Final Crisis
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists: J.G. Jones, Doug Mahnke, Carlos Pacheco, Matthew Clark, Jesus Merino, Marco Rudy, Christian Alamy, and Norm Rapmund
Most confusing Morrison book I’ve read, but the second best of the CRISIS trilogy, and Darkseid’s most diabolical plot yet!
Ranking: 3 stars
I have to say, after reading a good number of Grant Morrison's books; I've become quite a fan of him. He is well known for creating comics that contain a considerable amount of literary references in his works, which has been off-putting and confusing for several comic book fans. I however, have developed more respect for his books than others have. I find his references to classic literature inside and outside of comics to be clever and intelligent. I might not get the concept the first time, but once I piece all of the references together, I come to see the book as a creative masterpiece. I've read Grant Morrison's BATMAN AND SON, BATMAN: R.I.P., ARKHAM ASYLUM: A SERIOUS HOUSE ON SERIOUS EARTH, and his entire run on BATMAN AND ROBIN, all of which I enjoyed, though I found his work on ALL-STAR SUPERMAN to be less enticing than the previous books mentioned. I was able to decipher the confusing references in all of his books, and saw a creative story in each of them, but FINAL CRISIS proved to be a greater challenge on both levels.
The Crisis stories by DC are reality-shaking stories that affect the entire cast of characters that DC Comics has ever created. The first in the series, CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS (Marv Wolfman), eliminated the concept of the multiverse, and established a single continuity for DC Comics, making it more accessible for new readers. INFINITE CRISIS was released on the twentieth anniversary of the original Crisis, which brought back the Multiverse, but developed it into an organized system of 52 parallel universes. FINAL CRISIS stands as the final book of the trilogy, and in my opinion, had the greatest storyline of all three. The book begins with the death of Orion, one of the gods of New Genesis, who were at war with the evil gods of Apokolips. The evil gods of Apokolips, led by Darkseid, won the conflict, but as a result, both worlds were destroyed. The Justice League of America calls Batman (who had just faced the Black Glove in R.I.P.) to investigate the murder of Orion, but almost immediately after he comes to a hypothesis on the cause of Orion's death, mysterious events begin to alter reality itself. It's revealed that not only did Darkseid and his followers survive the war, but have also taken possession of human bodies, masking their presence from Earth's heroes. Once their presence becomes known, Darkseid's minions unleash the Anti-Life Equation (a mathematical formula of emotions, that when recited in the correct sequence, destroy all sense of free will inside a life form, effectively becoming a slave of Darkseid) globally through the Internet. As more and more civilians and heroes are transforming into mindless killing-machines, those who have not fallen to the equation plan to make a desperate last stand against the forces of evil. If they were to fail, not only would New Earth (the primary Earth in the DC Multiverse) fall, but also the entire multiverse would fall prey to a force even greater than Darkseid.
As a Morrison fan, I'm somewhat mixed with his work on FINAL CRISIS. He builds up an incredibly astounding storyline, but goes a little overboard with some of the literary references. In a couple of points during the course of the graphic novel, the allusions increased to more obscure levels than what Morrison usually employs, which made reading this more troublesome than his usual works. I'm not saying that it ruined the book, but I feel that if Morrison made a couple of the allusions less confusing, parts of the book would've been more enjoyable (not that it wasn't enjoyable, I liked it, but it was a bit overdone). The SUPERMAN BEYOND portions of the book were quite possibly, some of the hardest to read. SUPERMAN BEYOND deals with the Superman of New Earth (as well as Supermen from across the 52 Earths), aiding the Monitors against Mandrakk (also a main antagonist), a rogue Monitor who is feeding off the life force of the multiverse. There are a numerous amount of characters, but I expected to see that, as it was the same way in the first two Crisis books. The final chapter could've been better executed, as the references were more confusing here, and the dialogue felt rushed, which didn't help in resolving the crisis. It also contained a plot hole that I felt was too important to leave out. Earlier in the book, a weapon that could be used against Darkseid was discovered, but it's barley mentioned in the last chapter, which I felt undermined the resolution of the book. Never less, I still believed that the concept of the book's resolution had great potential, even though the execution of it failed for me.
Despite Morrison bordering on the over usage of obscure literary references (I've come to appreciate his confusing style, as although it can be hard to follow at points, I can understand the story and the purpose behind the allusions), I still found this book to be an intelligent and creative piece of storytelling. As Darkseid the New Gods of Apokolips continued to corrupt the Earth into their image, I felt sympathy for the heroes as the world was coming to an end. All of the superheroes valiantly attempt to fight off the alien tyrant's forces, but to little avail, as Darkseid's power over Earth grows stronger when the Anti-Life Equation corrupts another human or superhuman. Their plight was dramatically portrayed, which made it easier to understand the character's feelings, and I came to sympathize them. A reader can tell that they are enjoying a story if they are able to feel for the characters, and I was throughout the majority of book. There were various concepts introduced from the literary references that I felt expanded the possibilities of the characters and the DC Multiverse. The Limbo dimension acts as the garbage dump of the multiverse, where eliminated and forgotten characters published by DC reside, which was a clever reference to the editorial staff. I loved the how the mind controlled Wonder Woman, Batwoman, and Gigantrix resembled the furies of Hades, which was an excellent tie-in to Greek Mythology! The Monitors (modeled after the original one in CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS) are guardians assigned to protect the 52 Earths, but Morrison reveals that the Monitors are not the blessing we thought they were, which was an extremely interesting turning point in the natures of the characters. In my opinion, this was the best story about the evil god Darkseid, as he finally accomplishes his goal of obtaining the Anti-Life Equation, and nearly succeeds in destroying all of existence. Another interesting factor is that Darkseid is slowly dying during the book, as Orion had mortally wounded the evil god before his death. Knowing he has little time left, Darkseid plans to carry out his lifelong goal of destroying all life, by commencing his plan early, and by having his death take place on New Earth; the cornerstone of all of existence would perish. These factors increased Darkseid's role as an antagonist for the DC heroes, and has made him earn a place among my favorite comic book villains. J.G Jones provides astonishing artwork for the majority of the story. He uses a style that gives the characters a bold form, and makes them appear bright and vibrant on the page. I found it to be a unique drawing style, and it ranks second only that of my top two favorite comic book artists: Jim Lee and David Finch!
So what's my verdict on this book? Well, I wouldn't recommend it for readers new to comics or the DC Universe, or for anyone who can't keep up with Morrison's writing style as this the most confusing book of his I've read, and I've read his works. From what I've seen, Grant Morrison's intellect is on another level than other comic book writers, and due to that, he sometimes fails at getting his point across to those who have a hard time getting the concept of his work. But I would recommend this book for those who have a wide knowledge of DC Comics, and have read his fore mentioned run on BATMAN. I also recommend this for fans of Grant Morrison, or those looking for an intellectually challenging read. While it's not complicated comic book literature at its best, it's still a worthwhile read nonetheless. I view it as the best of the Crisis trilogy, as the writing felt intellectually thought out and planned, while the first two seemed to either be rushed or cheesy in dialogue. So while FINAL CRISIS can go beyond my normal limits of being obscure at a couple of points, and was rushed in the ending, I found it to be a good read, and a great expansion of Darkseid's character.
"All is one in Darkseid, [give in!]"
