How to read Final Crisis and understand it

[t hedge coke]

Final Crisis has so many metaphors and metaphysics that I honestly wouldn't be surprised if no average reader understands it. Grant Morrison himself acknowledged a good portion of readers just hated it. The biggest problem I had was the characters it centers around. Nix Uotan is a Monitor in the body of a teenager that works at Burger King, Tattooed Man, Tawky Tawny, Sonny Sumo and the Super Young Team, Shilo Norman the second Mircle Miracle, etc.

Don't get me wrong that I get the story is about rising to face incredible odds when the big guns are no where to be seen, the New Gods were supposed to be of a higher order than what we can possibly perceive as mortals, and the legacy unforgettable heroes endure and leave long after they're gone. And I know the book is mainly about Grant Morrison's previous work. But sometimes I'd rather just see superheroes and villains knocking each other senseless.

It's not that complex. Or, complicated.

Morrison has admitted that it confused or annoyed some readers, yeah, but it sold and sells really well, and continues to be in print.

It's just a superhero comic.

It's in no way "mainly about Grant Morrison's previous work." It's not even significantly about that.

It's mainly about horrible old gods (who represent bad things in our lives and world) temporarily winning, and how the good guys turned that around. Because that's the plot. The villain is less punchable than usual, but it's still a straight up superhero comic. Folks in flashy costumes with mad powers being heroic and just and cool and beating horrible monsters before they can destroy us.

It's okeh to be disappointed in it. It's okeh to dislike it. Or, love it. But, it's no good overselling it as super-complex and unknowable or some big "it's only about Morrison/about comics" treatise. You know?

[whiterabbit]

Double post

[whiterabbit]

It's not that complex. Or, complicated.

Morrison has admitted that it confused or annoyed some readers, yeah, but it sold and sells really well, and continues to be in print.

It's just a superhero comic.

It's in no way "mainly about Grant Morrison's previous work." It's not even significantly about that.

It's mainly about horrible old gods (who represent bad things in our lives and world) temporarily winning, and how the good guys turned that around. Because that's the plot. The villain is less punchable than usual, but it's still a straight up superhero comic. Folks in flashy costumes with mad powers being heroic and just and cool and beating horrible monsters before they can destroy us.

It's okeh to be disappointed in it. It's okeh to dislike it. Or, love it. But, it's no good overselling it as super-complex and unknowable or some big "it's only about Morrison/about comics" treatise. You know?

I'm sorry, but if a reader didn't read Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers and Mister Miracle or Death of the New Gods by Starlin then they probably aren't up to date on what's happening in the very first issue of Final Crisis. Like why Darkseid is a human crime boss or why Metron is a crippled that can turn rubik's cubes into motherboxes. Or they may ask who Shilo Norman is and the significance of motherboxxxx or Frankenstein and SHADE. A lot of that stuff Morrison went over in an earlier run and they just felt really connected and important to what was going on.

Maybe the book isn't as deep as some others take it, but that's probably a good thing that some people can take a piece of art, look at it, and appreciate it with a different perspective of qualities. If anything, it shows the writer is a creative genius in the eyes of the viewer

[Cowboy Ninja Viking]

I'll say that I didn't read seven soldiers or death of the new gods and I did feel like I was missing something. I think for me maybe I need to slow down and read more slowly. Often when I read I don't have much time. Haven't taken the time to slow down and read slowly

[t hedge coke]

I don't mean this to seem confrontational, I just wanted to cover you point for point to be thorough.

I'm sorry, but if a reader didn't read Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers and Mister Miracle or Death of the New Gods by Starlin then they probably aren't up to date on what's happening in the very first issue of Final Crisis. Like why Darkseid is a human crime boss

They tell us this in Final Crisis. Which opens as a mystery story, a criminal investigation that gets weird. So, you're not meant to know at the beginning.

From Turpin's first encounter with Boss Dark Side in FC, over the course of two pages: "Bodies... wear out fast here... I was hurt in a fall... there was a war in heaven Mister Turpin, and I won. Your future belongs to Darkseid now."

Turpin asks what happened to the kids, and Darkseid says, "We taught them how to say the equation. How to be stunted, malformed slaves."

The very next two pages are Superman briefing the JLA on "New Gods," higher dimensiona space gods of immense power.

Or they may ask who Shilo Norman is

We see posters for Shilo before we see him, because he's famous. But, from his first panel: "This way, Sir." "V.I.P" as the doormen let him into the highly exclusive club looking like a star.

Scene continues: "My name's Shilo Norman. On stage they call me Mister Miracle. Motherboxxx led me to you. She's about the only one left after the War, see? There was a cosmic war. And the powers of evil won. I know how this sounds but they're here, among us, now. I was kinda hoping you mihgt be able to help me put some kind of team together."

His second appearance, at the airport, has Shilo explaining crawling out of his own grave and doing the impossible. He and Sonny hype motherboxxx. They're hounded for autographs and both treated as celebrities that the New Gods have affected in every scene they appear in. When Shilo is shot, someone yells, "How will you explain this to his fans!?!"

Frankenstein and SHADE.

SHADE is introduced amidst their raid on Boss Dark Side's base of operations. They're working with global law enforcement to contain supernatural and otherworldly weird dangers. In their first scene. Frankenstein is one of the most recognizable characters in all fiction and portrayed as a badass from moment one. There's no significance to Frankenstein or SHADE in Final Crisis, to be found in any other comic that isn't explicit in Final Crisis.

There are connections, thematic and causal, because these are serial comics in a shared universe. But what do we need to know about Frankenstein that isn't in FC? Or, the mother box/motherboxxx? Or, Darkseid?

These things are introduced and explained in the comic, itself. Are there allusions or references to other comics or other media? Sure. But there's nothing integral to understanding FC in any other comic.

[JBatmanFan05]

FINAL CRISIS # 1- 3
SUPERMAN BEYOND # 1- 2
SUBMIT
FINAL CRISIS # 4 – 5
BATMAN #682 – 683
FINAL CRISIS # 6 – 7

This above is the current softcover edition of Final Crisis, so you just read that. It's also the Absolute's contents.

Final Crisis is one event where reading less is better than reading more, and reading Grant's order is the way to go.