Final Crisis has become a legendary story for DC Comics that offered up several big changes to the status quo with deaths and new heroes stepping into the light. It's been a little over 6 years since the story wrapped up and people still applaud it. But, is it really all it's said to be?
Final Crisis follows the story of Earth's heroes attempting to fight off Darkseid after his fall from grace. The story starts with Orion's death and an investigation being opened by the Justice League and Green Lantern Corps. Eventually one of the Alpha Lanterns is revealed to be possessed by Darkseid after she frames Hal Jordan and attacks John Stewart. All of the Green Lanterns then leave Earth. Darkseid attempts to create an army of Batman clones using Batman's memories and that fails. Which ultimately leads to Batman shooting him...with a gun. Not a grapple gun, but a gun that shoots bullets before Batman "dies." Superman is sidelined for majority of the story after the Daily Planet is blown up and Lois is injured. Darkseid sends Libra to create an army of super villains as well as mind control helmets which he uses to control heavy hitters like Wonder Woman and Black Lightning. Eventually Darkseid is defeated by an army of Supermen from different Earth before being claimed by the Black Racer.
J.G. Jones does most of the art for the entire story and it's really good. He uses a unique style which really helps to show how dark the plot is. Admittedly his artwork is one of the few bright spots. The artwork done by Carlos Pacheco, Marco Rudy, and Doug Mahnke later in the series continues that style. I say the art is one of the few bright spots because, the story leaves a lot to be desired, or taken away.
Usually I detail majority of the story when I do one of these reviews but I honestly don't have any idea of how I would do that since the story is overly convoluted. The story takes place in the prehistoric past. It takes place in the 31st century. It takes place on over 100 different Earths. It takes place in several different universes and it isn't portrayed well at all. There's jumping back and forth with no explanation whatsoever. There's involvement of the New God's and the Old God's, The Guardians of The Universe, as well as The Monitors. Also it somehow contributes to the start of the events in Watchmen despite none of those characters or universes being involved in the actual story.
Death and resurrection is a common things and it happens in this story as well but it is handled rather poorly. Martian Manhunter had been stranded on a prison planet for super villains. There he was attacked by villains who attempted to kill him with everything including fire. When the villains left he was stranded on the planet light years away from Earth. In Final Crisis he is somehow returned to Earth with no explanation. Then he is set on fire, the fire obviously doesn't kill him. Yet somehow a simple gold spear is able to pierce his skin and heart to kill him. There's no explanation to that, so is gold Martian Manhunter's weakness? Did the fear of fire make him lose concentration and thus his invulnerability and regeneration? They really should have explained that one better. Let's talk about Orion's death. He was killed by a radioactive bullet that went back in time after it killed him. I'll let you think about that one. Lastly Batman was shot by Darkseid's Omega Beams. These are kill shots, they kill people, frequently. Yet, Batman was only transported backwards in time. That one needs explanation too.
Barry Allen was resurrected in this story. He literally outran the death. His return also removed all of Wally West's personality somehow. In fact Barry Allen and Jay Garrick may have been the only members of the Flash Family to retain any personality. That includes the wives and kids of Barry Allen, Wally West and Jay Garrick. There was way too much time spent on them. For some unknown reason the Justice League made sure to protect these families but left their own families to fend for themselves. On the preventing death side, Superman somehow uses invisible heat vision to keep Lois Lane's heart beating. That's one for the Myth Busters.
Look, lowering power levels for a story makes sense when done right and it happens a lot. It was not done right here. Black Adam and Captain Marvel Jr. lost their powers during a battle in this story. Yet, Captain Marvel (Before he was renamed Shazam) and Mary Marvel were all good. These four all get their powers from the same place so why were only two effected? In an attempt to sideline the powerhouses Wonder Woman and Black Lightning had their minds controlled. But it's not all bad.
A lot of B and C listed heroes got a chance to shine in this story and it was great. Seeing Mr. Terrific leading Checkmate and the Justice League simultaneously was great. Black Lightning was mind controlled during later parts of the story but he really shined early. They showed him to be the powerhouse that he really is with him dominating battles. Then it's revealed that he keeps secret informants and hideouts as well as hides equipment that could save the world. Renee Montoya worked with both Atoms for a good portion as well. The big hitters like Superman got all the credit at the end, of course, but for most of the story they were decommissioned so leaning on heroes considered lesser was nice. Mr. Miracle plays the same roll whenever one of these events with Darkseid happens but he's always refreshing because he's rarely around the rest of the time and he's so charming. Also, I need to learn how he escapes everything.
The other really good thing was the Super Young Team. They're like a walking parody of anime tropes and I love it. Let's talk about them for a second. Their leader is Most Excellent Super Bat. His power is that he's so rich he can do anything. He has all of the confidence of Booster Gold with more money than Batman. No need for a car, plane and boat. Why not one vehicle that does all three? Big Atomic Lantern Boy is not a Green Lantern but he's got suit that shoots atomic blasts. He's also cripplingly shy and can't tell Shiny Happy Aquazon he has a crush on her. She's the supermodel daughter of a Japanese Hero and her power is the ability to breathe underwater, she needs glasses and can't see but won't wear them because they aren't cool. Then there's Crazy Shy Lolita Canary who is the size of a tiny bird and doesn't speak or people can't hear her. She also has wings. Lastly is Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash who has shoes that let him run 500MPH and speaks great English. They're so damn annoying I love them.
Final Crisis was a crisis. It was used to set up future stories and that makes it bad. It was nothing but the set up for Blackest Night. The thing is, after Blackest Night the only change this comic brought that remains is Orion being dead and Barry Allen being alive. Everyone else who was revived dies again and everyone who dies returns. This was just filler, a reason to do a company wide crossover and it was a disappointment. It lead to some great stuff like Battle for The Cowl and Blackest Night but Final Crisis by itself is poor. It's not good and you'd be better off reading a summary than wasting your time reading this.
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet
Follow @OriginalKingD
J.G. Jones does most of the art for the entire story and it's really good. He uses a unique style which really helps to show how dark the plot is. Admittedly his artwork is one of the few bright spots. The artwork done by Carlos Pacheco, Marco Rudy, and Doug Mahnke later in the series continues that style. I say the art is one of the few bright spots because, the story leaves a lot to be desired, or taken away.
Usually I detail majority of the story when I do one of these reviews but I honestly don't have any idea of how I would do that since the story is overly convoluted. The story takes place in the prehistoric past. It takes place in the 31st century. It takes place on over 100 different Earths. It takes place in several different universes and it isn't portrayed well at all. There's jumping back and forth with no explanation whatsoever. There's involvement of the New God's and the Old God's, The Guardians of The Universe, as well as The Monitors. Also it somehow contributes to the start of the events in Watchmen despite none of those characters or universes being involved in the actual story.
Death and resurrection is a common things and it happens in this story as well but it is handled rather poorly. Martian Manhunter had been stranded on a prison planet for super villains. There he was attacked by villains who attempted to kill him with everything including fire. When the villains left he was stranded on the planet light years away from Earth. In Final Crisis he is somehow returned to Earth with no explanation. Then he is set on fire, the fire obviously doesn't kill him. Yet somehow a simple gold spear is able to pierce his skin and heart to kill him. There's no explanation to that, so is gold Martian Manhunter's weakness? Did the fear of fire make him lose concentration and thus his invulnerability and regeneration? They really should have explained that one better. Let's talk about Orion's death. He was killed by a radioactive bullet that went back in time after it killed him. I'll let you think about that one. Lastly Batman was shot by Darkseid's Omega Beams. These are kill shots, they kill people, frequently. Yet, Batman was only transported backwards in time. That one needs explanation too.
Barry Allen was resurrected in this story. He literally outran the death. His return also removed all of Wally West's personality somehow. In fact Barry Allen and Jay Garrick may have been the only members of the Flash Family to retain any personality. That includes the wives and kids of Barry Allen, Wally West and Jay Garrick. There was way too much time spent on them. For some unknown reason the Justice League made sure to protect these families but left their own families to fend for themselves. On the preventing death side, Superman somehow uses invisible heat vision to keep Lois Lane's heart beating. That's one for the Myth Busters.
Look, lowering power levels for a story makes sense when done right and it happens a lot. It was not done right here. Black Adam and Captain Marvel Jr. lost their powers during a battle in this story. Yet, Captain Marvel (Before he was renamed Shazam) and Mary Marvel were all good. These four all get their powers from the same place so why were only two effected? In an attempt to sideline the powerhouses Wonder Woman and Black Lightning had their minds controlled. But it's not all bad.
A lot of B and C listed heroes got a chance to shine in this story and it was great. Seeing Mr. Terrific leading Checkmate and the Justice League simultaneously was great. Black Lightning was mind controlled during later parts of the story but he really shined early. They showed him to be the powerhouse that he really is with him dominating battles. Then it's revealed that he keeps secret informants and hideouts as well as hides equipment that could save the world. Renee Montoya worked with both Atoms for a good portion as well. The big hitters like Superman got all the credit at the end, of course, but for most of the story they were decommissioned so leaning on heroes considered lesser was nice. Mr. Miracle plays the same roll whenever one of these events with Darkseid happens but he's always refreshing because he's rarely around the rest of the time and he's so charming. Also, I need to learn how he escapes everything.
Final Crisis was a crisis. It was used to set up future stories and that makes it bad. It was nothing but the set up for Blackest Night. The thing is, after Blackest Night the only change this comic brought that remains is Orion being dead and Barry Allen being alive. Everyone else who was revived dies again and everyone who dies returns. This was just filler, a reason to do a company wide crossover and it was a disappointment. It lead to some great stuff like Battle for The Cowl and Blackest Night but Final Crisis by itself is poor. It's not good and you'd be better off reading a summary than wasting your time reading this.
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet
Follow @OriginalKingD
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Lol I didn't think it was that bad when I read it. But I was a lot younger. It might be time to revisit this.
ReplyDeleteThat always happens to me. I say "I'll go back and check this out" and it rarely turns out well lol
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