Let me start right off the bat and warn you that this review is full of spoilers, specifically the identity of the person cradled in Batman's arms on the cover, as well as the mastermind behind the entire mess. While normally I abhor doing spoilers in reviews, I found it impossible to do so in this case. So those who are interested in themselves free of such knowledge are duly warned.

Countdown to Infinite Crisis, is as the title suggests, a prelude to the Infinite Crisis crossover, continuing the series of events that started with Identity Crisis. Offered at a very budget conscious cover price of only US$1, this giant-size issue clocks in at 80 pages with only 10 pages of ads. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is a great bargain, especially considering the average price of a 32 page comic book in 2005 is US$2.99.

Co-written by Geoff Johns (JSA, Teen Titans), Greg Rucka (Gotham Central, Queen & Country), and Judd Winick (Outsiders, Green Arrow), Countdown to Infinite Crisis is split into five individual chapters, illustrated by Rags Morales (Identity Crisis, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter), Ed Benes (Birds of Prey), Jesus Saiz (The Twilight Experiment), Ivan Reis, and Phil Jimenez (Wonder Woman) respectively. While I normally dislike comics with that utilizes multiple artists, it is pulled off here very well with each of these artists' distinct style complementing each other and segueing from one to another very smoothly.

The story opens with the Blue Beetle infiltrating an unknown facility and chances upon a database containing the deepest secrets of not only the Justice League, but also every single superhuman on the planet. Employing a similar approach to that of Identity Crisis # 1, the story flashes back to four days ago where Barbara Gordon a.k.a. the Oracle discovers someone is siphoning money from Kord Omniversal, the company own by Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle's alter ego.

The second chapter opens a day later, and a warehouse owned by Kord Omniversal that is used to store the kryptonite that showered Earth back in Superman/Batman # 6 has been raided and gutted. Despite assistance from the Teen Titans, Outsiders, JSA, Superman, and the newly restored Hal Jordan, they were unable to uncover anything. Dejected, Blue Beetle continues the investigation by himself with the assistance of his best friend and once upon a time fellow Justice League member Booster Gold, before a bolt of lightning strikes out of the blue and destroys not only Beetle's home but also nearly kills Booster Gold.

Too improbable to simply be a random occurrence, Blue Beetle seeks out the wizard Shazam who informs him that there is a war brewing in the realms of magic and that Captain Marvel is unavailable to help. Seeking aide from the Justice League proved to be equally fruitless as they are caught in the middle of an interplanetary war between Rann and Thanagar. Realizing that he has no one else to turn to, the Blue Beetle decides to go ahead with the investigation all by his lonesome.

The fifth and final chapter begins a mere 32 minutes before the beginning of the story, and his investigations has led to a fortress located deep within the Swiss alps. There, he discovers that a secret branch of Checkmate has been tasked to monitor the 1.3 million large superhuman population on the planet and come up with the means to stop them if and when required. Worse is the revelation of Checkmate's leader, the billionaire Maxwell Lord and one time financier of the Justice League. Shocked and feeling utterly betrayed, Blue Beetle's escape attempt is thwarted by a mysterious entity known only as OMAC. Returned to the clutches of Maxwell Lord, the captive Blue Beetle is offered an ultimatum - join Checkmate or die.

Similar to Identity Crisis, this one-shot continues the DC Universe's descent into darker territory, what with the revelation of Maxwell Lord's true allegiance and the brutal murder of Blue Beetle. While I may not like this direction, credit must be given to co-writers Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, and Judd Winick for keeping the level of suspense and mystery up and maintaining a sense of cohesiveness throughout the entire story.

Still, for all that I like about this issue, there is an equal number of misgivings. First is the cold and callous manner in which Batman, Martian Manhunter, and the Black Canary behave around the Blue Beetle, gruffly and rudely dismissing him with utter disregard that is totally out of character for them. Then there's the magical elements involving Shazam and Eclipso that felt like it was forced on to the story more than anything else. Worse is the bastardisation of the work Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis contributed to the late 1980s comedic version of Justice League, that was revived to great acclaim in the Formerly Known as the Justice League mini-series and JLA Classified # 4-9. Lastly, there's the awful cover by Jim Lee and Alex Ross. These are two artists whom I am a great fan of, but their very dissimilar styles do not lend well to a collaboration, resulting in a terrible end product.

This is merely the opening salvo of the Infinite Crisis crossover, and the baton is handed over to the creative teams of the four six-issue mini-series (Day of Vengeance by Bill Willingham (Elementals, Robin) and Justiniano, The OMAC Project by Greg Rucka and Jesus Saiz, Villains United by Gail Simone (Birds of Prey) and Dale Eaglesham (Sigil, H.E.R.O.), and The Rann-Thanagar War by Dave Gibbons (World's Finest) and Ivan Reis) that will stem out of this one-shot.