of each left.

Why? We don't find out.

It's all entirely pointless.

[Frizzy 2.0 - · Rating 2 out of 5]

🙂4 out of 10🙂

It's not a great choice for a first-time read for comics. I managed to find this book at the kids' house that I babysit.

I loved seeing the various Superheros, especially Superman and Batman. The variants were fun. I will be completing the whole serious despite the mediocre rating.

[Warren]

Part of Final Crisis

[John Yelverton · Rating 1 out of 5]

An utter and complete waste of time and paper. I honestly can't understand what DC was thinking.