Infinity Countdown

by Gerry Duggan

[Quirky Cat]

With the Infinity Wars looming ever closer (okay, they were already on the third issue of it by the time I read all of this, but you know what I mean) it’s time to start setting up for everything that will happen. At first I didn’t think this would end up being a bigger event than Civil War II was, but I ended up being very wrong about that. Or at least that’s how it’s looking right now.
Infinity Countdown consists of Infinity Countdown Prime, Infinity Countdown: Adam Warlock, and Infinity Countdown 1-5. There are more infinity countdown issues and series, so it takes a bit of effort to keep track of them all. A bunch of series/characters get a tie-in issue as well. Let’s see if I can remember them all: Daredevil, Champions (they get two), Darkhawk (he gets four, all of which are bundled into their own graphic novel), Black Widow, and Captain Marvel. All but Darkhawk are bundled into the Infinity Countdown Companion.
I don’t think you actually have to read Infinity Countdown to understand the events of Infinity Wars, but it’ll set up a lot of information that may or may not be useful. If nothing else it’ll explain the context of a lot of things.



There are a few main plots running along at the same time in this volume, though obviously there’s the implication that they’ll all get tied together in the end. Prime is its own focus, as is Adam Warlock. The five issues of the Countdown are more tied together, though they jump between multiple characters and events.
The biggest thing to make note of; the infinity stones are back, but they’re not quite what they used to be. There are reasons for it, but not all of the characters know or understand it. What they/we know is that each of the six stones ended up with a different character. I won’t tell you who gets what stone, because I’m not sure how big of a spoiler that will be considered down the line.
There are so many characters in this volume it’s almost overwhelming. Obviously you know that Warlock is in it, but there’s also the Guardians of the Galaxy, Richard Rider and the rest of the Nova Corps (some new ones even get names!), Ant-Man (who was part of the Guardians of the Galaxy at this point in time), Silver Surfer, Black Widow, Doctor Strange, The Collector, The Grand Master, Galactus, and a bunch of characters that I’m surely forgetting.
There’s a lot to follow here, as the explain what has been happening with each of the stones. Different characters unsurprisingly care more about specific stones, and so on. The most notable (and sympathetic, to a certain extent) is Gamora’s obsession with the soul stone. I get why she wants it, I really do. But there’s got to be a line, and she doesn’t seem to care. Even when everybody else backs off on the matter….she just won’t.
I’ll admit that I had missed the last few issues in this countdown. However despite that I started reading Infinity Wars as it released anyway. To be honest? I didn’t have any trouble following what was happening. It was all pretty intuitive, especially if you’ve been keeping up with even one of the main character arcs. So it’s your call on if you want to read this one or not.


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