Thoughts On Final Crisis Thus Far

I tried to review this book in a conventional way. But Grant Morrison being an unconventional writer and large chunks of this story involving things I can't explain, I find myself unable to do so. Every time I try and write thoughts on this book, it comes out reading like the dialogue of Vic Sage.

So rather than fight this, I've decided to embrace it. So here - with page references - are my random, disjointed thoughts on the first two issues of Final Crisis.


p. 4 - Fire from the gods. Morrison's love of mythology modernized made into a visual pun.

p. 5 - Vandal Savage. The first villain vs. The first hero. Technology makes the different. Anthro as a Stone Age Iron-Man.

p. 8 - Classic transition. Man of today more powerful than the gods of yesterday. Making fire easily for a less practical purpose, i.e. smoking.

p. 12 - The New Question, Rene Montoya, appears as a New God of light, Orion, dies. Know New Gods of darkness being reborn as humans - foreshadowing of further rebirths, metaphorical and actual?

p. 13 - The Dark Side club. Doesn't take detective to see trouble there.

p. 14-15 - Green Lanterns acting like the space cops they are. More procedure and code-talking than usual.

p. 16-17 - always a treat to see Mirror Master written by Morrison. Dark humor with Dr. Light wanting to get some drugs for a date. Impotence implied. Amazed he still has the parts to lift up after Identity Crisis.

p. 18-19 - Libra. Cosmic balancer of scales. Villains to beat heroes for once? "My creed is Luthor". Classic. Twilight of the Gods mentioned - reference to lost Alan Moore's proposed "final crisis" or opera? Both? Neither?

p. 20 - Martian Manhunter burned far easier than he should have been. Hard to capture, harder to kill. Will likely survive... somehow.

p. 22-23 - Evil New Gods reborn. Children as slaves. Named Anti-Life. Equation found?

p. 24-25 - Green Alpha Lantern's sealing Earth off. Beginning of the End?

p. 26-27 - Earth 51 gone. 52-51= 0? New Earth the foundation. Foundation cracking?

p. 28-29 - Confusing. Many monitors. Crime to love. Crime to show emotion? Too much like Guardians. Too much like Watchers. And yet... metaphor? No longer nameless guardians. No longer the same, day after day. "Faceless once. We all now have names and stories. There are heroes and villains... secrets and lovers." Metaphor for how superheroes in American comics progressed from generic guardians to fully developed characters?

p. 30-31 - First hero meets last hero. Statute of Liberty... where are apes who evolved from man?

p. 32 - Who is this man? Another god reborn?






p. 1-3 - Amazed nobody before now made a Japanese hero called "Rising Son". Rising Son's criticism of Japanese heroes who just hang around in clubs and reminiscing over Japan's proud tradition of heroism, particularly giant monster fight.. metaphor for modern relationship-based Japanese Manga of today being inferior to classic action Manga of 1950s and 1960s Japan?

p. 4-7 - Japanese superheroes. Stereotypes, but not as bad as Morrison's Chinese superhero team. Sonny Sumo is likable character. Bar brawls between costumed heroes - reference to Kingdom Come? More 'beginning of the end' references...

p. 8 - Shilo Norman - the human Mister Miracle - forming a team to fight reborn Evil New Gods. Good New New Gods?

p. 9 - Mysterious man from before. Nobody trapped in lousy job. Doodling heroes. Looking for magic words. Another New God or a metaphor for comic fans?

p. 10-11 - Dan Turpin survived encounter with Anti-Life children. How? Roughing up Mad Hatter - trail leads to Bludhaven.

p. 12 - superhero funeral. pray for resurrection. Another metaphor or foreshadowing?

p. 13-14 - Luthor makes his demands. What does Libra really want? What does Human Flame owe?

p. 15-16 - Alpha Lanterns unstable. Still, nice to see Batman shot down and having authority questioned.

p. 17 - Theotoxin - a poison for a god?

p. 18-20 - Hal Jordan possessed again? Framed? Now see why main Green Lantern book devoted to six-month flashback story.

p. 21-22 - Batman gets beaten up again for second time in as many weeks. Alpha Lantern gone rogue. Name of Kraken - another sign of end times. The Kraken that is, not Batman losing a fight.

p. 23-25 - Street preacher working for Granny Goodness. Last hero in cage with slave children. Time jumping how? Dan Turpin also wonders how he got here. A fragment of Darksied within? Scattered about world? More than one avatar?

p. 26-27 - Lois Lane dead? Don't believe it.

p. 28-30 - Barry Allen not dead? And a not-dead New God who is Death in tow? Curiouser and curiouser...