Wednesday, January 21, 2009

When Words Collide: Final Crisis -- Past is Prologue

Prepping for next week's release of "Final Crisis" #7 (we all hope), I reread all the "Final Crisis" issues, all the tie-ins, and a few of the unofficial prequel series.

All of that reading made the "Final Crisis" experience even more satisfying (and if you've been reading this blog, you know that I've been enjoying FC since the beginning) so I decided that I should spend the next two weeks of "When Words Collide" columns talking about "Final Crisis," past, present, and future.

This week, in "Past is Prologue," I explore the "Zenith," "Rock of Ages," "Mister Miracle" connection, and next week I'll take a look at "Final Crisis" at its conclusion -- what it all means and how it means it.

"Final Crisis" is far from perfect, but it's a jagged epic monstrosity of pure comic book thrills.

8 comments:

Chad Nevett said...

I'm planning on rereading Final Crisis (all nine issues of it--as I count only the Morrison-penned stuff as official), but maybe I should throw in some Mister Miracle (or maybe ALL of "Seven Soldiers").

Anonymous said...

Wouldn't Batman RIP or Last Rites have to be part of it?

I think as a story, Final Crisis fails: It lacks sufficient narrative. I know that Morrison writes in mysterious ways, but this time I think he's outstripped the limits of that method.

It's an event, and a good one at that, and has some fantastic moments. But it doesn't, or at least hasn't yet, come together adequately in one coherent whole.

Plus, it's one thing to kill Martian Manhunter in one panel. It's another to do the same with Batman in one or two pages.

Chad Nevett said...

Out of curiosity, as I've been wondering since the first issue of Final Crisis: what's the proper number of panels or pages one should devote to killing a character? Because that seems to be an issue some have and I think knowing the minimum number required could be helpful...

Drew said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drew said...

I've long believed that everyone who spent money on Countdown (to Final Crisis) should be sent a free copy of Mister Miracle's SSoV mini. I think you nailed it Tim, this is the REAL prelude to FC.

Nacho said...

I assumed that when Metron said "Prepare the Earth for fortification" he was talking about Mageddon. He (it) was the reason for Orion and Barda to join the League. They know he (it) was coming before the others.

Great article, as usual.

Anonymous said...

Can you also please explain why Morrison's Batman talks like Rorshach: "Hh." vs. "Hrm."

tim carbonara said...

"Rock of Ages" was the first current JLA storyline I read when I got into comic books. It's amazing...