Surrendering to the Inevitable

Fine, fine, I was weak. I swore I’d never give in to the marketing hoopla behind “Final Crisis.” Shows what I know. I broke down recently and bought all the three issues of “Final Crisis” so far.

Final Crisis #1-3

The storyline? Darkseid and his Apokoliptian allies have killed the last of the New Gods and are now preparing to destroy Earth. They’re able to possess the bodies of people, and one of their minions, Libra, is organizing DC’s villains. Martian Manhunter gets killed, the Daily Planet gets blown up, Superman gets distracted, Batman gets kidnapped, John Stewart gets mugged, Hal Jordan gets framed, martial arts tough guy Sonny Sumo and super escape-artist Shilo Norman recruit some young Japanese heroes, Oracle loses control of the worst computer virus ever, and Wonder Woman gets corrupted. Busy enough for ya?

I gotta say, I think I prefer reading these big crossovers this way. If I’d been reading these issue by issue, I would’ve been either outraged or bored stiff. Reading all three back-to-back, things make more sense and seem to connect much better. Not all crossovers or event comics seem to work this way — I thought “World War Hulk” and “Sinestro Corps War” worked very well on an issue-by-issue basis. But the scale Grant Morrison is writing for is easier to read when you’re taking the entire thing in at once, not focusing on a tiny portion of the plot at a time. And yes, this is one of the best reasons to read collected editions instead of single issues of comics — you get a complete storyline all at once instead of a piece at a time over six months or more.

However, as of the end of the third issue, things looks to be moving forward really quickly, so I’ll probably pick up the rest of the single issues until the series is over. It’s going to be fun seeing how Darkseid wins, how awful the Anti-Life Equation really is, and what happens to Earth and DC’s superheroes in the meantime.

Verdict: Thumbs up. But only for all three issues at once, not singly. I think reading ’em one at a time would drive you nuts, especially if you’re not familiar with Morrison’s peculiar obsessions.