Countdown to Final Crisis #24

"Countdown" has received a facelift over the last few issues and has finally hit its stride as "Countdown to Final Crisis". Fresh off of his stint in the "Sinestro Corps War", Superman Prime makes an appearance here in a black suit reminiscent of Superman's post "Death of Superman/Return of Superman" uniform. Back in "Countdown to Final Crisis" #26, the story jumped to Earth-15 as a black clad individual grabbed a bald headed guy. Well, in the first few pages of this issue we see that it was Superman Prime grabbing Earth-15's Lex Luthor. For those keeping score, Earth-15 is the Earth where Zod is Superman. Prime works over this Earth keeping the same tone that Geoff John's established in the Sinestro Corps "Prime" one-shot. We also see story lines begin to merge as the Bludhaven/Firestorm intersects the Mary Marvel/Darkseid storyline. Both the Firestorm and Mary Marvel stories are handled quite well here.

Penciller Tom Derenick and inker Wayne Faucher's art is very good. I've never really heard of either of these guys, but they capture the action and present it in a dynamic manner. I'd like to see more from Derenick - if he can keep a monthly schedule.

I've gone from luke warm to warm on this series. Issue #26 was a good jumping on point for new readers. The last two issues have been good and the future is looking brighter.