WHO COUNTS IN COUNTDOWN? Episode #35 By Bruce MacIntosh If you aren't reading DC's weekly series, Countdown – or you feel ambivalent because it hasn't been getting to the point fast enough – then you're really missing out. While the first dozen or so issues served to "set the table" – introduce the major ongoing plotlines and characters – everything is starting to come together and build to its promised climax in next year's "Final Crisis".
Countdowndoes have a habit of introducing new characters with whom many readers may be unfamiliar. Fear not!The Pulse is here to give you a little background on all these characters so that you can enjoy the series without feeling like you missed something. Last week a nasty called Equus appeared out of nowhere to take on the master fighter, Karate Kid. Who is Equus, and is he really angry because he's so danged ugly?
HIC EQUUS EST VEL AEQUUM EST?
Here is a recap of the events leading up to Equus' appearance in Countdown.
Previously, Karate Kid visited Oracle to get a digital checkup to see what was wrong with his health. After she defeated the Calculator in cyberspace, Oracle revealed that KK was dying and advised him that the only one who might have a cure – or at least some answers – would be one Mr. Orr. In Countdown #36, the martial arts master from the future and his traveling companion ("Una", who is one-third of Triplicate Girl – another Legion of Super Heroes member) set out to consult with Orr.
Countdown #36 finds KK and Una at the seemingly abandoned Ft. Halprin in Nebraska. Their entry is remotely monitored by a mustachioed figure. (Although not revealed, this is Mr. Orr. More about him later.) He radios Equus that they have visitors at the front gate, to which the as-yet-undisclosed character responds, "Not for long…" Countdown #35 then has a brief but action-packed fight scene between Karate Kid and Equus.
Unlike many of the characters who play a part in Countdown's ongoing story have a long and varied history in comics… but not Equus. This guy has only appeared in one storyline… but it was a doozy.
The character Equus appeared in four issues of the dodecilogy, "For Tomorrow" that ran in Superman#204 - #215 (Jun 2004 – May 2005), written by Brian Azzarello and drawn by Jim Lee. It wouldn't be fair to say that he was a "bit" character, but truthfully the behemoth served mostly to provide a dance partner for Supes in two of the requisite fight scenes. (Superman #206 - #207 and #212 – 213.)
If I limited this piece to a physical description of Equus, it would make for a pretty short article, and if I only described his part in the 12-part "For Tomorrow" arc, it would make even less sense than that already-convoluted story already does. Instead, what follows is a summary of that maxi-series, where I'll be sure to include some biting yet humorous commentary. I'll even highlight Equus' part in that story, and maybe we can figure out together what part he will be playing in Countdownand the future of the DC Universe!
VIVE IN CRASTINUM
The story "For Tomorrow" begins in Superman #204 (Jun 2004), dropping into the middle of a conversation between Superman and one Father Leone so abruptly it makes the reader feel like they missed at least one issue. The next two or three issues also feel like that, which is an inauspicious start for a year-long series. Anyway, the pair are discussing the events of "The Vanishing" a year prior, where a million people on earth simply disappeared without explanation – including Lois Lane. Rather than expressing regret for his absence in space at the time, Supes is annoyed at Kyle Rayner for dragging him out on a needless rescue mission while all the action was happening on Earth.
The following issue (#205) Superman again chats with Father Leone and recounts his visit to a war-torn country, where he removed all weapons – but the people still managed to wage war. Rather inexplicably Superman offers to help the leader of one of the factions, General Nox. Later he learns that Nox possesses the weapon that caused the "Vanishing" that took Lois. He sets out to confront Nox, but – finally – Equus intervenes and battles the Kryptonian. Equus is so powerful that the claws attached to his knuckles (a là Wolverine) actually pierce Superman's skin and draw blood.
Later that evening Supes actually meets with Nox, who uses the distraction to give Equus the opportunity to gun down Nox's opponents in cold blood. Superman battles Equus – again – to a standstill, and returns to bawl out Nox (…rather than capturing, slapping the stuffing out of him… anything! You're the most powerful man on Earth, but all you can do is scold this genocidal maniac like a child. Jeez!)
Equus returns, and as they again battle Superman scans him and realizes he's actually human. Equus then activates the "Vanishing" weapon, causing himself, Nox and three thousand others to disappear.
In Issue #208, we learn that Father Leone has cancer. Mr. Orr – pretending to be a hospital orderly – tells Leone that his employers can cure him. Meanwhile, we get a lot of Superman hinting he's going to do something with the "Vanishing" device, and the Justice League members considering how to stop him. Batman and Wonder Woman suspect that Supes is going to commit suicide with the device, presumably out of guilt for the millions of vanished people.
Issue #209 is strangely out of place and truly impedes the flow of the story. Supes battles four giant elemental creatures (water, fire, earth and wind) called forth by a magic woman we later find out is named Halcyon.
The highlight of Issues #210 and #211 is a showdown between Wonder Woman and Superman at his arctic Fortress of Solitude. (She still believes – incorrectly – that he has gone to the Fortress to kill himself.) Her uninvited entry triggers self-destruct mode and she is forced to save Father Leone and Mr. Orr when the latter suddenly appears at the Fortress in a helicopter. Taking advantage of the distraction, Superman turns the Vanishing device on himself and he vanishes!
Superman actually transported himself into another plane of existence, which is apparently modeled on his own mental concept of perfection. He encounters Clark Kent (huh?), who tells Supes where to find Lois. The two lovers then have a steamy reunion. Meanwhile, Equus is back!... and beating the snot out of Clark Kent until an unidentified "General" orders Equus to stop, saying Clark belongs to "the one who will kneel before me." (Hmmm… any guesses who this guy is?)
After Superman and Lois get their year-long absence out of their systems, he meets his parents Jor-El and Lara-El. (Huh?) Inexplicably, he takes this completely in stride – leaving readers to wonder again if we missed an issue or Azzarello is not letting us in on the joke. Anyway, it seems Jor and Lara are the protectors of this idyllic setting called Metropia, which has been home to the millions of vanished people for a year.
Not everyone is happy in paradise, as there are "others" who refuse to accept their new reality. It is these outcasts to whom Superman's pater familias periodically has to lay down the law. Naturally, Equus is one of these malcontents, and in Superman #213 he's running around with Clark Kent strapped to his back! (Is this making any sense to you? Me neither. But wait! It gets better, because…) Now Equus answers to General Zod!
At least we get some answers as the story reaches its climax in Superman #214. Our hero and Zod fight and Supes learns that it was he who used Kryptonian technology to create Metropia within the Phantom Zone. He did this as a preventative measure, so that if Earth ever suffered the same fate as Krypton, there would be somewhere for the people to escape. He also made himself forget about the device. (I'm still not really sure why.) Trapped in the Phantom Zone, Zod found Metropia and it made him mad.
In a move of dubious strategic value, Supes turn the Vanishing device on itself and it transported back to Earth. Only in comics: The device "landed" in front of Father Leone whose surgery had just been completed transforming him into the fourth experimental creation of Mr. Orr and his mysterious employers. Leone uses it to escape and rematerialize in Metropia, which Superman and Zod are trashing with their epic battle.
Supes saves Lois from Equus and then turns the Vanishing Orb on all the displaced citizens of Metropia, returning them to their homes on Earth. He confronts Leone (dubbed "Pilate" by Orr) not initially recognizing him. When when Equus calls Leone "brother", he leaps at him in rage and the two vanish into the rift. Zod taunts Superman and then vanishes back into the Phantom Zone. Finally, Superman returns to Earth and rebuilds the Fortress of Solitude in the Amazon jungle.
Okay – that's the summary of the twelve-issue arc in Superman called "For Tomorrow". I realize that taken as a "review", the preceding would seem rather uncomplimentary, because I do take some potshots at Azzarello's story. It's not that the story was bad – there were parts that pretty good: Plenty of action, a bunch of guest-stars, some new, powerful villains and the return of one of Superman's arch-enemies.
It's just that there were so many loose ends, unresolved plotlines, and unexplained events. As I will comment below, I am convinced that this arc was intended to be the foundation for something bigger – but DC went a different direction, leaving this story twisting in the wind. I also believe that this is why they are systematically bringing back some of these characters in Countdown and elsewhere, and may retroactively incorporate some of the events of "For Tomorrow" into continuity.
EQUUS MINUTIAE:
Here are some bits of trivia involving Equus, the "For Tomorrow" story, and how DC may be incorporating them into current continuity.
Since the conclusion of the "For Tomorrow" arc in Superman over two years ago, neither hide nor hair has been seen of any of Azzarello's new characters. Now, they're sticking like glue to several titles. Is it because Equus and Mr. Orr are such great characters who shouldn't be put out to pasture? I say neigh! It's probably because DC invested a year of one of flagship titles and two of their highest-profile creators, and wanted the characters to finally hoof it across the finish line!
Remember that Karate Kid has some sort of incurable disease, and Orr specializes in "modifying" terminally ill characters into this cyborg-like monstrosities. (Equus and Pilate, so far.) This should be interesting, because Karate Kid is not stupid. I'm wondering what Orr is going to do to convince him that KK is not going to turn him into another monstrosity like Equus and Pilate.
Mr. Orr and Equus apparently work for Checkmate. In their brief (three pages) appearance in Countdown #35, one panel shows Orr monitoring the fight between Karate Kid and Equus and speaking on his headset to an unknown figure. Orr says, "This Karate Kid is something else. Better than you said he'd be. What would Checkmate have me do with him?" We'll hopefully find out in either the next issue of Checkmate or Countdown, because the hidden figure reminds Orr of the need to guide KK "into position exactly."
It is possible that another character from the "For Tomorrow" storyline in Superman has been resurrected: Halcyon. Check out Five of a Kind: Outsiders, featuring Metamorpho & Aquaman. (Out this week.) This was the sorceress who created five elemental giants to destroy Supes and who tried Wonder Woman to stab him with some funky magic dagger.
Equus was the prototype for the OMAC project, as was his successor in the "For Tomorrow" series, Pilate. These characters were effectively shelved for a different approach to OMAC in the Infinite Crisis series.
In Countdown Karate Kid easily tears off Equus' arm, and the latter just as quickly regenerates said appendage. This is a hitherto-undisclosed ability on Equus' part. In the "For Tomorrow" story, he was unable to regenerate the claws on his right hand after Superman unceremoniously tore them off.
The Equus from the 2004-2005 Superman arc had a chest emblem with the Roman numeral "III", indicating that he was the third in a series of "OMAC" experiments, (and the previous two – unnamed – candidates were failures.) In Countdown, the chest plate is there but now the "III" symbol is omitted. No mention is made in the new series of Equus' experimental successor, Father Daniel ("IV", or "Pilate").
I spent way too much time and brain power trying to determine the origin of Equus' name. Equus is Latin for "horse", and naturally the horse belongs to the mammalian genus Equus: No help there. There was an odd Broadway play in the early Seventies, called Equus (and a 1977 motion picture of the same name), about a psychiatrist who tried to determine the motivations of a teenage boy's sexual obsession with horses: Hopefully no connection with this Superman story.
Finally, I found a couple of comments on the Interweb comparing Azzarello's and Lee's portrayal of their character Equus with Mark Millar's character Seth, from his run on The Authority. The similarity between the two characters is obvious, but I was ready to chalk it up to coincidence… until I noticed that the character of Seth actually has hooves!
With all the subtle – yet unresolved – hints and loose threads that Azzarello left dangling, I'm convinced that Azzarello intended this story to be a foundation for continuity in the DCU that never came to be. (For example, Equus was made from the bones of angels, as part of a then-new OMAC project, etc.) Given the timing of the series and that it roughly coincided with Identity Crisis (which led into Infinite Crisis, which fed into OYL, 52, and eventually Countdown.) I'm also guessing that DC Editorial – correctly – opted for the direction that Identity Crisis took the DCU, because "For Tomorrow" was simply a mess of unresolved storylines and uninspiring new characters.
If anyone sees Brian Azzarello anytime soon, ask him if my theory makes any horse-sense or if I'm putting the cart before the horse. Hopefully, he doesn't say I'm full of horse… ah, you get the idea.
RATIOCINATOR IN POSTERUM (NEXT WEEK IN WHO COUNTS IN COUNTDOWN?)
They said it would never happen! Black Canary and Green Arrow are getting hitched, and we're all invited to the Bachelorette party in Countdown (even the guys!) If any readers don't know Black Canary personally, tune in next week to WCIC?We'll give you her entire story so you won't feel out of place attending the festivities. Pax Sit Semper Vobiscum!Posts: 21381 | From: PA | Registered: Aug 2002
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