Final Crisis #1 (OF 7)

Whenever I get mad now, I think I’m going to yell at the person, “I am not adverse to the taste of human flesh, sir!”  Honestly, Morrison writes some really golden lines.  Anyways… on with the show…

So, after a great deal of build-up, a disappointing year-long weekly series, some good set-up issues elsewhere, and whatnot, we finally bear witness to the Final Crisis.  The third part of the “Crisis trilogy” is here. 

The gist of the opening issue goes as such:

·         Metron shows up at the dawn of humanity and give man its first piece of “technology”: fire.  Naturally, like all tech, the caveman, Anthro, uses it to kill each other cavemen, starting humanity’s first example of advancement of weapons in warfare.  As the issue nears the ends, Anthro is transported to Kamandi’s time where the guy declares he needs the weapon Metron gave him against the gods.  It feels a little strange and out of place, but in a Grant Morrison strange and out of place kid of way, so I'm good with it for now.  Grant's shown in the past that he can tie up confusing or odd plot points well, so it's up to the next issues to settle my misgivings.

·         Orion is dead (again), setting off a 1011 in the GL law books.  As such the Green Lanterns decided to quarantine the entire planet in order to find the killer.  Yes, the Guardians probably should have picked up on gods dying during DEATH OF THE NEW GODS but they DID have a war with Sinestro to deal with at the time and the aftermath to sift through so it's fine.  I do appreciate that we're seeing this is Guardians-of-the-Universe-are-getting-involved big.

·         Right before Orion kicks over, he tells Dan Turpin “They did not die!  He is in you all!”  What’s this about?  I’m sure it starts with an “n” and rhymes with “Pew Gods.  Sure enough, Turpin heads to the “Dark Side Club” off a tip by the Question and finds himself in an audience with Dark Side, the Seven Soldiers version of Darkseid, using the Anti-Life Equation to enslave people.

·         The Monitors punish Nix Uotan for not saving his Earth from the Monarch/Prime fight, paving the way for another Monitor to go ahead with a sinister plot.  Woooo…

·         Lex Luthor and Vandal Savage question why they should give up their control of the Society.  Libra responds by dragging out the Martian Manhunter and killing him in front of everyone.  The issue ends as somebody (Shilo Norman?) wakes up to see that the news is reporting the Martian’s death as he sees something (obscured by shadows) on his hands.  I'm really starting to like Libra with his almost humorous flair as if he's doing all this just for laughs.  I'm sure there are those who will be disappointed by the almost off-handed way J'onn dies, but I think it serves the point to show how dire things are soon to be.  It's contribution to the strength of Libra's threat level is certainly much appreciated as well.  His motivation, just to see an honest-to-goodness Twilight of the Gods is really interesting and his handling of the Society's Alpha males is really enjoyable.  It remains to be seen WHO Libra is.  Mister Miracle?  Alex Luthor?  Grant Morrison?  I don't know, but I almost wish Libra is just Libra because I really like the guy.

Good issue?  I'd think to think so.  Granted, there were a few times I had to acknowledge I wasn't sure what the heck as going on, but overall, I finished the book satisfied.  The only part I felt I was scratching my head was the caveman sequences.  Other than that, I was golden.  This probably isn't exactly a book I'd introduce someone to the DCU with, but then I could say the same about Infinite Crisis.  The Crisis books are really made to draw new readers, I think, but to reward faithful readers for sticking with DC.  That being said, I think a couple minutes on Wikipedia could relieve anybody's confusion on who's who.

This wasn't quite the collection of "HOLY CRAP!" moments like we got from the first issue of Secret Invasion, but I don't think that was Morrison's intentions.  I think he's looking to build up tension incrimentarily, which is fine as we can be spared a mass drop-off like Secret Invasion #2.  The art is certainly the kind of polished and detailed art we've come to expect from J.G. Jones.  The dialogue works well for the most part and we've been given a handful of plot threads to mull over until next issue.  Like most Morrison tales, I'm sure all that's confusing and weird will be pay off in due time.  I'm sure there'll be quite a few that didn't like this issue, but as for me, I really liked it and wait happily for the next issue to roll around.