Pick of the Week
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Whenever I watch a movie about The Alamo, or when I’ve seen movies like Titanic or The Perfect Storm, there’s always that underlying sense of dread. It’s the feeling that comes when you the audience member know that the characters you are watching are, for all intents and purposes, dead already. They just don’t know it. But you do.
That’s what reading Final Crisis #3 was like for me.
With each subsequent issue of this series, but particularly with this one, it has become clear that not only has Darkseid finally won the war against good, but he won it way back in the very beginning of this miniseries, and all that’s left now is for the heroes to figure that out for themselves.
In Final Crisis #3, Darkseid’s masterful plan starts to become clear. He has dispatched Superman, Batman, the Green Lanterns, and with this issue Wonder Woman. The Alpha Lanterns have sealed off Earth so no one else can get in or out. With Darkseid and his minions already on Earth in human form that means that there can be no escape and there will be no rescue when the attack finally comes.
The heroes are not oblivious to the sense of foreboding that envelopes this book. Recognizing that the big guns are suddenly out of action and that something bad seems to be on the horizon, they enact Article X, last used by President Roosevelt to draft all of the American superheroes into the All-Star Squadron. Here they draft all the heroes they can under the command of Alan Scott. He stands before the collected heroes and says “Let’s see any enemy stand against us” and it would be a stirring moment if we didn’t already know they were destined to lose. It’s kind of like Colonel Travis drawing the line in the dirt and asking for those who will stand with him against General Santa Anna. Inspiring, yes, but just about everyone who crossed that line was going to die.
How do we know the heroes have already lost? Barry Allen and Wally West are unable to stop the time bullet from killing Orion (they run back into issue #1, which is a nice bit of comic book structural play from Morrison) and run so fast that they end up not back where Wally started but two weeks into the future, two weeks past everyone else’s present. And in two week’s time things do not look good for planet Earth. If the battle hasn’t already been lost, it looks like it’s almost there.
Final Crisis is a book dripping with doom and that packs a powerful emotional wallop. It feels epic. It feels like important things are happening, and will happen. It feels like there will be consequences (as much as there ever are in DC and Marvel books). Final Crisis feels like a big event should.
Grant Morrison is doing a nice job of tying things together from a bunch of different stories that he has written over the years. Over in Green Lantern it says in the credits “Alpha Lanterns created by Grant Morrison” and that’s no fluke. That means Morrison told Johns what he was going to be doing with Final Crisis and had him sow those particular seeds for him. And Morrison continues to tie-in his Seven Soldiers characters and you have to believe that they are going to have a big hand in how all this turns out. It was a lot of fun to see Frankenstein in his issue; his Seven Soldiers mini was one of my recent favorites.
If there’s one negative thing I can say about this comic it’s that the art from J.G. Jones isn’t as crisp and dynamic as we had in the first two issues. Carlos Pacheco joins the book as co-penciller with Final Crisis #4 and it is fairly clear with this issue that Jones didn’t get to put the time into the pages that he did with the first two. That’s a shame because the work in the first two issues was beautiful. And as much as I like Pacheco, I fear that having another artist on this book is going to change the feel of things. The epic scope of Final Crisis has a lot to do with J.G. Jones.
A word about the single character study covers so far in this series by J.G. Jones. Fantastic. Generally, I’m not a big fan of pin-up covers, especially when they seem to be a company-wide philosophy, but here they really work as a unifying element in a mini-series one of whose themes is the breakdown of the big guns in the DC Universe.
With each subsequent issue, Final Crisis seems to really be building into something special. Grant Morrison seems to have a clear and definite vision about this story and the DCU in general and where he wants to take both.
And I’m on-board and ready to go with him.
Conor Kilpatrick
I’d follow Alan Scott anywhere.
conor@ifanboy.com
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I… think I like Final Crisis. I am still not very sure.
Just a quick comment on the covers… I’ve been buying the painted ones and it bothers me how little Supergirl did in this issue. On the other issues they picked characters important to the story… Supergirl seems just randomly chosen.
My p.o.w. would have to be Detective Comics… Although it pains me to see Batman and Zatanna romance getting further and further away from reality. 🙁
A word about the single character study cover on this issue by J.G. Jones. Foxy.
suspected this might be your pick. but, really, what could’ve competed with this?
this is what a big company event should feel like, stuff is happening and the tension is getting greater and greater.
great review Conor!
but for me, Criminal made Final Crisis look like a Daniel Way book this week
I am in total agreement with you about this issue. For the first time in a long time, in a dc or marvel book, it feels like there are going to be real consequences. This book blew me away in a way a main stream marvel or dc comic book hasn’t in such a long time. I really have no clue what is going to happen next. Plus I am so excited that Barry Allen is back. It was kind of confirmed all ready at San Diego with The Flash Rebirth but to see them finally acknowledge it in an actual DCU book was awesome. I am now salivating for issue 4 of this series.
My one worry was already pointed out. I just hope the art doesn’t suffer in the next issue with the co-artist business. Though I think the writing is so good now that as long as the art is average this book will be great. Morrison is the man. Fantastic review too by the way.
i like the book but i throught Crisis stories re-edfined the universe in some way, it might happen but i don’t see it. It is fanastic to see Morrison write the whole DCU however
Nice pick! As I noted in my review, I had a blast with this even while being completely confused. The dread and doom is thick in it’s pages.
That said, The Boys #21 is my pick this week. It was terribly, terribly good. It ratcheted that series up by a value of a million.
Also, Manhunter, Criminal, and Detective were all excellent. What a great comic book week.
The best thing about Darkseid’s victory in Final Crisis is not that he won by having his goons clash with the heroes in a big fight. But that he won the war in an insidious and subtle way.
The crash of stormtroopers boots is not the sound of evil triumphs. Nah. Evil won when people stopped asking the right questions. When nobody cared that families were going missing or that children off the streets were suddenly disappearing. Too busy to notice the gravitons fluctuating or the redness in the sky.
Every time Morrison uses Montoya as the Question I want to stand and fucking cheer.
Ah! Final Crisis is so goddamn good. I could read this for an age.
There is definitely well-crafted foreboding here, but I feel like we’re stopping in a billion places and not focusing on a single one of them. Barry comes back after 20-someodd years, and his first words to we, the readers, is "We couldn’t save Orion, Wally." Huh?
I wish this G-Mo was more fixated on a couple of POVs, rather than everyone’s all at once. It doesn’t help that Jones’s layouts were sorta confusing from time to time.
Also, was anyone else in the dark as to who the German lady who fell from the sky was? Or why Mary Marvel looked like a bondage cosplayer? Or who that tigery guy was?
@WilliamKScurryJr – Barry’s first words back (although not after 20+ years as he has popped up a lot in THE FLASH over the years) was "Run!" in issue #2.
I think this would be great if it did have consequences… That being said, I can see now a scenario where the Flashes fight the good fight, only to lose all their friends right before finally learning how to defeat Darksied, Travel back in time and do just that, all in issue 7. If they don’t end it this way, I’ll be impressed and happy.
Isn’t it nice to have a main event book that is actually doing something? Plus, actually going forward in time to show consequences of the title?
Yes that’s right, 3 issues of Final Crisis has done more then 4 issues of Secret Invasion. That is so embarresing on so many levels, that a DC title has actually outdone a Marvel book in less then one issue! For once the DC fanboys can reign supreme!
Anyways, this was a really good issue. Even if I’m not a huge Flash freak like someone here (cough)Ron(Cough) I really liked the interactions of Barry, Wally, and Jay. Plus Libra has gotten from being an obscure character; to a mother f’n obscure character. I have no idea who he really is, but he must be a New God if he’s using the Anti-Life Equation as well. Just a great time reading this. Although it’s a little unfiar for me since I only pulled 3 titles this week (including this)…but still best out of what I read.
Tawky Tawny was in it. Win.
Oh, we almost made it! I was so impressed that we were talking about one crossover without anybody automatically comparing it to the other company’s crossover. Nobody had said, "This orange is so much sweeter than this apple" in over ten comments. Oh well. 0 Days Since Our Last Accident.
Ugh. Yeah. It is becoming more and more apparent that Final Crisis was, like, the single worst choice for a "first DC anything to follow" for me. I really don’t like it, mostly because I barely understand a second of it.
Welcome to the age of un-compressed, re-constructed comics…of which we have to ask what the hell happened in that issue.
I like it, but I don’t get it. Is that fair? This is like New X-Men was for me…and it eventually kinda made sense, so here’s hoping…
I gave my brother the first two issues of Final Crisis. As far as DC books that tie into their massive contiunity he’s only read infinite crisis and both of the sinsestro corps hardcovers. Nothing else really yet he fucking LOVED both of those issues.
My point is that I don’t understand how someone who barely reads comics and perfers Robert Jordan novels could understand, follow and love something that a ton of comic fans claim that they don’t understand and can’t follow. This isn’t the invisibles or doom patrol people. This is the same Grant Morrison that worked on 52 & JLA. This is fucking awesome superhero comics. This is what i want out of comics. This is what makes me love and fucking CHERISH the whole medium.
Fantastic pick conor
I don’t know much about the contemporary DCU continuity–have never read Infinite Crisis, 52 or Countdown–but I have no trouble following Final Crisis. I just take every panel in for what it’s worth and occaisonally look up very brief amounts of information about characters I feel like I need to know more about (Turpin, for example). I’m not saying that people are "wrong" for considering Final Crisis (or Batman R.I.P.) "difficult", but I think it’s a sad state of affairs to complain about "having" to do such low levels of "research" to "understand" what’s going on in stories that are supposed to be mysteries. Fifteen-twenty years ago, pre-Internet, millions of children had no qualms about getting into the X-books, with all their continuity madness. We shared information with each other or else had to buy back issues or trading cards in order to understand who these hundreds of characters were. But today adults complain about not knowing information that they could look up with two mouse clicks. We’ve become far lazier and more passive consumers–I’m glad not not all artists cater or encourage us to that end.
I would prefer if this book had more focus, more of a central character, or even group of characters to follow. It jumps around so much, it’s a little hard for me to follow & I would consider myself to have a pretty decent knowledge of of the DCU, but I have no idea who half the characters in the book are.
There is just SO much happening at once in this book, it’s not easy to take it all in, in one read for me. So, maybe after I read it 2 or 3 more times, I can say how much I liked it …
I agree, though Detective was very good too. The best part of Final Crisis? That one panel in Supergirl’s apartment (?) where there were painted costume concept strewn about. Could we finally be getting rid of the belly shirt? I really hope so…
I’m glad you picked it Conor so you could explain what the hell was happening. I know jack about DC so I was pretty clueless on just about everything hehe. After reading your review I like it:)
From reading the "pro" reviews and the "anti" reviews it sounds like G-Mo is considering the DCU the main character in thos story.
Meh.
Great pick Connor! I love this series, it is everything a big comic event should be. It is building slowly, but not at the expense of progress. A lot is happening each issue, but the pace allows for the foreboding and dread to build.
I love the new Japanese characters and can’t wait to see more of them. I just hope that the powers that be at DC are going to allow these consequences to last after the event is done. I want to see the DCU changed and see those changes explored for a while before things inevitably return to status quo.
@Jimski- I notice you’re a little defensive when it comes to someone finding a flaw with Marvel. It’s okay brother, you’re side is still winning. Take a deep breath, the sun will come out tomorrow.
But in this case Final Crisis is owning Secret Invasion. Good pick Conor.
@Kory – I don’t think Jimski is being defensive because of a supposed flaw with Marvel. I believe the point he was trying to make is that it was nice to not to have the discussion about comparing the event book of one company to the even book of another company, the competitor.
After all…why does it have to be that one book "owns" another. They are only in competition when considering wether to buy one book over the other. But with most all the people who come here…we are buying both. So they are not in competition unless you make them that way. They are two completely different stories in two completely different universes.
That said…it was a good pick Conor. I totally agree.
@Kory
I don’t see one as being any more successful as the other (In terms of quality, at least. I haven’t looked at the sales figures). Both have their strong points and both have their flaws. They’re so different from one another that’s hard to even compare them. I’m buying both, but I can’t say that I’m loving either.
@WilliamKScurryJr – The tiger was Talky Tawny, a long time supporting character of the Captain Marvel books. The German Power Girl was Uberfraulein (Super-Girl in German), who was speaking of the redness in the skies. The Crisis has come is basically what she said.
Final Crisis is not very confusing provided you pay attention and understand the concept. Not new reader friendly though. No.
But I can’t think of a single event from either Marvel or DC that was new friendly. That is a line of bullshit people should just ignore at this point.
I’m glad a lot of people are enjoying and impressed by Final Crisis. I’m making no attempt to read it because I know I don’t have the background in DCU that it would take to get the whole thing, and nothing I’ve heard about the story makes it sound like something that would interest me. I think/hope that’s a valid choice.
I am a bit perplexed by the tone in some of the comments here that implies that people who say they are reading the story and don’t understand it or find it difficult are doing something wrong. Difficulty is one of the most truly subjective aspects of reading. Something that causes no problem for me could be baffling to someone else, and vice versa. We all come in with different backgrounds, and we all have different expectations about what we need to be on the page in order to follow a story. There’s no right or wrong in this. If somebody says that they don’t understand something, or that it’s hard to follow, that’s a personal judgment and a valid one. Whether they could understand it if they did more work isn’t really the point.
@Labor im a little lost with whats going on but i think im like one step behind the book. Will you hold my hand through out the series?
"But I can’t think of a single event from either Marvel or DC that was new friendly. That is a line of bullshit people should just ignore at this point. "
Thanks for substantiating my hunch.
That sounded dirty.
@bigyanks – sure, why not?
more seriously though, FC is pretty straightforward in plotting. the details are what seem to be tripping people up. but morrison doesn’t dwell too much on those things. which may be part of the problem for those that want to know who the cave explorers are in issue #3, the super young team, sonny sumo or whoever.
very dense writing.
You know i was way thrown off when i saw frankenstein with what looks like a dracula gun.
Some people can’t praise one thing without trashing something else.
@MaddieDaddy/ultimatehoratio- I guess my sarcasm does’nt work for the internet. I should’nt have said FC was ‘owning’ SI. I apologize to anyone who had their feelings hurt.
It might help to familiarize yourself with Jim Starlin and Mike Mignola’s Cosmic Odyssey to figure out the whole "anti-life" equation thing. We’ve got a show coming out about it, but not until the middle of next month unfortunately.
@Ameer- I did’nt fire the first shot. I just made what I though was a sarcastic comment.
When I said FC was ‘owning’ SI I was referring to my $3.99 + tax, so FC is ‘owning’ my money.
I thought this site was about respecting opinions?
@josh: But if I use my time machine, we can get to that show right now!!!
….Okay seriously, probably any show that would help anyone with this event would probably be the best thing for us. Don’t get me wrong, in my review I’m stating that I am loving this event. It’s smartly written and has some of the best ‘WTF?’ moments this year…But a guide into some of the obscure character’s would be awfully nice of you if you could do it…
i hope i didnt come off as trashing it i love it. maybe we can get a final crisis wikipedia going on.
@Josh
Cosmic Odyssey is a forgotten classic. I have the original "Prestige Format" series and I refuse to buy the trade for it because they downgraded the paper from the original. I’d love to see some more cosmic stuff from Mignola sometime; he’s really good at it. "Hellboy in Space", anyone?
@Kory
My feelings weren’t hurt. I just disagreed.
@Kory
Yes my feelings were totally hurt and you ruined my day completely. Thanks to you nothing will go right for the rest of the day. How could you?!
j/k – I am with horatio…not offended just disagreed.
I find all this Marvel vs. DC stuff amusing.
is it really totally unreasonable to compare two heavily hyped, large comic book company crossovers in the same year? they’re the same medium, the same genre, about the same size…
I haven’t read my books yet because I am on vacation, in New York by the way, but I have been really enjoying Final Crisis so far and this just makes me look forward to my books back home even more.!
Ditto. I don’t know what the big deal is.
It’s amusing how people hate having to read the tie-in books to SI, yet don’t mind having to sift thru Wikipedia all day long just to vaguely comprehend FC. I suppose it does cost less.
@Nate – blasphemy that Supergirl should lose the exposed midriff. sheer blasphemy
Having now read this issue I can dive in a little here….
@WadeWilson
I actually think that the way the book is focused is one of it’s strengths, as mentioned above the main character is the DCU, a bold play but similar to 52 which everyone went apeshit for.
What I like about it is, in issue 2, you’re left with some pretty heavy cliffhangers Batman having gunk injected into his head comes to mind. But here, in issue 3, we don’t go back to it…it’s a really bold choice to let an image like that resonate with the readers. I mean we’ll go back to Bats, but not yet fanboys, so hold on tight. It keeps it exciting and, I think, ideal for the serialized format.
Having hit the store (finally) My excitement to read FC was pretty damn high, I wanted some answers and actually feel like I got some, but have even more questions which will drive me back to the store if not right on Wednesday soooooooooon after. That kind of "need" to get the next issue I haven’t felt since…Gah…can it really be the last 10 issues of 52? I guess so.
Also, these FC books are probably the first books since Alan Moore stuff that I have sat down and read more than once (though I probably should have done with the Batman RIP stuff, luckily Labors on top of it in the Forums) So yeah I’d give em another read, it’s worth it. (That way you can marvel at the black racer his feet are Skiis and he looks like a Cylon!)
Only book I’ve read so far but, in my opinion, absolutely fantastic. Now on to the red Hulk.
@ Labor – You said: "Final Crisis is not very confusing provided you pay attention and understand the concept."
Feel free to explain the concept to me.
I’m not being a smart-ass, I need all the help I can get, lol.
Think of it this way:
(and I’m not helping with the concept here at all, sorry)
With this book you get the story unfolding in front of you, with every new issue revealing more clues, and, because of the nature of the story, you might go back and look at the earlier books again. Something I rarely have time for, but something I’ve MADE time for with this one.
It makes me feel like it’s money well spent, and that’s a rare thing at $3.99.
Speaking of Talky Tawny:
Didn’t we seem him hooked up to tubes in the flesh factory or whatever in the last issue? Or was that just some random tiger?
Anyone else get the impression that the entire DC Universe is swirling out of G-Mo’s head through catheter tubing?
Umm.. yeah, I just got around to picking up my books, read this first and… can’t say that I enjoyed much about it. Perhaps the last 3 pages or so, that’s about it.
One thing I think we all can agree on is after this year I don’t want to see a universe spanding event for LONG time.
I love that they have final crisis on a 6 week schedule, that way it always comes out when Conor is picking.
@FACE, normally I like looking at exposed midriffs, in fact, I very much enjoy it. The problem here is that Supergirl is supposed to be 15-16. I’m turning 30 this year, and looking at pictures of someone that young with a Super (pun intended) short skirt and belly shirt makes me feel weird. That’s why I’ll always prefer Power Girl…amongst other reasons…
There is something about the super-coy finger-to-the-lips pose, along with the half-shirt, that makes me want to run in and cover her with a blanket. To me, there is nothing about that that says "super" anything, but I’m at a disadvantage in that I know nothing about her (that Michael Turner didn’t draw) and as such can’t very well say "Supergirl would never–!" I don’t know what Supergirl would ever… but my porny-sense is tingling.
And then there’s the Ms. Marvel cover.
um.. that’s what i love about Super Girl. I get older, she stays the same age? 😉
Yeah, I’m 22 and I feel uncomfortable by it. I will say, like I said in my review, that I’m not digging the cover. The first two were very dynamic and somewhat relevant to the content inside. This one was decidedly less so. I suppose she’s listening to her comm, to which I wonder why anyone thinks Supergirl talking on a comm is exciting enough to throw on the cover. GL preparing to fire or Flash running, sure. Supergirl basically on the phone? Not so much.
Other than that, I agree completely with Conor.
Nice review, but I don’t really get how everyone thinks that this is actually going to have a major impact. It really seems like this is a grand self contained story as opposed to a major event that shapes the universe.
I guess we will see how it unfolds in the end, but right now it’s isolation from the rest of the ongoing DCU titles makes the stakes feel so worthless. Sure there will be some ramifications, but I’m just not buying that this is the darkest day in DCU’s history if I already know that Darkseid will be defeated and the world will be back to normal before JSA finishes fighting Magog, before Hal Jordan tango’s with the Red Lanterns, and before Superman finishes punching Brainiac while a perfectly healthy Lois Lane waits at home.
I know some fans hate tie-ins, but the lack of consequences throughout the DCU now and in future previews really makes Final Crisis feel like an elseworlds tale.
Conor, I couldn’t agree with you more. WOW!
From issue #1 this was a great series, and I didn’t even know it until issue #3! These are fabulous complex strings of storytelling Morrison puts in front of us. One by one they are weaving themselves and revealing themselves into what may become a classic (If it holds up). Bravo DC, for letting your "big event" be a story that challenges the reader and raises the storytelling bar.
All that being said… I’m not so sure about that R.I.P. thing. Kinda silly.
AND what’s up with this alleged feud with another podcast? You guys are just joking around, no?
A user review of FC #3 said it best: "Make me feel something."
Great review.
This is honestly the only comic that I seriously look forward to (not that I don’t enjoy everything else, more or less, that I buy) each month; and that is mostly down to the sense of foreboding that GM built in the first two issues. Now, in ish 3, the shit has really hit the fan! Fab.
Grant has said there will be a post FC DCU, but there won’t be any continuity altering events. I can’t wait to see how this all plays out – and I’m anxiously awaiting DC’s solicitations post FC 7. That will be interesting.
@Nate Jimski and Tork
I think we can safely assume that the sketches around the painting in supergirls apartment is her working on a new costume and settling on the one pinned to the painting.
Also in the latest issue of supergirl she looks into the future (or something, didn’t read just flipped in the store) and is wearing that same drawn costume.
So you can all rest easy, she wont be midriff showing soon.
@Nate/Tork – It may be a tad ultra-sensitive allowing a fictional representation of a (supposed) 15-16 year-old girl to cause you discomfort. Spec. when she’s drawn much more like a 17-18 year-old. Maybe your feelings are misdirected? Not to mention you could have bought the other cover. So which cover did you buy?
Well, it’s not quite like that, it’s more seeing how sexualized the girl is made (I admit I haven’t read a Supergirl-centric story since Mike Turner on Superman/Batman but there she’s naked, in Apokolips fetish gear, then in mid-rifts and an impractical short skirt when she spends all her time flying) then realizing she’s underage, and thinking "That’s not cool." The utter impracticality of that outfit contributes a lot, too.
And the other cover wasn’t availible at my store.
Oh, and this might be because of my dislike of Green Arrow, but did anyone else laugh at Ollie going "If anybody falls for this authoritarian, militaristic crap, it’ll prove I’m absolutely right about absolutely everything!"
I actually laughed through the whole book.
I laughed when The Human Flame mentioned Libra’s generosity coming over "kinda gay". Seemed so off-beat from the rest of the book, a moment of not-so-seriousness. It’s also just what I was thinking when Libra put his arm around him and told him it was time to hold up his end of the bargain in the last book.
@Tork – at least you’re honest.
The fact that the guy who calls himself "The Human Flame" called somebody gay is just too funny.
I must say this issue was pretty good even though i’m totally confused. Dread was the main theme and it could be felt throughout the entire issue.
Weirdly my pick of the week was Jonah Hex #34. Even though it was a typical Jonah Hex story i felt mad at god for cursing him with the duty of riding the world of evil or maybe it just reminded me of Unforgiven somewhat, all i know is he wanted to quit and life wouldn’t let that be and i felt incredibly sorry for him. Good stuff.
Wow I didn’t think any book even had a chance at beating Final Crisis for POW from me.
But Echo #5 just did.
this article made me wait to read this issue until I reread issues #1 and #2 and man this series is really great. It’s a pretty grounded story considering the themes being banded about. The rug gets tugged out in this one, it was a great ending to the first act.
So I then decided to reread all of Secret invasion to compare- apples an oranges really, SI has taken place over an hour so far, maybe. FC is over a longer period to this point.
But they both have themes of humanity being subverted from within from an outside manipulator in common. I thought that was odd.
I picked this up at my LCS (never used that before) today and before I left, I talked about it with the store’s owner and he was complaining how he just had no idea what the hell was going on. I was intrigued, because I knew it was Conor’s pic—what was so crazy about the book that two knowledgable DC folks could talk about it so differently?
I must admit I had no idea what the hell was going on until a few pages in and now I can’t wait to reread this. I personally love how challenging this series seems to be for people (myself included, I don’t know much about Darkseid other than the basics, and I never cared a whit about the Gods, young or new or old or whatever.
My only frustration: TWO MONTHS before the next book comes out. in the interim we’re gonna get some filler issues and that just frustrates me like crazy. Two months is too long and I am worried that FC is gonna lose some steam.
Good essay, Conor. looking forward to the podcast discussion.
-m
@Tork- I may not agree with all of Green Arrow’s politics, but I think it’s brilliant to have a character that wears his politics on his sleeves. Having a guy like Ollie be an agitator in the DC universe is good to mix things up and show different points of view.
Though his outfit is kinda gay.
Sure, but it’s more his constant womanizing, his abandoning his son Connor as a baby, and his calling all of his virtuous good friends "fascists" that gets me most, the politics is just a factor of many. I just found it funny that he goes, "If anyone answers this draft, then I’m officially right about everything ever!"
@FACE, I bought the supergirl cover. Mostly because I have the portrait covers of the first two issues, and I feel I have to keep the rythym up, you know? That being said, I think the cover is pretty good. While I said it makes me uncofortable, I’m not really running away from it covering my eyes (and yes, they do draw her as though she were 18, rarely do we see actual "teenagers" in comics).
I just feel the ultra short skirt and belly shirt cheapen the character a little bit. If it were up to me, she’d be back in her 70’s v-neck shirt and hot pants outfit. Hot damn! If you don’t know what I’m talking about check out the Alex Ross/Doug Braithwaite/Jim Krueger "Justice." That’s how you do a "Super" hot girl.
I’m really enjoying the single character spotlight covers more than the other ones. I can’t say I’m exactly grooving with the doom and gloom of the story but Final Crisis has successfully made me want to read the next issue every time I finish the latest one.
Reading Mike Romo’s comment about his LCS guy who is a DC expert, being confused by this, and all the people who seem to love it, admit that it’s a "challenging read" and needs multiple reads to get everything out of it, all made me feel a lot less stupid. I am not having an easy time grasping this book, and it’s good to see that I’m not alone!
@Tork- I don’t disagree with what you’re saying, I just like the fact that in a universe where most heroes are boy scouts that there is a guy who is kind off a smug asshole to conflict with the other heroes.
I think people are being way over sensitive about this cover
FYI Super Girl is Seventeen at least (see B&tB 2)
Supergirl’s "revealing" midriff is almost quaint compared to the way pre-teen & teenagers dress nowadays.
Yeah, I don’t keep pictures of them sitting on my coffee table either.
I feel like those that would blush at Supergirl’s midriff are a stone’s throw away from the sort that were outraged by Miley Cyrus’ Vanity Fair photos.
I just think it looks a tad silly. But there’s a lot worse.
Knitpick: Doesn’t Mr. Terrific’s powers involve not being able to being registered by digital technology? It’s on Infinite Crisis and was recently acknowledged on JSA…so…How do we see it on the Oracle Screen???
I’m loving FC, Let’s hope they color this issue again for the trade.
The exposed midriff thing has been out of style for a couple of years now, right? You don’t see quite as much of it as you used to.
@ultimatehoratio – You must not make it to NYC very often.
There are girls that ride the train here in Chicago wearing their shirts rolled up around their necks, with only their sports bra for modesty in the summer. Seeing that I live/catch the train 4 blocks from a major high school, a good number of these girls are teens.
Being embarrassed by Supergirl’s kitschy look on the cover of FC #3 is so incredibly silly to me. I literally laugh out loud when reading such things. LLOL, if you will.
I don’t know about others, but it’s not that I’m embarassed at the outfit, it’s that it inspires the same thing as those teens you see on the train. I don’t if the feeling has a name but it’s expressed via "rolleyes".
That’s just me.
My only problem with those midriff tops is when girls with Homer Simpson style bellies wear them.
*shudder*
@conor Three or four years ago I was seeing prom dresses with exposed midriffs. Now, not so much. Not exactly the rebirth of modesty, but the midriff and the thong sticking out of the pants isn’t as ubiquitious as it used to be.
@jumpingjupiter I think the number of girls inspired by Supergirl’s outfit is pretty low, how many teen girls do you see hanging around in your LCS? Now, Manga outfits are another story…
General question: is there any relevent material featuring the New Gods that’s not in the Fourth World Omnibus? Having just finished that (through the magic of Interlibrary Loan), the only thing it adds to Final Crisis for me so far is knowing meta-comics things like, for example, that GMo got "super muk muks" from a single line of Kirby dialogue, or that Sonny Sumo had a bit part in Forever People and hadn’t been heard from again until FC#2 (and why is he in the present day again?). Other than that, the only effect reading the Fourth World stuff has had is that I feel more confident that we’re not SUPPOSED to know more than we can deduce just by reading FC over and over again. I still want to read Seven Soldiers, 52 and the other things that are mentioned as being significant precedents, but I’m pretty sure now that even if I don’t read them before FC ends, I’ll still be able to follow everything.
As for the New Gods, I’m sure the mythology of The Pact and such could eventually come into play, but nothing has suggested it so far. Anyway, is there anything Kirby didn’t write that added to any of the characters? I know that, for example, the 1986 crossover event Legends featured Darkseid and Glorious Godfrey, but it doesn’t seem likely that it expanded the mythos.
There’s a series of fake "where were you" ads over on doomkopf.com that pretty much sum up what I think about this series. My favorite: "Where were you when Barbara Gordon tried to unplig the internets?"
To each his own, but I’m just not impressed my this event.
@CAM: You misread my post.
@RobAbsten: I read that review on doomkopf.com and that was some the most pointless negative stuff I’ve read in a while.
Though…what is the deal with Jimmy not knowing Supes identity?
I really don’t understand what this power is that Grant Morrison has over the geek comic buying public. He writes stuff that doesn’t make sense with no explanation as to how it came about. When other writers do that its called "bad writing". When he does it, it gets acknowledged as not making sense but somehow its cool.
"Its a little known fact that death can’t go faster than the speed of light…" What the hell is that? A little known fact of the DC Universe that he just made up that doesn’t make any sense. And if Jay has known this little known fact then he’d have known that Barry hasn’t been dead at all for the last 20 years.
What about Orion’s death? He was dead already but reanimated at the end of Death of the New Gods. There’s still be no satisfactory explanation between what happened at the end of that and FC #1.
Lex Luthor walks in on Libra going bananas on Human Flame and it gets accepted as a comic beat? Luthor is supposed to be a genius but certainly hasn’t been acting like it.
How is Superman keeping Lois’ heart going with his heat vision? How exactly is that supposed to work? Besides explaining that Superman has been M.I.A, that makes no sense.
S.H.A.D.E. – I really liked the Uncle Sam series but had no clue has to how that fit into continuity. I wasn’t sure it did or thought it was maybe on an alternate Earth. But now the covert government organization with the most contrived name (obviously the acronym came first) is the S.H.I.E.L.D of DC and it employs guys in medieval radiation proof armor that ride giant dalmations. The whole Bludhaven thing hasn’t made sense since about 20 minutes after Chemo got dropped. The Atomic Knights were a cool idea when they were on a post-apocalyptic world whose society had devolved to feudal city-states. You’ve got to give me some kind of idea as to where these things come from and they have to make sense in the world in which the events are taking place. So much of this series and Batman RIP doesn’t.
Oh yeah, and a spam virus that ends the world? Kind of like interfacing your laptop with an alien space ship. Give me a break. Ohmigawd, I’ve got the anti-life equation in my Hotmail! And Morrison is a genius for referencing Cosmic Odyssey? Name a comic appearance of Darkseid in the past 15 years that hasn’t centered around his quest for the anti-life equation which is sometimes an actual equation, sometimes a power to wield, and sometimes an entity with a personality.
FINAL CRISIS makes perfect sense for any one who hasn’t set out looking for things to be confused by. I can see how people predisposed to finding Grant Morrison confusing would be.
@alexhoward:
1: Barry was dead. he says so on the second to last page of the book. As far as "death can’t go faster than the speed of light" obviously its correct in terms of the book. All three flashes were just behind the bullet, with Death (or the Black Racer) behind them.
2: This was an editorial fumble.
3: Lex was planning to remove Libra off the playing field with a surprise attack. He obviously didn’t know that Libra had been using the Hall of Doom to convert people and Libra’s zombies got the drop on Lex and Co.
4: It’s comic book logic. And I think that the Monitor Lady has more to do with his absense than we know right now.
5: Pretty sure the current incarnation of Atomic Knights is reflected in Morrison’s Seven Soldier series
6: the New Gods are super-advanced and have been on Earth for a minute. I’m sure they can figure out email.
As far as where the FC fits in regular continuity, you always have that problem, when other books are directly involved. How can Reed Richards be having adventures be having adventures with his team when he is bound on a skrull ship? But if FC is as important to the DCU as it has been promoted it’s up to grant and the editors to tie at all together, and they have 4 more issues.
All this oblique implying is making me dizzy.
I think alexhoward has some good points, and Conor’s last post is a pretty hardcore opinion. It probably works both ways. People predisposed to thinking Morrison is a genius would ignore all the stuff that doesn’t make sense or isn’t explained.
Maybe I’m defensive because I’m one of the many who is a bit lost reading this, and I don’t think I was "looking" to be.
I think the first two issues could be pretty confusing for people, but this last one, I thought, was pretty straightforward.
@WadeWilson – I think that people who don’t like Morrison and are pre-disposed to be confused by his writing will be confused no matter how straightforward the story is laid out. That doens’t mean everyone who is confused falls into that group.
All of the information that you need to follow the story is on the page here. It’s very straightforward, issue #3 is almost ridiculously straightforward.
I just think that saying "FINAL CRISIS makes perfect sense for any one who hasn’t set out looking for things to be confused by", is a pretty harsh opinion, when there is so many people confused. Just because it’s easy for some to follow, it’s strange to think that people are only confused by this, because they are trying to be.
For the record, I’m liking this book and I am following the plot, it’s just think the ammount of random characters who I have no idea who they are, leaves me (and a lot of others) feeling a little lost. But, I think that’s a deliberate way of writing it & some people dig it, some don’t.
God, now I almost want to read this damn thing that otherwise holds no intersest for me so that I can have an informed opinion about whether it’s confusing or not.
@ohcaroline: if nothing else it’s stirred up a LOT of discussion, and that’s been fun.
Oh and @jumpingjupiter: Guess I did, sorry.
I have never once been confused by a Grant Morrison story or a single issue he has written. From Zenith to Final Crisis. I can explain/understood everything I have read by the man. Morrison is not set out to write the sort of comic books one finishes reading only to pick up another book afterward in the Wednesday night rush. Nope. The plot is never the point, it is the idea which is supreme.
For me, the problem with FC is not that it’s confusing; the problem is that he’s thrown so many elements into the story–elements whose backstories are located in so many other titles–that there’s just nothing to care about for the more casual fan. It’s like jumping into the middle of a season of Battlestar Galactica. Sure, there’s a brilliance to it, but only the inititated can really appreciate it. Yeah, all the Crises have been like that, but for me, this one just isn’t as fun. Basically FC is a sequel to 52, Countdown, Seven Soldiers, Death of the New Gods, and who knows what else. Only a certain type of reader can get into it, and that’s perfectly fine. It seems to be selling just as well as it would if it were more new reader friendly.
DC would be nuts to tell Morrison to "tone it down". He and Geoff Johns the saviors of DC comics right now.
There is a certain madness to it that I did enjoy. There we so much scene shifting and obscure character appearances that I was laughing the whole time. Kind of a backhanded compliment, but I’m still buying it so that’s a win for Morrison and Co.
Event comics are not written for new readers.
People should stop expecting events to be "good jumping on points". That is utter bullshit the pubs spit out about.
My comment got shorted before I was done. Fix:
Event comics are not written for new readers.
People should stop expecting events to be "good jumping on points". That is utter bullshit the pubs spit out about events.
You’re right there. They’re not books for everyone. I think with Final Crisis and Secret Invasion, the comic reading public are starting to understand that. DC and Marvel aren’t likely to cater future events toward newer readers because sales on both remain high.
@AlexHoward, I decided to address some of your criticism and comments in the official iFanboy Final Crisis thread.
Link to my response: Here.
I am not trying to change your mnd or say you are wrong in your opinions. Just I see these points come up often enough I felt compelled to respond in some way.
Oh god Ron had the pick for this week….It must be big since he had a huge stack this week…*crosses fingers* Please dont let it be Astonishing, oh if there is a god please dont let it be Astonishing. I know he loves X-Men but I can settle with an indie book instead of a X-title.
🙂