Final Crisis # 7 Review

Creative Team
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Doug Mahnke
Inkers: Tom Nguyen, Drew Geraci, Christian Alamy, Norm Rapmund, Rodney Ramos, Doug Mahnke and Walden Wong

Story - New Heaven, New Earth

Review
This has probably been said already many times in reviews for this issue but I will say that Final Crisis #7 was a disappointing read for a series that prove to be all build and no real payoff. But before I go on with my review I found a couple good interviews with Dan Didio and Grant Morrison talking about this series and the DCU as well as an interview with Mike Marts talking about Batman that are interesting reads/video.

Dan Didio Video Interview: Part 1 and Part 2
Grant Morrison: Exit Interview
Mike Marts: Batman Interview

All these interview give an interesting insight of the future of the DCU and in the case of the Morrison interview gives some information of what actually happened in Final Crisis. Just as Morrison says in his interview Final Crisis is a "channel-surfing" event that takes us throughout the DCU Multiverse to see how big of an impact Darkseid and the evil vampire-Monitor. The problem with this "channel-surfing" type storytelling that Morrison used in Final Crisis is that it gave us, the readers, a very disjointed story that no matter how hard Morrison, Didio and others in DC may try and explain what happened this event is only proof that Morrison may be suffering a serious case of ADHD.

The blame for this disjointed story that we got does not solely have to be placed on Morrison or Didio's shoulders but also to everyone involved in Final Crisis. For the most part it feels that Morrison was given free reign over the series, and Final Crisis #7 is the perfect example, and none of the editors really told Morrison to change some things in his script in order to make it more friendly to the reader.

The one thing that both Final Crisis and Secret Invasion proved is that these big events need is two writers working on the events. I would love to sit down and talk to Morrison about all the ideas he has in his head. If nothing else this series proved that Morrison has some awesome ideas. But the problem he seems to have is putting all of his ideas down on paper and make it make sense.

The whole shifting from the future to the past to the present was just sloppy storytelling that had no flow from scene to scene. This whole "channel surfing" style of storytelling should never have been experimented on a "big event" book were so many old and new readers are going to be reading it only to be confused by it. If Morrison really wanted to change how storytelling within a comic is told he should first experiment by launching his own title under Vertigo or one of the other DC imprints were he can get criticism and work to make this type of storytelling better when the time came to write Final Crisis.

It is also clear, from Morrison's interview and just reading Final Crisis, that this series was meant to not only be an Elseworld story but also be at least 12 issues and not 7 issues. This issue specifically proves that Didio just forced Morrison to condense an already hugely detailed story into 7 issues in order to get to the end much quicker. There is just so much left out from this series that every time we got a big moment like the capture of Batman, Barry's return, Superman leaving and returning, people being taken over by the Anti-Life equation, Batman shooting Darkseid and getting hit by the Omega Sanction happened it did not carry the weight it should have since their is no real explanation for it to happen or it took to long to long that the plotline saw a long delay within the story.

If I have to go to an interview with the writer or editors in order to get all the details of the story than that is pretty sloppy storytelling since I should be able read a comic or a book and be able to make sense of what I read without someone having to explain what the hell I just read.

What makes it worse is that now that the series is finally over we are now told the official reading order of Final Crisis. So the reading order for Final Crisis looks like this:

Final Crisis #1-3
Superman Beyond #1-2
Final Crisis: Submit
Final Crisis #4-5
Batman #682-683
Final Crisis #6-7

Because we have been getting such a disjointed story all of the important storylines in Final Crisis were massively underdeveloped. And no plotline was more underdeveloped than that involving Barry, Wally, and the Black Racer. For all the build up of Barry's return by various people at DC Barry barely appeared in the series. And I didn't really see it necessary for Barry and Wally to have to outrun Black Racer since it seems that he was already after Darkseid's soul since he was the grim reaper of sorts for the New Gods. So it just seems that Barry was just forced into the story in order for Didio to get back what he thinks is the best Flash. I have no doubt that Geoff Johns will do a fantastic job dealing with the ramification of Barry's return in Flash: Rebirth but that does not excuse the fact that his official return to the DCU lacked the impact on the reader that his return should have had.

Also I do not get the point of having one panel of the return of the original Aquaman's return and that's it. Were in the fuck did that come from. For a character like Aquaman to be just randomly put in the issue just continues Morrison just putting in scenes that look cool but does nothing to add to the overall plot of Final Crisis.

I also do not see why the Japanese heroes were included into this series from the very beginning since all they were good for was standing around, just like half the characters in the series, in front of Checkmate headquarters only to all die once Darkseid broke all of reality.

Now while I did not like the majority of this issue the one thing I will give Morrison credit for is giving a Superman that is a total badass. He really presents Superman as this larger than life figure, similar to All-Star Superman, and his whole confrontation with Darkseid really made that moment feel larger than life. It only feels right that Superman be the center of the DCU, it is a nice call back to Crisis on Infinite Earths were we also saw all the various Supermen help in the final battle with the big bad guy.

The thing that I did not like about the supposed big bad guy is that we do not see him until this final issue within Final Crisis. This just puts more confusion within the reader since for 6 issues we have been told that Darkseid is the big bad guy but to suddenly get a vampire Monitor with his zombie Superman makes the whole ending anti-climatic since he appears for a handful of pages and then is gone along with his zombie Superman.

Also the whole Superman wishing for a happy ending just proves that the Miracle was just a deus ex machina that negates everything that has happened. And it does not make sense that in Superman's supposed happy ending that he would not bring back Bruce. Instead he leaves him in the ancient past were he seems to have aged and balding. Also in this happy ending world it is not clear that Black Canary, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Hawkgirl and everyone else that died in this event came back. It only makes gives an excuse for writers to now say that characters have been dead for a long time were brought back in this new happy ending world.

While we finally only got one artist in this issue in the form of Doug Mahnke the art is still largely inconsistent due to inkers by committee Morrison and Didio set up. This whole issue screams of DC rushing the art in order to get it out on time in order to not further anger fans. And while delaying a title would only mean a short wait inconsistent art will last forever. So when I go back to read this series the delays wont be there but the inconsistent art will.

Issue Rating
Story: 3.2 - I continue my rant about this issues horrible pacing but in the end Morrison's experiment that he calls Final Crisis was a big failure. If this was any other writer fans would be calling for his/her head but since this is Morrison he gets a little pass due to the credit he has built up with fans.
Art: 6.1/10 - Even though we got one artist working on this issue the art was still rushed due to the the inker by committee Didio set up for this final issue.
Overall: 4.65/10 - Final Crisis would have been much better left of as the ultimate Elseworld story and not a DCU big event since for now the events of this book have little to no affect in the DCU other than the New Gods and Batman.

Legen--wait for it---dary Comic Book Highlight for 1/14/09

Cover of the Week: Amazing Spider-Man #583 (Variant Cover)

With the inauguration yesterday is there even a doubt that the Amazing Spider-Man #583 featuring President Barack Obama wouldn't be the cover of the week. If there is one thing Marvel does better than DC is their marketing campaign for their major releases and Obama appearance in Amazing Spider-Man was marketed all of last week.

Final Crisis #6 Highlights

And here ladies and gentlemen is the ultimate deus ex machina: The Miracle Machine. There is no doubt we have not seen the last of the Miracle Machine. It will probably be used to move everyone to the new Earth and "fix" some problems DC has wanted to "fix" a long time ago.

Was an enjoyable chick fight. And I am glad we got finally got rid of this slutty Mary Marvel since she has been an annoying character for the past two years. Now let see how DC is going to rehabilitate Mary and the rest of the Marvel Family (I smell mini-series).

Yet again Wonder Woman is giving nothing to do while Superman and Batman are both given their time to shine. If DC really wants to make me believe that Wonder Woman really is part of the Trinity than they need to give her, her own moment to shine and save the universe like Superman and Batman have in almost every major DC event.

Lord Eye is a cool concept and I like that it is named after Maxwell Lord and Brother Eye. Though I question presenting this weapon this late in the game and giving all this power to Renee Montoya of all the characters in the DCU.

For all the build up of Libra being this great supervillain he went out like a little punk to Lex Luthor. Though we will probably see him appear somewhere in the next issue.

For characters that are named the Flash this plotline involving Barry and Wally has been one of the slowest moving plots in this series. And all we get here is two pages of them showing up.

Just like Libra, Darkseid went out like a little bitch. For being the ultimate bad guy all Darkseid has done/did for the six issues of Final Crisis is sit on his butt and do nothing but give the thumbs down.

This should have been more impact on the reader but Batman only other appearance on Final Crisis was in the first issue and a very short scene in issue two being placed in the machine he was hooked up to in Batman #682-683. Personally Morrison did a better job in Batman RIP showing Bruce Wayne's demise, even though he didn't die in that story but in here.

With only one issue left we are told that there is someone even worse than Darkseid. Great work Morrison (NOT!!).

The image everyone, well DCU fans anyways, are talking about.

Green Lantern Corps #32 Highlights

At least his/her parents can say that their kid had an exciting birth.

Typical, while the Green Lanterns are fighting for their lives the Guardians set in place a new law affective immediately.

Awkward! Hopefully Soranik isn't another one of Kyle's love interest that is killed by one of his villains and this plotline is given time to develop.

Predictably hundreds, if not thousands, of Green Lanterns give up their position rather than continue to follow the Guardians new law. With seven laws yet to be revealed I wonder how many more people will give up being Green Lanterns once the other laws are revealed.

"Mongul leader of the Sinestro Corps." That is sure to go over well with all the other members.

Nightwing #152 Highlights

It was nice to see the original Batman costume along with all the other costume Bruce has worn in his career as Batman.

Nightwing kicked some serious League of Assassins ass in this issue. And also it was cool seeing Nightwing drive the origina Batcar.
No Ra's Al Ghul appearance is complete without him having to talk to someone from the Batfamily around the Lazarus Pit.

Nightwing and Ra's had one serious sword fight similar to the ones Bruce and Ra's have had in the past. And it is great seeing Nightwing being able to go toe to toe with all of Batman's villains and actually winning.

It seems more and more that Nightwing will become the new Batman. Ra's has already given his approval to his "new" arch enemy.

X-Men/Spider-Man #3 Highlights

Sinestro and Carnage. This is certainly one team-up that I didn't ever see happening, or think of.

Mario Alberth artwork continues to be one of the highlights of this mini-series and I hope we see more of his artwork in one of Marvel's ongoing books.

Carnage has one weird appetite.

See not even Mr. Sinester can handle the train wreck that was the Clone Saga.

Final Crisis # 6 Review

Creative Team
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists: JG Jones, Carlos Pacheco, and Doug Mahke
Colorists: Marco Rudy, Christian Alamy, and Jesus Merino

Story - How to Murder the Earth

Review
A true epic! One for the ages! A must read! As good as comics get! Heart pounding! Brilliant! Perfect...! A masterpiece!

No these aren't words or phrases to describe my feelings for this issue or series. Far from it. But if any of you have visited any major comic book websites review of this issue and series so far these are the types of things you probably have come across when reading those reviews. And it is these kind of words and phrases that DC will be eventually use to describe Final Crisis on the cover of its trade paperback.

I will admit that after reading this issue for the first time I read it during my lunch break. All I remember from when I read this issue for the first time was being super pissed off and thinking what the hell I just read. Except for the first issue this has been my general reaction to all of the issues of this series so far. But after a few hours were I was able to get my mind of what I just read in this issue by going back to work and school for the rest of the day. After calming down and drinking a bit of caffeine to stay awake I figured that like any of Morrison's recent work I would have to read this issue over at least two or three times to see if I missed anything from the first read through of this issue.

In truth if I had reviewed this issue after I read it the first time I would probably have to had placed a disclaimer on this review since it would be filled with a lot of inappropriate wording. After reading this issue a few more times, along with some overwhelmingly positive reviews of this issue on comic book websites, I found that while their were some things that I did miss I was still highly disappointed by this issue.

Now before I start ripping this issue I will say there were a few positives in this issue. For one we finally get to see the big Supergirl vs Mary Marvel fight that has been talked about as much as anything else that has/will happen in Final Crisis. The fight was one big chick fight, which I don't mind one bit. With Desaad controlling Mary there were moments were it actually looked like Mary was humping Supergirl. The fight between the two super-chicks was brutal and the ending to the fight was predictable but satisfying. It was great to see that the one to get Mary back to being Mary to be Freddy. It was a nice scene seeing Freddy holding a crying Mary in his arms and it would be interesting to see a mini or ongoing series that explores the relationship of both characters, since Freddy has had a crush on Mary in the past, and Mary return to being Mary Marvel.

Also I got to give it to Morrison for making Tawky, a character I know nothing about, into a badass with how he was able to kill Kalibak. Tawky slashing Kalibak's guts and his people accepting him as their knew leader was a pretty cool scene.

What I most enjoyed about this issue is that Morrison presented both Superman and Batman as complete badasses in this issue. It was obvious with all the build up Morrison has done with Batman that it would be he who took the shot that would kill Darkseid. It was a great sight to see and it was even better seeing Superman rushing towards were Darkseid and Batman were located. Superman completely teared up everything in his way and the final scene, probably everyone has seen by now, of Superman carrying out Batman's dead body was incredible.

With that said my biggest problem with this issue and series is the "final" fate of Batman. As big as Batman is, and his books being DC's best selling books, Bruce deserves to be killed in one of his own titles (Detective Comics or Batman). As a big Batman fan I feel very cheated with not only how but were Bruce meets his "final" fate. In total Bruce probably only appeared for about 10 pages in Final Crisis with his last appearance being him hooked up to the machine that made go into a dream like state. Even the Batman tie-in to Final Crisis still had Bruce hooked up to the machine without knowing how he took care of all of Darkseid's men in order to get to Darkseid's chamber. Morrison just wants us to think Bruce just magically appeared out of nowhere and not question it. It is just weak storytelling and actual makes Darkseid to be completely stupid to leave his whole hideout without any guards except for the three that were suppose to look after Bruce. And in truth it doesn't feel that I had to read "Batman RIP" or the two Last Rites issues to undertand what was going on in this issue since RIP has basically become a mute point now and all dangaling plot lines from RIP are still left up in the air for the readers of that Batman story. And from the looks of it it will stay that way for a while.

I understand that for writers to make the reader feel there is a big payoff to the events than their should be at least one major death in the book to make the event feel epic. I am fine with that. I actually thought it was a great idea that Martian Manhunter was killed since he was a major character in the DC Universe but also a character that has never been big enough to maintain his own monthly title. But for Bruce to die in any other title outside of Detective Comics or Batman feels cheap.

There are certain characters in comics that should never die in anything but their own titles. Those characters are Superman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, and Captain America. Two of the biggest deaths in comics that I have seen are the deaths of Superman and Captain America. In "The Death of Superman" I remember reading that as a kid and thinking that his death was one of the coolest moments ever since Superman was always suppose to be invincible. And Captain America was handle so perfectly by Brubaker that it only felt that Steve's death in his comic to be a natural progression of what was being built in that title over the past few years in that title and Civil War. The reason these two deaths were so big was because they happened in those characters titles and not another title.

Also because Batman is the #1 comic book character his death will probably overshadow the whole series and is what people are going to be talking about more than the conclusion of this big, convoluted series. And also if you look at were the Omega Sanction hit Bruce each beam hits him in the back of the head (brain) and in his chest (heart) which is a big red flag in how Bruce will eventually return from the dead. From what Darkseid said Bruce mind and soul will be probably be transported to other universes in the multiverses living lives that are more horrible than the next until Nightwing, Robin, Oracle, and everyone else in the Batfamily go on a big event to get Bruce back.

I think I talk about this about the "death" of Bruce Wayne enough (for now). Now I want to talk about Darkseid's. Morrison what the hell were you thinking when you came up with that and this story. For all the talk about Darkseid being the most evil of evil to walk this Earth to go out like a little bitch like that makes all the build of the Darkseid character unneccessary. Even though I suspect that Darkseid will make some sort of miraculous return, along with Libra, in the next issue since Superman does need someone to fight in the last issue. Up to this point Darkseid has done nothing but sit on his ass and talk about how big and bad he is. Either Darkseid is suffering a serious case of couch potato syndrome or Morrison just didn't know what the hell to do with Darkseid since Superman wasn't in the series at all until now. I suspect that the latter and because of that Morrison clearly shows a lack of giving the any pay off for what he build Darkseid to be.

Also outside of the Battle in Bluehaven and the short scene/fight in the Watchtower this was another issue were all the heroes mostly stood around hiding in there shells and being clueless of what has been happening the past six issues. The new Brother I that Checkmate has is cheap and not going to work out well for the end that is been their done that. And the Mister Miracle crew has done nothing but stand in front off Checkmate headquarters doing nothing but talking. And to make things worse Morrison in his attempt to make this event feel huge by shifting from one scene to the scene has failed to capture the magic of what a big event should be (Crisis on Infinite Earths, Identity Crisis, and Civil War are a few examples of what a big event should be written like).The only real person that gives any shred of information to the reader is Barry Allen who seems to know everything. But the problem with Barry's return is that because Morrison continues to shift from one scene to another completely different scene the Barry part of the story has been seriously underdeveloped.

There are other things I could mention about Morrison storytelling (or lack thereof) in this issue and series, like how did Lois go from being on her death bed to being fine and standing in the middle of the street or the point of Libra. But what I want to talk about is the Superman part of the story. From the looks of it this issue wasn't suppose to be read at all without having read Final Crisis: Superman Beyond, which comes out next week, and Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds, which still has three issues left. Because if you are a person who is waiting for this series to come out in trade or even just reading this series will be confused how in the hell did Superman get transported from being with that weird woman that appeared earlier in the series to being with Brainiac 5 in the future. Didio, Morrison, and DC really dropped the ball with this one since now those to mini-series are pretty much a must to understand why the hell Superman is where he is in this point of the story. If there was one series that needs an Omnibus collection edition is this series. The Omnibus should include all the tie-ins along with the main series because or else this is one confusing series.

Also I find the GEH-JEDOLLAH-THE ABSOLUTE (Miracle Machine) to be a lame plot device that is basically Morrison and DC saying they are going to yet again reboot the DC Universe after only doing it a few years earlier. This series should have just been called "Crisis: Reboot" since with the introduction of the Miracle Machine that is what has turned out to be.

The art in this book wasn't that great either since their was an artist and colorist by committe in this issue. There were some scenes that were just horrible and none of the characters looked right. For most of the issue the art was just sloppy and all over the place. Am I the only one that noticed that Rennea Montoya is all of a sudden white and not Hispanic. Also Mr. Miracle and Sony Sumo look exactly the same. The colorist were did not help the sloppy art.

There are only two real scene that I thought were great: Batman being hit by the Omega Sanction and Superman carrying Batman's dead body in his arms. Those two scene were some of the best art in the series so far. The good thing is that Mahnke will being doing the whole last issue himself so we will at least see consistency with the art in the last issue.

Issue Rating
Story: 4.7/10 - It is clear that Morrison need a lot more pages in each issue to tell his story since he was all over the place in this issue. Morrison has dug a huge hole for himself but he did create a scapegoat for the series in the Miracle Machine which makes his story that much worse.
Art: 5.2/10 - The art lacked consistency throughout the issue and making this a perfect example why artist by committee does not work.
Overall: 4.9/10 - After being excited of what was going to happen from the 5th issue of the series this sixth issue was a big disappointment. Unless you have been steeped in DCU history for the past 60 years this series makes no point in making it new reader friendly.

Batman #683 Review

Creative Team
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Lee Garbett
Inker: Trevor Scott
Colorist: Guy Major

Story - Last Rites Part 2: What The Butler Saw

Review
This is the issue I have been looking for from Morrison. You know answers to all the questions he has yet to answer since the beginning of "Batman RIP." It is fine to experiment but Morrison has gone a bit far with his experimenting that his stories in both Batman and Final Crisis were being a bit to convoluted and lose focus on just telling a good story of. But this issue was just some great writing by Morrison that tells a very good story that it kind of makes up for the last few issues.

I just loved how Bruce ruined all of Darkseid's plan to make an Batmen army by using his own memories as a weapon. Only Bruce can turn his own memories into a weapon. It was great seeing that no matter how much Darkseid's men tried to make Bruce believe in the fake world he was in was real that Bruce always knew it was fake. And it seems that the harder they tried the more Bruce would remember his true memories.

Lee Garnbett did a great with the artwork that help Morrison's story flow really well. The final splash page was just awesome.

The only thing that I find wrong about this issue is that if you want to get the conclusion to Bruce's "last" adventure as Batman you have to read Final Crisis #6. While I am already reading Final Crisis anyways it still takes away from what "Batman RIP." At the beginning of the year Didio and Morrison marketed RIP as being Bruce's last adventure as Batman and never mentioned that Final Crisis would be have to be read to get the conclusion of the story. Even the checklist to "Batman RIP" (view here) mentions nothing about Final Crisis #6 having to be read to get the final conclusion to "Batman RIP." So as much as Didio and Morrison talk about how Final Crisis #6 was always meant to be read to get the whole story than they should have put that on the checklist and said that when Batman RIP and Final Crisis were announced since Morrison was writing both series. I would not be suprised if people who are on a budget and are only able to read a few titles a month to be pissed off having to go buy another title that is already nearing the end of the series and having to catch up with the series that is all over the place at the moment.

Issue Rating
Story: 8.3/10 - This was one of Morrison's best issues he has written all year and hopefully Morrison starts focusing more on telling a good tight story in Final Crisis instead of continue to make a convoluted mess he is currently writing.
Art: 8/10 - Lee Garbett artwork helps Morrison story a lot. Garbett helps keep the flow of the story moving even in the slow points.
Overall: 8.15/10 - This issue of Batman was an overall well written issue though I would understand if there are many people pissed about having to read another title to get their conclusion to this story.

Legen--wait for it---dary Comic Book Highlight for 12/10/08

Cover of the Week: Detective Comics #851

Even though I was disappointed by this issue that brought the return of legendary writer Dennis O'Neil I have faith the his next issue will be much better. In any case I love the cover for this issue Detective Comics and gives more fuel to the fire that Dick Grayson will be the new Batman.

Detective Comics #851 Highlights

See comment for the next image.

These two images show how much respect Dick has for his father, Bruce. I love how O'Neil shows that Dick feels uncomfortable suiting up in the Batcave knowing Bruce isn't there anymore.

Final Crisis #5 Highlights

I hope this means that it will be Hal that is one of the big heroes of Final Crisis and it does not end up being Superman just like in all the other DC big events.

Finally our heroes do something about the hell they are other than talking.

We finally get the answer of why Mary Marvel has been acting power hungry for the past two years.

No DC big event is complete without showing the multiple Earths.

I really don't know were Morrison is going to take this development of the Monitor that regained his memory.

Green Lantern Corps #31 Highlights

The Guardians are seemingly writing there own demise with each new law they come up with.

I don't think this is what the doctor meant when he talks about giving a C-section.

Nightwing #151 Highlights

This was just a phenomenal scene and Tomasi has now made Two-Face to be Nightwing's arch-nemesis.

This whole skydiving sub-plot Tomasi started from issue one nicely highlights the difference between Dick and Bruce: Dick is a performer who enjoys life while Bruce is a soldier who is dead pan serious and only thinks of the next job never resting.

You can really feel how much Dick, Tim, and Alfred miss Bruce physical presence. Tomasi knows that scenes like this don't need any dialogue or thought bubbles/squares and allow his art team convey the emotion in this scene.

Superman/Batman #54 Highlights

Having powers sometimes only goes to peoples heads as Bruce we'll learn by the end of this story, while not having powers sometimes sucks just as Clark learns here.

X-Men/Spider-Man #2 Highlights

This was just a great fight scene and Alberti brought a lot of energy to this scene with his artwork.

With Kraven dead I wonder were Mr. Sinister plan, and what that plan is for that matter, goes from here.

Final Crisis #5 Review

Creative Team
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists: JG Jones, Carlos Pacheco, Marco Ruby, and Jesus Merino

Story - Final Crisis: Into Oblivion

Review
After about a month and a half wait we finally have the the fifth issue of Morrison's big event Final Crisis. After such a long wait I have to give credit to Morrison for finally delivered a very good issue of Final Crisis were he kicks the story into the next gear.

This issue moves at a much more faster pace than all the previous issues and doesn't have as much of the awkward scene transitions that have plague the past four issues of this series. Now Morrison still seems to have a hard time figuring out how to transition from one scene to the next, which has become a fixture in most of his current work in the past year, but it is less noticeable here. It is because of this that this is the first issue that really feels, as a reader, that what you are reading is an epic story were when things look like they can't get worse for our heroes but they do.

My favorite part of this whole issue was the first scene with Hal being prosecuted for a crime he did not commit. This beginning scene informed the reader that while on Earth it has been a month since Darkseid attack Earth with the Anti-Life Equation that in the rest of the universe it has really been a couple days since Darkseid's attack. It was an interesting development that the Anti-Life Equation is actually changing the space and time on Earth.

Also it was nice to see the Guardians finally presented in a much more positive light in this issue. In both Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps the Guardians are presented as authoritarian figures that are only looking out for themselves and the power they have over the Green Lanterns and the Universe. Here Morrison shows that the Guardians actually care what goes on in the universe and not just the power they have. It also gives more credence that Darkseid is a threat to the whole universe that even the immortal Guardians are afraid of his power. And it was awesome seeing Hal lead the charge with the rest of the Green Lanterns to save Earth only to find the Earth split into the 52 Earths in the multiverse.

As I said in my opening paragraph the plot in Final Crisis finally kicks into gear but it really takes more than one read to catch all the developments that happen in this issue. Outside of the Green Lantern scene you find out Checkmate has created their own super-soldiers, the Japanese heroes arrive at Checkmate, Mister Miracle (Shilo Norman) is alive, the heroes take the fight to Bluehaven, the Batmen psycho-soldiers were killed by Batman, Mary Marvel is revealed to be possessed by Desaad, Libra finds out the mole in the villains to be the Calculator, and Darkseid plan is stepped into the final stages. I might be missing something but, still, this is a lot of plot development and it is done in a much more well done manner than the previous issues.

All these plot developments help the reader forget that this is all going down without the big five around: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hal, and Flash(s). Outside of Hal's appearance at the beginning of the issue, which was on Oa, and Wonder Woman short appearance as one of the furies the presence of these five is felt throughout the issue. Morrison shows how bad things get when these five aren't around to gather the rest of the heroes in their darkest hour. And while Earth may have thousands of heroes to help that the big five are the only ones that can stop Darkseid and his forces which is why Darkseid took them down first. This should make the last two issues of this series must reads.

What helps Morrison a lot in this issue is the artwork by Jones and Pacheco which was the true star of this issue. Their artwork gives this book the big event feel it should have. I especially like the scene were Hal and the other Green Lanterns arrive onto the scene only to see Earth split into the multiple Earths. It was just a great visual.

With all this praise this issue still has its problems. As I said earlier this issue is still plagued with the typical awkward scene transitions Morrison has been notorious for in both Final Crisis and Batman. This problem is mostly due to Morrison trying to juggle such a huge cast of characters since he is trying to involve the entire DC Universe and not just a section of it. The biggest example of this is were Supergirl and Mary Marvel finally face off. This battle was one of the big battles DC has been promoting since Final Crisis was announced and to only get a panel of their battle was not worth all the build up it was getting. Again this is just a case were Morrison is just juggling such a huge cast that many scenes are not giving enough time to develop to care enough for what is going on in all the various location for many readers.

Another problem with this issue is that while the tie-ins to Final Crisis have been really fun and entertaining Morrison seems to be ignoring a lot that has gone on in those mini-series. So if you are reading all the tie-ins may be disappointed to find that Morrison is largely ignoring those events to tell his story. But that has been the case with most major events for both DC and Marvel so it is nothing new for the tie-ins not to be to integral to the actual main event book.

Issue Rating
Story: 8/10 - While Morrison continues to have the same problems that have plagued his most recent work it is less noticeable in this issue which made this issue a much better read than the past four issue of this series.
Art: 8.7/10 - Jones and Pacheco turn in some great artwork that gives this story the big event feel it should have.
Overall: 8.35/10 - Final Crisis #5 was the best issue so far in this series. It finally feels that all the characters are doing something more than just standing/flying around and talking to one another about everything that is going on around them.

Batman #682 Review

Creative Team
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Lee Garbett
Inker: Trevor Scott
Colorist: Guy Major

Story - The Butler Did It

Review
"Last time we saw Bruce Wayne reveal he new about Black Glove all along. With the help of the original Boy Wonder he was able to defeat the Black Glove members until only Dr. Hurt was left. Dr. Hurt tries to convice he is Bruce's father which he does not buy so Dr. Hurt makes his escape in a helicopter. Bruce not willing to let Dr. Hurt escape dives at the helicopter and knocks out Dr. Hurt as well as the pilot, the third Batman, which causes the helicopter to crash. All of Bruce's allies gather at the pier to see the helicopter crash with only Bruce's cape and cowl left in his wake. And now......."

Okay that was just my lame attempt at what it would sound like if this issue had a voice over before at the start. Still for any fan expecting to get some answers for the conclusion of Batman RIP may be disappointed by this issue. Morrison does give a semi-conclusion/answer but still does not satisfy with what Morrison did through his run.

But before I rip into this issue I will say that I enjoyed all the various flashbacks in this issue of the various parts of Batman's carrier. Morrison does a nice job tying in all of the different versions we have gotten in the past. I especially like the scene's with the original Robin, Dick Grayson, because in those scenes we got to see Bruce doing something that he doesn't really do anymore: smile. These scenes show that before Bruce and Dick had their fallout that Bruce enjoyed being the Dynamic Duo along with Dick. Also I liked how Dick tells Bruce his dream off what it would be like if Bruce was Hamelot and lived in that time. That small scene put a smile on my face.

Also another thing to like about this issue is that it is a quick read. Unlike 'Batman RIP' or 'Final Crisis' you don't have to go back and read it three or fourth times to understand what is going on this issue. This is mostly attributed to this being a flashback/dream sequence issue and not the standard Morrison crazy as hell stories.

With that said I will say that I hated the final reveal that this was all in being placed in Bruce's head by the machine he was put in by Darkseid. It is not so much that this issue may have been just an illusion that machine is causing Bruce to picture that bothers me but that Morrison seems to imply that some if not all of his stories on Batman are actually being caused by this machine. Which is kind of spits in the face of the reader especially if your like me and your on a budget were you are limited in the amount of comics you can buy only to find out what you've veen reading doesn't even take place in continuity like it should. If this is the case than what Morrison has done with Batman will be very similar with what Marvel did with Spider-Man in "Brand New Day" by telling the readers that they should forget the last few years of Batman since none of the stories actual took place and were all a dream conjured up by Darkseid to torture Batman.

Let say this isn't true and that all of Morrison's work on Batman is still in continuity including Batman RIP that still makes this more confusing. Since, as I said in my lame attempt at a voice over, the last time we saw Bruce was when the helicopter his plane crashed with all of his allies thinking he is dead. So are we to expect that Bruce somehow miraculously not only survive, which is believable since this is comics after all, but that the next time he appeared was in the Hall of Justice before his capture at the hands of Darkseid (Final Crisis #2) with no questions asked by either someone in the Bat-Family or the Justice League. This issue may just be another example of Morrison skipping over vital information and expecting the reader to buy into this crazy ass story (sorry for the language) without any questions asked.

To stop my rambling let me just move over to the art. I have to say I was a bit disappointed that Daniel's didn't do the art for what is suppose to be the Batman RIP epilogue, but I guess he is busy writing and drawing "Battle for the Cowl." Instead we get some nice artwork by Lee Garnbett. Now I am not familiar with Garnbett's artwork but I got to say his art fit in well with Morrison story. I like the various changes Garnbett did to Batman's apperance to show the different time periods of his career. It helps the reader know what time period each flashback is in. Overall nice job by Bernbett.

Issue Rating
Story: 6/10 - I enjoyed the various flashbacks but it does not excuse the fact Morrison did not answer any questions concerning the conclusion of Batman RIP.
Art: 7.6/10 - Bernbett provide some nice artwork that showed the various times in Batman's career.
Overall: 6.8/10 - Overall a very disappointing issue and I would recommend readers skip this and the next Batman issue if you are not reading 'Final Crisis.'

Legen--wait for it---dary Comic Book Highlight for 11/5/08

Cover of the Week: JSA #20

While I am not a big fan of Alex Ross interior artwork but their is no denying that Ross is one of the best cover artist in the business and this cover for JSA #20 proves it.

Final Crisis: Resist Highlights

Even with Darkseid taking over the world and the heores forced to go into hiding at least Snapper Carr was able to find one bright moment by banging Cheetah.

Finally after being stuck in a cave the whole issue Mr. Terrific and what remains of Checkmate and the OMACs finally decide to do something other than talk

Iron Man: The End Highlights

See this is why Batman has three different Robins to make choosing his successor a much simpler task.

Even though it took a while Tony was finally able to pass down the Iron Man mantle and he can move on to the rest of his life outside of Iron Man, at least in this alternate world.

Terror Titans #2 Highlights

Right now Ravager is the most interesting Titan out of all the three Titan books being published right now. And this spread only shows why McKeever needs to put Ravager back in the main Teen Titans book.

At least DC remembers that these characters exist but the appearance of all the these teen heroes was just space filler. The issue might have been a better read if McKeever choose to give some time to develop these underutilized characters. Oh well!

Ultimatum #1 Highlights

The Day After Tomorrow meets the Ultimate Universe.

Out of Hanks three different hero costumes/identities his Yellow Jacket identity is still the best and hopefully, if he survives this event, he keeps wearing this costume instead of the Ant-Man one.

At least we don't have to wait two or three issues for the heroes to team up and Loeb quickly got all the heroes fighting on the same side.

Shouldn't we all have a throne to sit on, and Thor's hammer, when we get home.

X-Men/Spider-Man #1

Ah, the memories of the original X-Men.

There was no love triangle better than this one, seriously what guy wouldn't want a hot blond and redhead as your love interest.

We must all beware Kraven's nipples of doom.
I was not expecting this ending and I wonder what devious plot Mr. Sinister has planned involving Kraven in the next issue.