Countdown to Countdown

It's no surprise that the followup to 52 will be called Countdown. This looks at the post-52, post-WWIII DC Universe, with the signature character of Jimmy Olsen.

It's a little surprising that the Legion will have some contact with Countdown. We've already seen a Legion flight ring in the promotional material, for one thing.

What's a lot surprising is that a Legionnaire is in the new promo poster. The poster (which is on the cover of this month's Previews and will be offered for retail sale later) has Karate Kid - again - shown running with the pack, at center left next to Hal Jordan's right hand. Unless, of course, they're going to pull the same thing here that they did with JLA #1 a few months ago, and just put him on the cover as a red herring.

But what's even more surprising is how they describe Jimmy Olsen, via Wizard Universe:

I’d say our everyman character in the story is Jimmy Olsen, who to a great degree fits that bill within the DC Universe anyway. He has links to the Justice League, the Legion of Super-Heroes and the New Gods. And he is in the unique role of being not only a traveler through the mainstream DC Universe, but also becomes increasingly aware that he might have a bigger part to play in all this than he’s ever suspected.

This Jimmy has a link to the Legion?


(via Wizard Universe)

Wizard Universe has an interview with Paul Dini, who'll be the main writer on the project. Meanwhile, Newsarama has an interview with DC Senior VP-Executive Editor Dan Didio and Senior Editor Mike Marts (who’ll be editing Countdown as well as the regular Legion book). Dan DiDio remarks on the Jimmy Olsen storyline:

One of the key storylines follows Jimmy Olsen throughout the DC Universe, and touched upon a lot of what our long-time fans will remember Jimmy to be with the character from the’60s and into the ‘70s – again, while keeping it fresh and contemporary for a modern audience...

This is being called "the book where shit blows up."