Final Crisis #1 (OF 7)

Originally, I had not planned on getting this series. After Infinite Crisis and "One Year Later" disappointed me, I gradually dropped all DC titles with the exception of Justice League Unlimited, Ex Machina, and some Vertigo titles. But then I heard the pitch for this series: "The Day that Evil One" and I was sold.

Unfortunately, this issue was extremely disappointing. Rather than the explosive beginning I expected from the pitch, I found this issue very boring. It was like Morrison was trying to do much, start too many threads and cover too much ground, that nothing really happened. The beats that should have been more powerful, such as the deaths of Orion and Martian Manhunter, were almost glossed over rather than giving them the time that was needed. I felt like it was more of a summary of things that had been going on in other books rather than the main action.

The book also seemed to have been written assuming an intricate knowledge of current DC comics. As someone fairly familiar with DC, I recognized most of the characters, but would only have known Anthro was Anthro because of interiews given by Morrison stating the issue started with him. It seemed almost like Morrison was throwing stuff in there (such as the Alpha Lanterns) for no real reason other than to have it in there.

As far as the art, J. G. Jones did an awesome job. it was beautiful. Unfortunately, not enough to make up for the story.

This may be a story that is great in its entirety, which is probably how I'll read it: in trade. As far as making me want to pick up the next issue, this failed completely for me.