Countdown to Final Crisis #23

"Countdown to Final Crisis" #23 gives the reader basically one linear story to follow with a short middle interlude. While I'm not a huge fan of Mr. Myxztplk, I found the scenes between him and Superman-Prime were done very well. Countdown has become synonymous with the slaughter of the B and C list characters in the DCU and I had my doubts that Mxy would make it out of this one alive. Writer Paul Dini with an assist from Keith Giffen pulls out an interesting story while Prime does his torturing. We get some background on Mr. Myxztplk and the Fifth Dimension and how it all might play in the upcoming crisis. I thought the interlude with Mary Marvel was a retread of her issues and didn't really move her story along. I was impressed by the art team's efforts here. Tom Derenick on pencils with Wayne Faucher on inks make a good team. The panel layouts were good with excellent character presentations.

While "Countdown" has been somewhat of a disappointment when compared to "52", I'm seeing that DC is trying to accelerate the story and provide the reader something to grasp onto. The book still rates low on my must read list, but I keep getting it hoping to see improvement.