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FINAL CRISIS #3 (OF 7)


Price: $3.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 8.7%

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Comments

  1. Avatar photo TehDave says:
    August 4, 2008 at 5:21 pm

    you know this series is for real when FRANKENSTEIN shows up.

  2. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    August 4, 2008 at 5:27 pm

    40 pages? Why is this oversized? Maybe this is the reason why Jones cant do the entire event. If it’s always 40 pages then he’s gonna need all the help he can get.

    Unlike Secret Invasion, this event has (so far) been really entertaining. There’s a nice overlying mystery and the villians have really stepped up. I’m expecting more obscure characters, more Barry Allen Flash, and great art.

    Although this week is light for me…only 3 titles this week! Guess it could be my POTW without even trying,

  3. Avatar photo MrGlass says:
    August 4, 2008 at 6:18 pm

    Let’s see of this is strike three. Is this the issue when this story starts to make sense? If it does make sense will people care? And which drug infected storyline that Morrison is punshing us with is better Final Crisis or Batman: RIP?

  4. Avatar photo NealAppeal says:
    August 4, 2008 at 7:51 pm

    This series has always made sense to me.  Some things are mysterious and yet to be explained, but it doesn’t fail to make sense. The only WTF moments I have gotten from this are moments when I feel like I’m supposed be going WTF.

  5. Avatar photo NJBaritone says:
    August 4, 2008 at 9:15 pm

    Perhaps it is 40 pages because they are intentionally skipping a month between issues 3 & 4?

  6. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    August 4, 2008 at 9:44 pm

    Well that cant be, cause it should say something like ‘Issue 3 and 4 in one huge book!’ or something like that. Maybe Morrison is just making the story really big….too big for a normal issue. Were the COIE and Infinte Crisis titles had longer issues? Cause I cant remember….also the first two issues were normal sized…

    Confusing, but 40 pages for only 3.99? (should be 5 bucks with that much pages) then I’m okay with it. Maybe that’s what Secret Invasion should’ve done; more pages and keep it a 8 issue series.

  7. Avatar photo patio says:
    August 4, 2008 at 11:02 pm

    Is that cover really J.G. Jones? Shouldn’t she have a lollipop in her hand or something? Ah… I kid. She’s cute.

    The Wonder Woman cover is a WTF moment for me.

    Incidentally, SI #1 was 40 also pages and also $3.99. Since then it’s been the regular 22 for… still $3.99.

  8. Avatar photo Muady says:
    August 5, 2008 at 12:24 am

    Dudes, relax. It’s been oversized from the begining, and the 40-count includes ads, and its what you have always received for a 3.99 book(unless you count Marvel events). If you look at all the solicits for regular 2.99 books you’ll see them say "32 pgs".

  9. Avatar photo Chris Rohling says:
    August 5, 2008 at 1:52 am

    wait.  Jones isn’t doing the whole event?  What issue is he stopping at?  His art has been pretty much making this event for me. (The story’s great but as a newer DC reader it hasn’t made much sense to me so far.  I’m just along for the ride right now)

  10. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    August 5, 2008 at 2:08 am

    @anson: By issue four, Carlos Pacheco is joining the series. He’s not replacing Jones but ‘helping’ him with the art. Reading reviews it seems like he’s chained to his drawning desk but he still cant make the schedules so FC can be released on time.

    I’m sure by ‘helping’ they mean ‘he will draw half of it’ since Pacheco can draw faster then he can. Will it hurt the series? Maybe, cause Jones has just turned out some of the best stuff in ages with this series. But then again Ron should be happy since he’s so much like Alan Davis.

  11. flapjaxx says:
    August 5, 2008 at 5:15 am

    I haven’t seen Pacheco art in a while–heard he’s gotten worse–but am I the only one who thinks his style would clash with Jones’s?

    Regardless, I’m definitely looking forward to this issue. I really hope that after "skip month" (really an 8-week break), that the rest of the series will actually come out monthly rather than every 6-weeks.

  12. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 5, 2008 at 5:32 am

    I think in the future comics will have two artists to a book because nobody can make a deadline anymore.  And it’s not the artists fault, readers have come to demand so much quality they cant’ keep up.  It sucks because delays may kill the momentum of this event.

  13. Avatar photo TomO says:
    August 5, 2008 at 7:46 am

    For those worried about Pacheco’s art clashing with Jones’…take a look at Justice League of America #21 from a month or two ago that he drew.

    I don’t think there’s going to be too much clashing at all.  In fact, it should look pretty seemless.

  14. Avatar photo rift1128 says:
    August 5, 2008 at 10:55 am

    I am actually loving the series and think that Morrison has a lot planned to blow us away. I read an interview with Mark Waid and he said that when everyone is done reading the Final Crisis thier opinions will totally change for the better.

    As far as the art, i agree with TomO. That issue of Justice League would fit pretty seemlessly into this book and i expect it will stand tall.

  15. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    August 5, 2008 at 11:51 pm

    I’m not worried about the art at all, Pacheco is solid, and so long as the art is all good, I’m happy. But, I know comic book book message boards will be exploding with disgust and outrage for this move by DC. My only beef is that his name should be in the solicitation.

    And for the comparisons with this book and Batman RIP? This book is only confusing because so much is happening, and not all the cards have been shown yet, it’s meant to be a mystery. RIP is confusing because we don’t if events are happening, or they are dreams/hallucinations, so it’s totally different. This book is WAY less confusing than RIP is (IMO).

  16. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 6, 2008 at 5:50 am

    could not have said it better myself.

  17. Avatar photo finbarbat says:
    August 6, 2008 at 12:30 pm

    Can someone please explain…?

    During Wonder Woman’s fight scene towards the end of the book (not a spoiler) she exlclaims, "Hola!"

    huh? Is she saying hello to some Spanish speaking buddies somewhere? Have you ever been in a fight and said "Hola!"?

    And I  feel like I’ve seen that said before in previous FC books.  Weird.

  18. Avatar photo Truthseeker says:
    August 6, 2008 at 1:28 pm

    I can’t wait for this! I love this title and it really feels important and full of danger and consequence.

  19. Avatar photo TehDave says:
    August 6, 2008 at 2:32 pm

    maybe i’m a fanboy, maybe i’m overreacting…

    …but HOLYCRAPTHISWASAMAZING!

    i am DYING waiting for another issue. 

  20. flapjaxx says:
    August 6, 2008 at 3:32 pm

    ^Uh… speaking of that, whatever happened to the "month off" idea? The next issue will come out on September 17, and the one after that is scheduled for October 29. So Final Crisis will still basically be on a six-week schedule, just like it has been.

    Anyway, I can’t wait to read this issue and the Director’s Cut of Final Crisis #1 over coffee tomorrow morning. "It’s the little things in life."

  21. jjv124 says:
    August 6, 2008 at 3:36 pm

    @falp — This was actually the one month off.  This book was originally to be out at the end of july, having august off so they could do some of their tie in books, and having 4 come out in Sept.  This one just ended up pushed back a couple of weeks due to whatever issues they were having.

  22. flapjaxx says:
    August 6, 2008 at 6:13 pm

    ^Gotcha. And now, looking back on the schedule, it was actually July that didn’t have an issue of Final Crisis. I’ve been under the impression that the "one month off after Final Crisis #3" also plays into the narrative, though. I’m guessing that a lot of the FC tie-ins will take place in the continuity between FC #3 and #4(?).

  23. jjv124 says:
    August 6, 2008 at 6:28 pm

    @flap.  Yes I think that the one Metzler is doing is specifically to fall in between 3 and 4.  I don’t know how some of the others are playing if they are supposed to fall in to those times or not.  But yeah I think there is supposed to be a specific month between 3 and 4 in terms of dc universe time as well.

  24. Avatar photo thewalkingpaul says:
    August 6, 2008 at 7:05 pm

    they keep saying that it is the final issue. but another one comes.

  25. Avatar photo NealAppeal says:
    August 6, 2008 at 8:02 pm

    @finbarbat "Hola!" is a thing Wonder Woman is known to yell. It’s not spanish. I forget what it means, but I think it’s an exlamation/greeting thing with h prounced. I keep searching for definitions, but the internet seems to only see it as spanish.

    As for this issue, I wasn’t that nuts about it. There were a lot of cool visuals, but it didn’t feel like that much happened. We don’t know anymore. All the Wonder Woman stuff was cool, though. And it was good seeing Frankenstien and the Question. That would be an awesome team-up book.

  26. Avatar photo FACE says:
    August 6, 2008 at 8:18 pm

    So what are the odds on Libra being Desaad? He has been off the radar since Countdown. Last I remember seeing him is when he had aquired the anti-life equation from/thru(?) Piper. Anyway, he sounded awfully Dessad-ish here. What do you think?

  27. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 6, 2008 at 9:26 pm

    Anybody else mark out like me when they saw the Legion of Doom headquarters?  That brought back great memories.

  28. Avatar photo TehDave says:
    August 6, 2008 at 9:37 pm

    libra’s identity is a big question – but does desaad seem too obvious? i liked an earlier theory that said he was metron, which would certainly be surprising.

  29. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    August 6, 2008 at 9:46 pm

    The "treatment" (how is that for a highbrow pun) of Human Flame in this issue was perfect.  I knew something like this had to be coming for that walking joke, but I wasn’t expecting such a fitting end.  I also like how they are treating Superman in this issue.  Perfect characterization (as opposed to how he was treated in Trinity this week).  Grant really has him down pat.

    I am still a little iffy on the asian "super" heroes, but the rest of the issue was solid. 

  30. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 6, 2008 at 9:47 pm

    If this is gonna be Barry and Wally vs. the world, I’m in for the long haul.

  31. Avatar photo FACE says:
    August 6, 2008 at 9:52 pm

    how about this: Salvation Run ends with Dessad sending Parademons to attack the exiled villains on a planet he had used to train the New Gods of Apokolips. Most of the villains escape thru Luthor’s teleporter at that point leaving behind Martian Manhunter. Next time we see MM he’s under Libra’s control. Coincidence?

  32. Avatar photo WilliamKScurryJr says:
    August 6, 2008 at 11:47 pm

    The Apokolips crew becoming the engineers of the hero’s fates is a LONG OVERDUE idea, and I have to give credit to G-Mo for going there. Why have Darkseid if y’ain’t gonna use him?

  33. Avatar photo Superfriend says:
    August 7, 2008 at 12:35 am

    I am surprised by the positive response to this issue. It really seemed like a mess to me. I have trouble following what’s going on, and I’m not sure I even care to find out.

    I am going to stick with it, hopefully it’ll all start to make sense, but as of right now, I am not impressed.  

  34. Avatar photo NealAppeal says:
    August 7, 2008 at 1:09 am

    I didn’t have any trouble following this, but I was a little underwhelmed.

    Also, I think Libra will just be Libra. What’s the point of bringing back an old obscure villain and making him crazy scary if you’re just going to reveal him to be secretly a more famous villain

  35. kingvyper says:
    August 7, 2008 at 2:58 am

    I feel cheated, I have read this story already it was called Rock of Ages. It seems Morrison is just rehadhing old stories for his JLA run. This might change in the later issues, but so far I am underwhelmed.

  36. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    August 7, 2008 at 4:43 am

    I didn’t love this or hate it, I’m somewhere in the middle. There were some great some moments, (Article X, the Flash stuff, Superman keeping Lois alive), there were some fucked up moments (Superbat? Knights riding giant dalmations?) and I guess the fractured way of story telling is the main thing that kept me from really enjoying this more.

    Awesome last page, though.

  37. Avatar photo Eyun says:
    August 7, 2008 at 8:37 am

    @Superfriend – Your avatar scares the crap out of me! 🙂

  38. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 7, 2008 at 10:06 am

    Quick question.  Maybe I missed it, or I’m not understanding something but how does Clark’s heat vision keep Lois’ heart working?

  39. Avatar photo Muady says:
    August 7, 2008 at 11:15 am

    @Kory

    Don’t know. you’re supposed to imagine why for yourself, I think. Quite honestly, I do not think that there is much science thought up to back the concept, its just meant to be a kinda cool. 

  40. southbymidwest says:
    August 7, 2008 at 1:07 pm

    HORRIFYING! Good to see this finally come together and GREAT to see The Question’s appearances haven’t just been in passing.

  41. Avatar photo Kory says:
    August 7, 2008 at 1:14 pm

    I know people may not like it but I’m excited Barry is back.  Maybe we’ll get a Flash Corps book out of his return.

  42. Avatar photo NeoApocalypse says:
    August 7, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    Maybe I don’t have enough New Gods history to appreciate what’s going on, but things I just didn’t get:

    Last year I read Seven Soldiers and the Mister Miracle miniseries and all the Fourth World characters were inexplicably human people that looked nothing like the traditional characters. Then I read Superman/Batman with the traditional Darkseid/Desaad in it. Was the Seven Soldiers series somehow set after the events of Final Crisis? I thought that the Seven Soldiers thing was supposed to be like an Elseworlds, as I didn’t see any impact of it anywhere else in the DC books I read. But now it seems like it is supposed to be a new thing that the New Gods are in human forms at the start of Final Crisis.

    Is it that I don’t read enough of other DC books, or are some things just poorly explained, like how are there so many atomic knights? I thought there was just one.  Who’s this Turpin guy that seems like he’s supposed to be so important that isn’t properly introduced? Isn’t this draft of superheroes just the JSA/JLA/Teen Titans/Shadowpact? Green Arrow makes a valid point that pretty much all those characters have emergency communicators. Why would they need to ‘draft’ them? Why don’t they draft any heroes that aren’t affiliated with a team? How could Wonder Woman tell that was Mary Marvel, when that girl looks nothing at all like her?

    It’s like Morisson comes up with cool ideas and just throws them out there, with little explanation in one panel, with characters never introduced, and it’s then only refers back to it issues later. I don’t want pages of exposition and I enjoy a breakneck pace, but how about with characters I’ve heard of or that are at least introduced in some way?

    I’m just buying this out of a desire to keep up with the status quo of the DC universe and a fading hope that things will start to make more sense towards the end.

  43. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    August 7, 2008 at 4:54 pm

    @Kory — Something to do with the, uh … warmth? *shrugs*

    @Neo — You read Seven Soldiers and are still confused? I never read that & thought people who did would be ahead of the game with FC. I totally agree some of these random characters need a little more backstory … or at least be introduced. It’d help a lot.

  44. Avatar photo timbermunki says:
    August 7, 2008 at 7:31 pm

    I think I’m getting into the groove with FC’s oblique structure, the lack of set-up captions etc combined with the constant shifting of scenes = often at a page break, creating an if only for an instant a sense of uncertainty and disorientation, making it easier to get ‘inside’ the story.

    I get a sense of realism (without the 80s grim & gritty worthiness of actually looking at how super-heros would function in the real world) and involvment using this technique that’s been lacking in any of the big event books from either company recently. I think Morrison & Jones have realised that ultimately nothing much will really change, and even if it does it could quite easliy be retconned anyway, so are looking at different ways of handling the narrative, rather than a different narrative. If we’re been all meta-textual about it (and with Grant Morrison meta-textuality [is that a real word?] is a rather large elephant in the room) it could be viewed as a comment on the perception of super-hero books to mainstream – this is how comics are viewed without any of the knowledge we carry around.

    Whilst it’s not new per se, it’s certainly new for a mainstream big super-hero crossover book and I for one like it.

  45. Avatar photo Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:
    August 7, 2008 at 11:33 pm

    @NeoApocalypse – SEVEN SOLDIERS was never an Elseworlds book.

  46. Avatar photo NeoApocalypse says:
    August 8, 2008 at 2:31 am

    I know that Seven Soldiers carried no elseworlds stamp on it and it was just ‘Grant’s out there weirdfest’ series. It however didn’t appear to affect the DC Universe (at least that I could tell) and since the New Gods didn’t appear changed in other books after it, it wasn’t so much an elseworlds as it was a book that didn’t seem to matter. Now though, now that Grant’s in charge of the Big Event, he’s made it matter in that Darkseid fell through time and made it so? Sure, that’s an "Ah ha!" moment of "wow, that’s a neat idea", but that means then that Seven Soldiers, Mister Miracle and anything else relating to that stuff was/is paradoxical? Does it have to be so damn confusing? Does that mean then that the Seven Soldiers stuff takes place in the past (as in before Infinite Crisis), but didn’t come into existence until after the Death of the New Gods? I don’t even want to start thinking about how the events of Infinite Crisis aid/hinder making this make sense. No wonder Shilo was having such trouble getting people to believe him.

    I hope someday that I can become a comic book writer as bad ass as Grant Morrison so I can propose a multibook event that will not factor into continuity until two years later after another multibook event has made it possible to be in continuity.

  47. Avatar photo Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:
    August 8, 2008 at 3:42 am

    I dunno, dude, I’m not on the least bit confused.  I’m just enjoying the stories.

  48. flapjaxx says:
    August 8, 2008 at 2:09 pm

    Seven Soldiers is definitely set before Final Crisis. In FC #3 Mister Miracle references what happened to him in Seven Soldiers.

    As to why Darkseid seemed to return to his regular form after being shown in a more human form in Seven Soldiers, I have no idea. I know that Superman/Batman isn’t in continuity–or isn’t in current continuity–so that explains that one appearance. Though I haven’t read them, I haev gotten the impression that Darkseid and the New Gods have made other appearances (in their regular forms) between Seven Soldiers and Final Crisis. Even if there is no explanation about this, I don’t care

  49. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    August 8, 2008 at 3:19 pm

    I am really enjoying FC and keeping hearing how Seven Soldiers ties in.  Is Seven Soldiers worth picking up?  Are there some trades that are more relevant than others?

  50. flapjaxx says:
    August 8, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    @stuclach: If you only want the bare basics, just read "Seven Soldiers" #0 and #1. They were the bookends of the entire thing, though reading them alone would beg the question of what happened in between. Other than that, there are seven limited series of four-issues each, and it’s not like you can just read one or two of them and have anything close to the whole story of what’s going on behind the scenes. Seven Soldiers isn’t close to the best comic series I’ve ever read, but it’s still pretty good. While each character’s 4-issue story is relatively self-contained, it does require considerable effort to pick up on the connections going on between the series, so I’d suggest this guide: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=8968

  51. Avatar photo gnanniv says:
    August 8, 2008 at 6:45 pm

    @NeoApocalypse – Shilo’s Mister Miracle was in INFINITE CRISIS #5 (if only in one panel) so it seems that all the reborn New Gods were on earth, at least sence then. I think the reborn New Gods are out there but have not "woken up" yet. In Teen Titans the Dark Side Club was taking meta human kids to fight because Boss Dark Side was looking for "forever people." So for a wile we have had God’s from the present and reborn Gods from the future? I don’t know, but I think that’s what is going on.

  52. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    August 9, 2008 at 2:39 am

    Who is this Shilo Mr Miracle character in the shades & hat? I’ve never seen him before, I thought Mr Miracle was a totally different dude in a multi-coloured outfit.

  53. Avatar photo NealAppeal says:
    August 9, 2008 at 3:53 am

    @Wade Shilo comes from Seven Soldiers. Like Darkseid in Final Crisis is in other bodies, this is Mister Miracle in another body. Sort of. He’s for sure his own person, he’s not Scott Free. But he is a human Mister Miracle. He’s a big time escape artist, a celebrity rather than a superhero.

    If you haven’t read Seven Soldiers, you should diffenitely check it out. It doesn’t come togehter completely, but it’s amazing while you’re reading it. There’s a lot of great art and just a ton of imagination. It is really quite a feat. It leads right into final crisis. Sort of. Towards the end Darkseid says that evil won the war in heaven. Just don’t expect to totally understand the over arching story. But do expect to enjoy it as a big crazy thing. Of the seven "series" that comprises it, I found four of them totally amazing, and the other three pretty great as well.

  54. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    August 9, 2008 at 5:20 am

    @Neal – Thanks, mate. So where is the Scott Free Mr Miracle? That’s some pretty confusing stuff to me, he’s the same person, but he isn’t? Is it like how there is versions of the same character in multiple universes, or it’s Scott Free’s spirit in this other dude’s body?

    I never read Seven Soldiers because I’m only a minor Morrison fan. I like his strait up superhero stuff but his way out there stuff is not for me, and that’s why I never read Seven Soldiers. I guess it’s why I’m only enjoying parts of RIP & Final Crisis, because both books seem to be split between these two styles.

  55. Avatar photo Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:
    August 9, 2008 at 4:11 pm

    Shilo Norman didn’t first appear in SEVEN SOLDIERS, he first appeared in 1973 in the MR. MIRACLE book.  He is not Scott Free, or Scott Free appearing in a different body, he is a totally different person.

  56. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    August 9, 2008 at 8:05 pm

    Thanks, Conor.

    After reading that Wiki page, I would have seen Shilo Norman before in the Joker: Last Laugh, but maybe nothing else ever, so didn’t remember it, or him.

    Two more questions for anyone who wants to help out:

    1) All of The New Gods are dead, right (including the Scott Free Mr Miracle)?

    2) Can someone explain the Anti-Life Equation in a basic way? I read the Wiki page on it, and can make no sense of it. 

  57. Avatar photo NealAppeal says:
    August 9, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    @conor I did not realize Shilo Norman had such a long history. Cool.

  58. Avatar photo jerichobp says:
    August 11, 2008 at 9:03 am

    @WadeWilson

    The way I understand it, the anti-life equation is bassically a "mathematical" formula which, when spoken to a person, convinces them that hope, love, life, and self are irrelevant and/or useless.

  59. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    August 11, 2008 at 10:37 am

    @jerichobp – Cool, thanks man.

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