| Final Crisis |  | Author: Grant Morrison
Creators: J.G. Jones, Carlos Pacheco, Doug Mahnke
Publisher: DC Comics
List Price: $29.99
Buy Used: $18.31
as of 9/3/2010 22:29 CDT details
You Save: $11.68 (39%)
New (9) Used (13) Collectible (1) from $18.31
Seller: a_bunch_o_books
Rating:  85 reviews
Sales Rank: 108,164
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First Edition/First Printing
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 10.5 x 7.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 1401222811
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN: 9781401222819
ASIN: 1401222811
Publication Date: June 16, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Book Description
Best-selling writer Grant Morrison (Batman, All-Star Superman, JLA) and critically acclaimed artist J.G. Jones (52, Wanted) redefine what it means to be a modern day Super Hero in this cosmic epic.
What happens when evil wins? That's the question Superman, Batman, the Justice League and every being in the DC Universe have to face when Darkseid and his otherworldly legion of narcissistic followers actually win the war between light and dark. Featuring the deaths and resurrections of major DC characters, Final Crisis is more than your average multi-part event—:it's a deconstruction of Super Hero comics and a challenging, thought-provoking take on the modern, four-color icons. A Look Inside Final Crisis
(Click on Images to Enlarge)
Product Description
Best-selling writer Grant Morrison (BATMAN, ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, JLA) and critically acclaimed artist J.G. Jones (52, Wanted) redefine what it means to be a modern day Super Hero in this cosmic epic.
What happens when evil wins? That's the question Superman, Batman, the Justice League and every being in the DCU have to face when Darkseid and his otherworldly legion of narcissistic followers actually win the war between light and dark. Featuring the deaths and resurrections of major DC characters, FINAL CRISIS is more than your average multi-part event - it's a deconstruction of Super Hero comics and a challenging, thought-provoking take on the modern, four-color icons..
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 85
 Not the full story July 25, 2010
David Mulholland (USA)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Blackest Night was great because it is an epic story, but you feel like you're reading a complete story. In Final Crisis, you feel like you're reading pieces of a story, and that the writer doesn't know how to write an epic.
1) The villain: Yeah, there is a villain, then there is a cosmic villain who isn't introduced in the main story, he's introduced in a crossover. Then he shows up at the end just to die. (Remember the Fallen in Transformers 2? Yeah, it was that lame.)
2) Death: I don't want to spoil who, but someone is shown in issue 2 captured. In issue 6 he shows up, and 2 pages later he's dead. There was no escape, no emotion, just a main character popping out then into the story. It was weak and pointless, especially since he's already being brought back from the dead.
3) Poor writing:The writing is written by someone people like to acclaim, but who demonstrates he doesn't know how to write a comic book, let alone an event. Wonder Woman is evil, then without explanation is free from the curse and a hero again. Not only that, it shows her flying about, but talks about her finding the villain's body. It's a comic book where you can show these things!! In writing they always talk about show, don't tell. It's even worse when they do it in a comic book.
4) Making you feel like you're not getting any of the story: The story of the great return of Aquaman. Yeah, that's what it says in the 2nd panel of Aquaman's appearance, and that's all you see of the character. Why even mention it if that's all they will tell you about it?
Overall it was just weak. The writer was so lost in what he was trying to say about politics that he lost all comprehension of the basics of story telling. This book doesn't work well at all as a book. Instead, if you want to understand this story, you'll have to track down all the crossovers.
You can read every 10th page and it will make as much sense. It's an incomplete story, which makes it a total mess of what could have been a cool event.
Sad.
 A Kirby inspired epic July 17, 2010
Ishmael
There are enough reviews so far to give an idea of impressions of this book. Unfortunately, some of them don't really hit on what's happening here. I'll try.
For "Final Crisis" to make full sense, the reader needs to be familiar with Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga (b&w reprints of the New Gods are still in print, and affordable, and highly recommended). Kirby was a comic legend who help Stan Lee create many of his most memorable and iconic characters, including the Fantastic Four, original X-men, Silver Surfer, Inhumans, and the Hulk. A "big ideas/concepts" man, Kirby wanted to tell mythic stories which redefined religious faith and magic in terms of science and technology, the premise being that what man thought was magic was actually advanced tech. Along those lines, his stories riffed on many of the classic tales of Greek myth, the Bible, Norse myth, and the like. The only problem was that once he came to work for DC, and lacked Lee's collaboration, Kirby's concepts often overrode his storytelling. Basically, plot and ideas pushed aside characterization, motivation, and nuance. That said, Kirby's ideas ARE amazing, and his work at DC laid the foundation for much of its contemporary tales. Among this foundation is a war between the "New Gods" of the "Fourth World", a mythical cosmos which follows a fabled "Third World" -- itself destroyed in a disasterous cosmic conflagration (and the implication is the Third World was that of the Norse gods, who are destroyed during Ragnorak). At the heart of this struggle of the New Gods is a classically inspired battle between father and son in the tradition of Oedipus, in this case Darkseid, the god of evil, and Orion, his warrior offspring (who was raised by the "good" gods of New Genesis). Kirby planned a battle between the two that would bring to an end, presumably, the age of the "Fourth World", and intiate a Fifth age. Unfortunately, he never told this story (at least initially), as sales of the New Gods were so poor it was cancelled.
So how does this relate to Final Crisis?
Basically, Final Crisis is Grant Morrison's story of what happens AFTER the battle between Darkseid and Orion, a battle which Darkseid wins. The New Gods have been destoryed while the gods of Apocalypse have been gravely wounded, and are slowly being reborn into host bodies on earth. The crisis is that their rebirth will entail the destruction of earth, as it is transformed into their hellish home, something that will also destory the known multiverse as earth is the foundation stone of a multiverse of parallel worlds (which is what Morrison refers to as the "orrerary" in the story). Darkseid's rebirth -- which involves subjugating the world's population to his will via the "anti-life equation" -- is the focal point of the tale, as he virtually employs a surprise assualt upon earth's heroes that divides and almost conquers them. But only almost.
The key to understanding the story, in my opinion, is not that Morrison plays with words or throws around heady concepts; it is that he draws upon Kirby's initial identification of religion and magic with science and technology. Like Kirby, Morrison weaves current technological advances with classically inspired metaphysics, and tells a story that reinterprets myth according to contemporary references. So, the story of Lucifer's Fall from Heaven which Milton describes in Paradise Lost (and Morrison actually references) becomes the descent of Darkseid into an "individual singularity." For anyone with a familiarity with physics, the implication is obvious: Hell, where individuals are condemned to an eternity of torture, is redefined as a black hole, from which nothing can escape. Thus, during the story, the attempt of the Green Lantern corps to rescue earth before it slips below the event horizon fails, because time ceases to flow within the boundaries of a black hole. They become literally stuck in time. And time itself is a MAJOR motif in the story, as Morrison plays upon the linear conception of history associated with Judeo-Christian beliefs, as well as the cyclical conception associated with "pagan" beliefs. In fact, the latter becomes the fulcrom of the story, plotwise, as Darkseid is undone by his own tampering with time. All of it is heady, wonderful stuff to read, so long as one has some frame of reference regarding the source material (which has less to do with DC proper, and more to do with Kirby). Thus, my recommendation to begin with the New Gods b&w trade paperback.
Regarding the story itself -- there is much to recommend and criticize here. So far as recommendations go, the art is wonderfully done, despite the fact that it involves various artists with different styles. The shifts between artists is not as dramatic as some have claimed, and although it IS noticeable, it doesn't detract from the story. Similarly, the story itself is initially strongly told, and begins as a murder mystery concerning the death of Orion. "Initially", as the wheels do come off a bit at the end. The set up concerns earth's heroes and the Green Lantern corps trying to determine who killed Orion, and ultimately being blindsided by Darkseid and his minions. There is a strong horror vibe running throughout many of the early chapters, as Darkseid's followers are not only engaged in variations of demonic possession, but also engaged in bio-engineering of human/animal monstrosities. One of the most chilling moments comes when Darkseid actually makes his presence known, with a gladitorial "thumbs down" page which condemns humanity to hell. Given the disarray of the heroes at this point, there is not much to hope for (and the reader is left strongly wondering how good will win the day).
Good does indeed save the day -- after having eventually been beaten to the point of exile upon a sliver of the moon bonded with Superman's fortress of solitude -- and it is here that the story comes apart. Morrison's set up is so strong, that the denouement is difficult to believe in. I'll touch on what seem to me to be the problems -- so "spoiler alerts" are now fully in effect.
Things turn when the heroes launch the equivalent of a suicide strike upon the "Command D" bunker wherein Darkseid resides. The battle is tense, and actually fairly in doubt, until Batman makes a striking appearance. Striking, because Batman had been captured early in the story, and actually taken out of the narrative. Although Morrison clearly would have us believe that there's no trap or prison that can hold Batman, his appearance reads as a non-sequitur. There is evidence that he has fought his way to freedom -- he appears straggled and wounded -- but it is never shown in text. This might seem an unfair complaint (writers need not show EVERYTHING), but given that Batman's actions prove to turn the tide, the actual impression is dissatisfying. Darkseid is on the verge of victory. And then Batman shows up with a gun and shots him with a "god killing" bullet. If that reads poorly, well, prepare to be disappointed in the story, for that IS what happens. The result is that Darkseid is wounded, but nevertheless appears to kill Batman, which is when Superman makes HIS arrival (and THOSE are some magnificant pages provided by Doug Mahnke). We then move into the endgame.
Now things truly disappoint. The reason for this is not so much what happens -- Superman singing into a "Miracle Machine" that transforms words/ideas into reality is an exceptionally cool moment. The Greeks believed the planets gave off a noise as they moved through the galaxy, which they referred to as a "harmony of spheres." Similarly, Judeo-Christian thought encompasses the belief that the world came into being when God spoke. So the presentation of Superman singing an end to the conflict, to restore the harmony of the spheres with a machine that makes words into actuality is brilliant. In this Morrison is truly the heir to Kirby, and clearly "gets" what Kirby was about. Unfortunately, the actual telling of the last chapter is abrupt, disjointed, and a confusing patchwork of scenes. The final chapter is told from the perspective of Lois Lane, in the future, recounting the past, which, for the reader, is the present.
Yes. That makes my head hurt too (and YOU try typing it) -- but that is the narrative voice Morrison adopts.
The segue from Superman finding Batman's corpse, which logically should lead to the battle with Darkseid, is postponed while Morrison shows another hero rounding up the Supermen of various universes (a cool idea in itself) to join the fight. Only, the fight the "Supermen Army" wages isn't with Darkseid, it's with a cosmic vampire who is the antagonist of ANOTHER minis-series that accompanied Final Crisis, but which readers could ignore. From the perspective of the storyline, this is a TREMENDOUS shift in the narrative away from the first 5-6 chapters, towards a story whose relation to Final Crisis seems rather arbitrary (Superman needs to be off world while Darkseid does his thing, and here's how we'll do it). In fact, there is quite a bit to criticize in the conclusion, as reader expectations concerning the Green Lantern corps are left unfulfilled (they join in for the fight against the Cosmic Vampire -- which is rather irritating given that the reader is led to think they'll take part in the fight against Darkseid) ... the appearance of the Cosmic Vampire undercuts the build up concerning Darkseid (as the final battle shifts from Darkseid to the CV, who had virtually no role otherwise, regarding the main story) ... and the ending panel gives the sense of inconclusiveness (the next epic obviously involving a search for Batman).
Ultimately, the let down for the story is the inclusion of a villian who was extraneous to the plot -- and who actually upstages Darkseid during the conclusion -- as well as a questionable narrative voice which skips between time periods in a way that undercuts the emotional punch OF the narrative. Although it is clear Morrison had the story well mapped out, and was ESPECIALLY thoughtful about what he was doing regarding the moral/metaphysical/scientific themes, in the end it appears that things either: (a) got slightly away from him, or (b) evince the "suggestions" of a second party (i.e. editorial intervention). I suggest (b) simply because the additional Superman story winds up being integral to Final Crisis itself, but IS such an incredible misfit with the rest of the tale. It literally comes out of nowhere, and blunts the impact of what is otherwise a very gripping and entertaining read. It is a massive detour that proves to be an obstacle for the tale's conclusion.
All in all, I do think that this is one of the best "events" I've read in a while. There is much to sink your teeth into and think about -- much that is imaginative, gripping, horrorfying, and compelling -- and that it compares very favorably versus other such stories, which usually end up being huge slugfests (and prove to be boring and not worth re-reading). That said, it also winds up being slightly disappointing, as the detour of the Superman "chapters" derails what was the central thrust of the story: Darkseid's rebirth and the recreation of Apokolypse in the wake of the Fourth World's cosmic war.
I do recommend this for anyone interested in seeing how comic books and superheroes invoke the epic and grandeur of ancient myths. But, I do so with the caveat that despite the promise of the story, it does stumble at the end. Why is unclear to me ... for the potential of the story -- of the concepts, ideas, and plot -- should NOT have led to the disatisfying final chapter. Morrison prompts the reader to think, and with a little thought his vision is clear. Nevetheless, the story DOES stumble at the end, and readers should anticipate this.
Its decent June 25, 2010
Jessica Freeman (brooklyn, ny)
Lets face it...there HAVE been more confusing Morrison titles out there than this (like Batman RIP), but this is pretty decent. You can follow it and piece it along as you go. Its best to remember the stuff that happens in the beginning because it comes back to complete the book at the end. It worth its weight if you want to have the complete Batman Reborn/Return of Bruce Wayne picture, but isn't totally necessary. Id give it 3 1/2 if I could.
 yikes!!!!!!! June 18, 2010
Tahchee G. Parchment
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
i realy REALY wanted to like this and even though i think they have had way to many of them lately i like event comics/mini series.i like morrison .but and here comes the but, this is a big bloated complicated mess,you practicaly need a roadmap to figure out where this is headed. to me this represents what is wrong with comics today a very hard to follow story that is not easy to get into. that a casual reader has a snowballs chance in hell following.Final Crisisin this books defense most mini series are geared twords serious readers.but its as if dc/morrison slams the reader with bits and pieces of various story lines but never realy gives you real understanding of ANY OF THEM .as a reader you are left dazed and cofussed...and ultimatly just let down..... an event comic /mini series should represent the best comics has to offer, this is sadly not the case here.
ANOTHER Crisis? Really? June 11, 2010
dirt55 (United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have read every Crisis story that I can get my hands on from DC and enjoyed the story pre and post "Infinite Crisis" the most. I was unsure why they so quickly decided to "shake it up" all over again. Boy oh boy was this rediculous. From start to finish it made no sense. It was as though someone collected various ideas and different story lines and just threw them together with no real thought. There were some interesting parts off and on, but compared to the Countdown books leading up to this...it was terrible. And the end...I kept thinking it was just going to turn out to be someone's dream or it was going to be erased quickly by some greater being...sadly not. Two stars for the art and my surprise to actually finish it. Ugh.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 85
|
|
|
|
Return to PokerSupplies.com Homepage
About Us
Privacy Policy | |
