Well. I've been posting about this book all over the interwebs, but here's the main deal. This story is a failure as a narrative. It certainly had some wonderful dialogue, some fantastic art, great ideas, and neat plot twists. But the story does not hold up. If Final Crisis were the alphabet, it would have been A, C, J, K, M, D, E, X, Z. So basically, out of order and missing a lot of pieces. There is too much that doesn't make sense for this comic to be considered a success. There are too many glaring plot problems. I'm totally unclear on the resolution and current status of most of the key players. In the spirit of Final Crisis, here's a list of my first thoughts and questions in no particular order:- Is 1/2 of Earth 0's population now on Earth 51: the new Kirby-verse?
- But much of the survivors remained on Earth 0, correct?
- Now Checkmate moved as a whole to 51, so they live there now, but a lot of heroes died while trying to get there. Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Mr. Terrific, Black Canary, and Green Arrow died in this issue?
- If they were remade by Superman's wishing machine, then did he bring back other people who died like Martian Manhunter or Blue Beetle?
- Did Fire, Ice, Sasha Bordeux and most of Checkmate die in FC: Resist?
- What did Rage of the Red Lanterns have to do with this comic?
- Why were the Monitors in this story? Did Nix Uotan remake the universe or did Superman?
- How were some characters shown to be in two different places in consecutive panels (like Supergirl was)?
- So everyone knows about the Multiverse now. What does that accomplish? Are we rebooted to pre-Crisis continuity?
- How can the DCU ever seem at all like the "real" world now that the general population is aware of the multiverse?
- I love the idea of Batman in caveman times, but which Earth is he on? Does it matter?
- Can Booster Gold still travel between these universes? I wouldn't ask, except that's pretty core to his character, isn't it?
- So the New Gods are reborn on Earth 51, but no Orion or Darkseid. At least, we see Orion's astro harness and a white flower, so I figure he's dead, and the Black Flash/Racer got Darkseid, so they are both out of it?
- I love the idea of Earth-Kirby, fantastic.
- Did the rocketship of items from the JLA watchtower arrive in Batman's cave?
- If those items are in the cave, does that mean they could not be re-created when Superman remade the universe?
- Does it make a difference if a character died and was remade or if they survived? It seemed like a few people made it through (Supergirl, Power Girl, Frankenstein, Kid Devil, Blue Devil, etc.)
Doug Mahnke's art in this last issue is fantastic, I wonder how great the whole series would have been if he had been the artist from the start?
I really wanted to give this issue a Fair or Average rating, but I can't. I stated that an Average comic is put together professionally and competently, and for all its great ideas, this comic is not put together in a professional fashion. Please comment people, this is one that would make for great discussion.
Poor
4 comments:
I am a fan of non-linear storytelling when it’s done well. The plot may twist and turn or go back and forth, but you can follow the story. At the end the all of the puzzle pieces fall into place and you see the big picture. I recommend Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughter House Five.
I do not recommend DC’s Final Crisis. It is not an example of non-linear storytelling. FC is more an example of nonsensical storytelling. It was full of plot holes and missing pieces and haphazardly executed. As for the final issue I have no idea what happened and furthermore, I don’t care.
FC was never a joy to read. It was neither deep nor clever. At best it comes across as a hallucinogen induced epiphany as told by someone completely tripping balls to someone who is stone-dead sober and just wants the balls tripper to shut the hell up, because, honestly, how can one relate?
I freely admit that I don’t “get” it. I doubt that few, if any, “get” it. If you claim to “get” it you are most likely lying to yourself to avoid feeling disappointed. If you do actually, really, truly “get” it you are either tripping balls (so you won’t get it when you come down, though you may remember “getting” it later) or you are Grant Morrison.
I've stated my opinion before that Grant Morrison is the most overrated comic writers of our time and I cite FC to support my opinion.
Now DC is building their universe (or rather multi-verse) on this piece. They’d have more luck building a house on quick sand.
I have to give you credit, Nate, you had it called way before I did. I loved the book until issue 6.
I would get into the specifics of the many things I did not like as well as the gaping plot holes but I don't have the time.
Nor do I really have the desire. I just want to forget about all of it.
There are still plenty of good, self-contained comics out there to read. Some even in the DC Universe that won't be jacked up by a univerasal event, universal event aftermath, universal event prelude, universal event side-story limited series, or plagued by crossover maddness.
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