Final Crisis

Final Crisis *****
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist(s): JG Jones, Doug Mahnke, Carlos Pacheco, and Marco Rudy
Cover Artist(s): JG Jones
Publisher: DC

Welcome back everyone. As I mentioned in the a previous post, there are three crises books starting with Crisis on Infinite Earths, then Infinite Crisis, and ending with Final Crisis. Final Crisis is an immense, multi-dimensional event that spans across the entire DC Universe.

**Recap starts here

To recap Final Crisis we must go back to dawn of mankind. It is here that Metron, of the New Gods, appears before Anthro presenting him with the power of fire. Flash forward thousands of years and the final battle between man and the Gods is ignited by the death of Orion. It is also at this point that the story breaks off into many directions.

The Guardians of the Universe call upon the Green Lanterns to uncover the truth behind Orion's death, as Gods are not easily killed. As the greatest detective the world has ever seen, Batman is brought in to solve the puzzle. Batman concludes that Orion was shot by some type of bullet and he sends Green Lantern John Stewart to retrieve the bullet. However, Stewart is attacked and Green Lantern Hal Jordan is framed for the attack. Meanwhile, Batman deduces that the true perpetrator is Alpha Lantern Kraken, who has become corrupted. Unfortunately, Kraken kidnaps Batman and later attacks the Guardians of the Universe. Green Lanterns Kyle Raynor and Guy Gardner assist Jordan in restraining Kraken and clearing Jordan's name. 

Back on Earth Libra attempts to create a super villain army intending to subdue the people of Earth for Darkseid. In an effort to persuade the other villains Libra murders Martian Manhunter and critically wounds Lois Lane rendering Superman ineffective for the time being. Superman is then recruited by the monitor Zillo Valla, in a final attempt to save the world. Along with a group of super champions, Superman goes to Limbo to fight the ultimate battle. With the assistance of Captain Adam, Ultraman and Superman join together to awaken the ultimate weapon. It is also here that Mandrakk makes his existence known as he attacks the supermen and the monitors. After believing he defeated Mandrakk, Superman returns to Earth with a drop of the life serum, which he uses to revive Lois.

On Earth the battle between man and god was being lost on multiple fronts by the humans. Darkseid was able to unleash a powerful virus over the internet infecting people with a formula that coerces people into believing that Darkseid was the ultimate god. Alan Scott sends out a draft to recruit all available heroes. Unfortunately, not all of the heroes were able to maintain their free will, as Wonder Woman, along with countless others, fell victim to Darkseid's control. Amidst the chaos a lost hero returned to the realm of the living: Barry Allen made his triumphant return.

With the end of the world at stake Batman made his final move. Escaping from his cell, Batman confronts Darkseid and, making an exception to his rules, shoots Darkseid using the bullet that was used to kill Orion. Simultaneously, however, Batman is hit by Darkseid's Omega Sanction, appearing to have been killed. Superman returns to the present after having gone to the 31st century and confronts the dying Darkseid. Barry Allen and Wally West race towards Darkseid with the Black Racer in tow. Darkseid's followers unleash the Omega Sanction on the two Flashes, however the Flashes are able to outrun the attack which then hit Darkseid. The Black Racer arrives and rips Darkseid's essence from the human host he was inhabiting.

As Darkseid's essence dies away reality begins to break down as time and space unwinds. Superman, having been given access to the Miracle Machine in the 31st century, constructs a copy of the Miracle machine with the aid of both heroes and villains. Darkseid's essence, which has not yet died, attempts to take control of the Miracle Machine, however Superman sings a note that cancels out Darkseid's vibrational frequency, essentially shattering his essence. Mandrakk, who has not died, arrives to taunt Superman and offers him a spot in his army. Superman uses the solar energy within his body to power the Miracle Machine. Captain Marvel and the Question arrive with an army of Supermen from multiple universes arrive, just as Nix Uotan, a banished Monitor, summons the Zoo Crew, the Army of Heaven, and the Super Young Team. The Green Lantern Corps arrive and spear the villain Mandrakk with a stake forged by the power of their rings' energy. We flash back thousands of years into the past once again and witness Anthro dying of old age as Bruce Wayne draws a bat symbol onto the cave wall.

**Recap ends here

To fully grasp the brilliance of this story I would insist that you read the story in its entirety more than once. The sheer amount of detail and information given in this story is mind blowing. Before you've even read 25 pages the story breaks off into multiple stories that move in their own direction until the very end, when everything ties back to one story at the very end.

The best place to start would be with the writing. Grant Morrison is a brilliant writer and an amazing story teller. A lot of people criticize him for the way he writes, but authors shouldn't have to dumb down their writing for those readers who don't wish to put in the effort to understand. The great thing about Morrison's stories is the attention to detail, in both the structure of the story but the character detail as well. Morrison really takes the time to portray characters in a manner that is true to the history of the character. The story of Final Crisis is absolutely riveting. Not only is Morrison able to incorporate ideas from past arcs but he is able to do so in a fluid manner. Final Crisis contains a huge supporting cast that could easily have overwhelmed the story, but it didn't. Instead characters I hadn't even known existed, were incorporated in a way that only made the entire experience better.

Some more great moments that occurred in Final Crisis, were specific moments that centered around well known characters. Barry Allen making his return, after sacrificing his life for his friends in Crisis on Infinite Earths, was a powerful moment. Most of you know how important Barry has been in the DC Universe this past year and that is due in part to the brilliant manner in which he returned. Batman's apparent death continued the story that had been put in to place by Morrison in Batman. His "death" affected numerous comic series' as well as paved the way for the Batman titles months after, including the excellent mini-series Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne.

The art in this book is fantastic art. Initially JG Jones was signed on to be the sole artist in the series, but due to complications received help throughout the series. Jones' artwork in this book is probably the best art in the book. The characters are drawn beautifully, there is an attention to detail that is similar to Morrison's attention to literary detail. Marco Rudy and Carlo Pacheco both did a decent job filling in, although admittedly I don't know which artists did what. Doug Mahnke, the current Green Lantern artist, did an amazing job with the 7th issue, which he took over for JG Jones.

As the third Crisis in the series of crises events, Final Crisis had a lot of hype and expectations. This was the second crisis book I read (Infinite Crisis was first) and I loved it. The art is fantastic to look at; from page to page it is great stuff. The writing is smart and the story is exciting and interesting. The way that this story ties up months of stories while also setting up future stories is just great. Definitely a must read book for DC fans.