FINAL CRISIS #4 (OF 7)
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Price: 3.99
I have tried and tried and tried but I feel like I will never like Grant Morrison. Everyone always raves about how great everything he writes is but I just don’t get it. Grant Morrison comics remind me of some David Lynch films, people say they’re great because they are too affraid to admit they don’t understand them. I felt this issue of Final Crisis was easier to understand than the previous issue but some of the dialog was difficult to follow from panel to panel and I occasionally didn’t know what the characters were talking about. The art was very good buy didn’t completely knock my sox off with the exception of the cover. J.G. Jones is knocking the covers of this series out of the park! My only complaint would be those big dogs that people are riding around on have to go. They didn’t work in the Hulk movie and they don’t work here. If you’re a Morrison lover I’m sure you will like it but if you haven’t liked Morrisons writing in the past this issue won’t change your mind.
Art: 4 - Very Good
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"people say they’re great because they are too affraid to admit they don’t understand them."
lots people actually think they ARE great. you’re free to dislike as much as they’re free to like.
i have to agree with TehDave. Grant Morrison is my favorite writer and David Lynch is my favorite filmaker (although even i admit that lost highway and wild at heart were rubbish) and i have NEVER had any trouble trying to "understand" any of their work. The key with some Lynch movies is that you have to realize that there isn’t always a super specific "meaning" behind something (ie. Eraserhead) and let yourself find your OWN meaning behind it. i like to describe the basic Lynch film as: David lynch takes a jigsaw puzzle, and scatters the pieces all over the table. He then plucks out a handful of the peices and throughs them into the trash. He then stuffs his hands into his pockets and tosses whatever he comes up with onto the table with the remaining peices. He then looks up at you and says "Here’s a puzzle. You figure out what it means"
It’s different with morrsion however. The way i look at Morrison is that you simply have to PAY ATTENTION. If you let your mind soak in every bit of crucial information you’re mind will do the rest of the work for you. It doesn’t require anything other than at least average reading comprehension. It isn’t all that hard once you realize that you have to focus on the information presented on the page and get past the feeling of "Oh no! I haven’t read every single appearance of character A who is featured in an archetypical supporting role here. I’M DOOMED!!!!"
Also, i apologize for the length of my post. On top of that, if my response comes off as being ill-willed, it isn’t intended to be.
My only intention is to present my counter-arguement against a point you made about two men whose bodys of work i am very passionate about.
I agree with you MisterBlank, I found multiple readings help. However, I always get the feeling we are left out abit too much.
Ex: in the issue they would show a panel of a battle pg 8 that shows the aftermath in a double page layout with deadbodies and giant dogs. I want more info /backstory on what just occurred!! Also, in the various panels that show the heroes defending their Watchtowers we only get a snapshot of the skirmish. Again I want more… info, action, anything.
Best panel of the series…. the shot where the they are sliding the helmet over Green Arrow!!!
GULP!
David Lynch films ARE great*.
*Most of them. Not all.
When speaking of Daivd Lynch I should have been more specific and referred to his movies Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive which I found nearly incomprehensible. Blue Velvet is one of the best movies I have ever seen. Honestly Final Crisis has probably been the easiest thing to understand that I have read by Morrison but I still don’t feel that it has a nice narrative flow that many other writers have. I often feel like I have been dumped into the middle of a conversation and I have to piece together the parts of the conversation I have missed. I don’t mind a dense comic story, for example I love me some Alan Moore, but that story has to be presented in a way that flows. The nature of the medium of comics is that they are relatively static due to the restrictions of panels and still images. Therefore the story has to link these images together. If the story isn’t linking the images together effectively than essentially all you have is a series of pretty pictures. I know this is a vast simplification and that you don’t’ necessarily need text or dialog to tell a story but I always get a feeling that Morrison’s plot, narrative layout and pacing are choppy.
By the way MisterBlank, Awesome avatar!!!
@conor
**coughcough**LostHighwayDuneWildAtHeart**coughcough**
@Jesse1125 I can definately see where you’re coming form. There are moments where i will be reading and i can’t help but think "i know part of the books tone is achieved by thrusting you into the story without all the information… but damn, wouldn’t it be cool if i could see the fight that led to this."
@satchc i definately agree with your statements about lost highway. And i love Blue Velvet, who doesn’t (aside from roger "i gave garfeild: a tale of two kitties thumbs up" ebert)? however, mullholand drive is my favorite movie of all time tied with Rashoman and Dr. Strangelove! But, im gonna stop right there, since i’ve gotten into bar fights over mullholand drive 😀
As for morrison, when you put it that way, i can definatley understand where you’re coming from. I’m jst tired of the vast majority of the Morrison haters who sit around going "BLEH BLEH BLEH I DON’T GET GRANT MORRISON. HE’S SO CONFUSING. BOY HE SUCKS CUZ HE MAKES ME USE THAT BRAIN THING." Everyone’s mind processes things differently, so what some may percieve as a lack of story to link images others may see as larger panel gutters for the reader to fill with their mind.
YAY! COMMON GROUND!!! Well, your avatar certainly is nice too. I dig that whole "i can’t get any working images" look. XD
@MisterBlank – I enjoyed both LOST HIGHWAY and DUNE.
@conor
oh, i was just guessing, since those seem to be the three most disliked in my experience (although i shouldn’t have placed dune in the group, since i don’t really consider it a "lynch movie" and it is admittedly a fun sci-fi slick) I don’t think they’re terrible movies, just not ones i would choose to watch more then once. Bad for Lynch, good for some other film makers, if that makes any sense at all.
@conor: You even like Eraserhead? I mean I love that film, but I can definitely see why people wouldnt like it.
If anyone doesnt know what Eraserhead…..let’s just say it’s like Grant Morrison meets Salvador Dali…but just 1,000,000x more confusing.
@TheNextChampion.
I don’t get confused by Eraerhead because Eraserhead isn’t about anything, so i just lose myself in the atmosphere and make my own conclusions. I, for one, think its a film about taking the terrors of everyday life, babies, failing relationships, sexual shortcomings, etc, and then turning them up to 11.
But yes, if you’re looking for story structure, eraserhead is VERRRRRRRRY confusing. 😀
@ MisterBlank
I got an avatar…just for you!
Rashoman and Dr. Strangelove are fantastic but you are still way off base with Mulholand Dr. I’m more of a Terry Gilliam’s Brazil type of guy myself.
@Satchtc
wooooo. snazzy. i feel so special :p
I’ll ignore the Mulholland dr. comment, since you like Brazil! Man, Gilliam’s had some missteps, but Brazil is a terrific freakin movie.
@MisterBlank, satchtc: Brazil, best film ever made?
I know it’s in my top 5
Personally 12 Monkeys is my favorite movie but is could definitely be argues that Brazil is one of the greatest movies ever made. I am somewhat of a traditionalist and agree with the masses that Citizen Kane is probably the best movie ever made.
I think most of the commentors have missed Satch’s point. I believe he has issue with G-Mo’s lack of narritive clarity.
Personally I like efficient writers that draw you in FIRST (Dennis O’neil). G-Mo, seems to ASSUME you will be compelled by his ideas or perhaps the reader’s view of his ideas is low on his storytelling priorities list. That’s how I percieve it at least. That’s fine, it’s a choice. But in my opinion, it’s not a judicious one.
To me an important principle in writing is "make the reader care about your story". Draw him in. And by extension be clear.