Final Crisis #4 (OF 7)

What the hell happened here?

Alright, Epic Comic Book Events, let's find some middle ground here. Secret Invasion was an entire issue of nothingness, and Final Crisis was so densely packed with plot points that I can barely follow what's going on anymore. Hopefully a second (or fifth) read through will help me glean some new insights, but for right now, I'm a little lost. (It also doesn't help that it's been, like, two months since I read issue #3)

I thought "evil won" last issue by releasing the anti-life equation, but apparently I was wrong. That doesn't fully happen until the end of this issue, which basically tells us what happens when the anti-life equation gets loose. Although I really wish Morrison hadn't tried to write up an actual equation to go with it. "Loneliness + Despair + Other Bad Feelings = Anti-Life" is just kind of lame.

And, come on, Darkseid. You've got all of humanity to pick from as your new host body, and you choose Dan Turpin??? For real? (I totally did not see that coming, by the way.) Now that I think about it, whatever happened to Batman? Wasn't he in that same holding cell area as Turpin? Why wouldn't Darkseid pick him?

I am really liking what's going on with Barry, though, much more than I thought it would. I still don't know HOW he's back (reversed engineered from random particles?), but I like the concept that he can somehow cure people of the anti-life disease. There's some really cool symmetry in him having saved the universe once by dying, and now he's saving it again by living.