Final Crisis [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

Let's get something straight: no matter what author Grant Morrison says, this book is NOT for the uninitiated.
If you are:

Sick of the typical slugfest event comic-
Fairly well versed in current DC universe continuity-
Multiverse literate-
A fan of Grant Morrison's previous DCU work-
Not afraid to be confused sometimes-
A fan of a good mind screw-

Then this book is for you!
I don't pretend to know everything that went on in this book. The Super Young Team was particularly cryptic to me. I can also understand others' frustration, because this book assumes a lot of previous knowledge, not only of aforementioned current continuity, but also of everything Morrison's ever contributed to JLA, Seven Soldiers, and Doom Patrol. You also have to have read Morrison's Batman, especially his R.I.P. epilogue.
I know i'm flogging a dead horse now, but if your average comic book was a 100 level college course, than consider this a post-grad dissertation.

HAVING SAID ALL THAT, This book is full of wild and fantastic moments that have never seen before in any book anywhere. The heroes overcome feats they've never imagined, and Morrison writes variations on classic comic book themes that no one else could possibly touch. There's more story packed into each issue than many events have in their entire run. It gets messy sometimes, but overall it was a thrill of a ride that leaves you breathless in its wake.

Comic sales have been in a slump for decades. Even in the midst of a golden age of superhero movies the printed material has continued to sag prompting the big two publishers to increasingly fall back on the `LOOK AT ME' tactic. DC and Marvel both learned that big events sell but at what cost. You can only have so many monster events before they become commonplace. The death of Superman was huge, the death of Captain America not quite as much and when Batman died last year the media hardly took notice. It was 22 years between Crisis on Earth Two and Crisis on Infinite Earths and then 20 years until Infinite Crisis was published but then just 3 years before Final Crisis. At this point there seems to be no gap between events with a large lead in to Infinite Crisis followed by the series 52 and Countdown to Final Crisis. One need only look at the greater than 35% reduction in sales between the first issues of Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis to see that the real crisis is in the viability of the comic industry. But putting aside the commercial success or failure of Final Crisis how did it fare artistically?

I was a huge fan of Infinite Crisis. Right from the start it felt like a big event with Bizarro pummeling the Human Bomb to death and Mongul attacking Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, harkening back to the legendary story by Alan Moore. It brought back feelings I hadn't felt since the mid 80's when DC was cranking out five star material like the Watchmen, Crisis on Infinite Earths and Swamp Thing. The return of Alexander Luthor and the corruption of Superboy-Prime were moments I won't forget. I felt none of this in reading Final Crisis. Somehow Grant Morrison was able to make the death of The Martian Manhunter seem bland and forgettable. At first I wasn't even sure it was The Martian Manhunter since his death occupied a total of two small frames meaning that it undoubtedly occurred in another issue and this leads into perhaps the biggest problem with Final Crisis. I never read Countdown to Final Crisis because it got very bad reviews and it appears that it's a mandatory read because I found myself completely lost. Personally I felt that Infinite Crisis worked as a standalone story that was augmented by reading the leadup stories. Final Crisis on the other hand is all over the place. It's clear that the seven issue series picks up in the middle of a story. Why is Darkseid and crew living on Earth as humans? How did Libra reconstitute himself after being obliterated IN 1974 and?!?!? When did Mary Marvel become a murderous punk and how come Frankenstein is fighting with the superheroes? Final Crisis asks WAY too much of the readers.

It seems these days that Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns write half the stories that DC Comics publishes and although I consider Morrison to be the better writer in this instance I think that Johns did a much better job. Morrison wrote, "I wanted to do the biggest crossover there's ever been" Instead I found it to be by far the weakest of the three big Crisis storylines. What I found most interesting was that Final Crisis #3 was the highest selling and highest rated book of the Crisis tie-ins while Superman Beyond #1 was the lowest (based on reviews by IGN). Personally I found nothing that interesting in issue #3 whereas the Superman story was the first moment that actually attracted my attention so this is clearly a subjective topic. As much as the first half of the series disappointed me the later half particularly the final issue was a complete mess. The worst element had to be the final villain who never even previously appeared in the Final Crisis series. You had to read the tie-in Superman Beyond 1 and 2 to find this character and to call him/it disappointing would be highly generous.

The art is sufficient but inconsistent and sometimes bland. It was nice that they included three tie-in issues, including the aforementioned Superman Beyond, to try and fill in the gaps but I think you would need an encyclopedia to figure out what's going on. DC Comics is going to milk this one for awhile before gearing up for the next big event but stories like these are just going to turn off rather than attract new fans. The series is inaccessible to anyone accept the most ravenous DC reader and even then I wonder if Final Crisis would be considered anything better than average. In the end it felt like Grant Morrison was indulging himself which is a shame because you only need to read All-Star Superman and Batman R.I.P to see that he is an extremely talented writer. From my perspective Final Crisis is a major misfire and as time goes on I suspect the history will not be kind.

Reviews decrying the ending of Final Crisis are missing the point. Yes, Superman "wishing" the world better is contrived--intentionally so. Final Crisis is about, among other things, the nature of stories and the effect that fiction can have on the real world. By having the end of the story rest on a wish, Morrison & Co. illustrate the essence of who Superman is and affirm that the character, arguably one of the most powerful and influential creations of the last century, is capable of saving us, of inspiring us--essentially, he's capable of a lot more than punching out giant robots and lifting trains. He's all of our best qualities in one man, as recognizable as any real world figure, and more powerful than the destructive forces that pervade any decent piece of superhero fiction's dark corners. In showing us the power of this one creation, Final Crisis suggests that all stories have the ability to change and influence the real world. The Monitors, portrayed in the series as mighty gods who view the beings of the Multiverse as "germs," are oblivious to this truth and, I believe, are meant to represent us, the reader, who often overlook the power of fiction in our day to day lives.

Final Crisis also touches on the perpetual battle in superhero comics between good and evil. By showing evil winning for the bulk of the series, Morrison imagines a world--much like the homeworld of the CSA in the Morrison/Quitely graphic novel JLA: Earth 2--where evil prevails. And what do we get? Death, destruction, the loss of freedom and individuality... pretty much what you would expect. And yet, in the end, good wins. Because good creates and innovates and brings ideas to the table, rather than tearing such things down. In the very first scene of the series, humanity is blessed with knowledge and imagination and it is these attributes that save the world in the end.

Now, Final Crisis has its flaws. Much of the art towards the end of the volume appears rushed (understandably so) and Morrison fumbles some of the final moments of the series, particularly the final confrontation with Mandrakk the Dark Monitor, but none of this takes away from the scope and strength of Morrison's ideas.

With Superman Beyond and Submit included (in order, no less!), this collection is the way that the series should be read and will hopefully preserve Morrison's intent for future readers.