Final Crisis #1
Written by Grant Morrison
Art and Cover by JG Jones
Colors by Alex Sinclair
Letters by Rob Leigh
DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99; Available now

There is a certain level of quality that you expect from a “Crisis” event. From the moment that the Justice League teamed up with the Justice Society, through two re-shifts of the universe, and the betrayal of Sue Dibny, a certain level of quality has remained.

For some reason that quality was apparently not required in the writing of Final Crisis #1.

Final Crisis is DC’s [supposedly] last entry into the event series that has cored the DC Universe for the past two decades. Written by Grant Morrison with art by JG Jones, Final Crisis was supposed to be the ultimate of comic creators coming together to write the ultimate of comic stories.

Instead, what we were given was a series of pages that we’d already seen elsewhere, and story that acted as if it was new and fresh and surprising, but was really just what we’ve been reading for the past twelve months in Countdown (for a given value of “we’ve been reading”).

And let’s get this straight from the beginning, this has nothing to do with DC continuity and lore; this was just badly written.

I’m not entirely unaware of who is who in the DCU, but who were the two cavemen? And how could they possibly have anything to do with… anything?! And who is the dude on the last page who is apparently marveled at having hands? I can’t see any identifying features on him or in the room at all!

The monitors all seem to have experienced a full decade in the last week, from when they were without a history of individuality, to now, when they apparently … well, I don’t know really. They sentence Nix Uotan to mortality for allowing his universe to be destroyed, even though I was fairly certain it was that other monitors fault. And can someone please tell me what an “Orrery of Worlds” is?

There were only two decent bits of story that I could pick out, and even one of those is a halfer.

First off is the Question, aka, Rene Montoya, a character who I really love. She has wonderfully inherited the Question’s lack of respect for anyone, and his desire to see right done. Her presence is also where JG Jones’ art is most wonderfully seen, in the details that he gives to her hidden face.

Secondly, it looks as if Morrison is really going to go all out here, as he has apparently killed off the Martian Manhunter. That takes guts, let’s be honest, but … how the hell did it happen? How did Libra — most likely Alexander Luthor behind that mask, by the way — get a hold of J’onn and how was Superman or Batman not able to help him! It made absolutely no sense, because he was literally plucked out of thin air, from all that I was able to see.

I do like JG Jones’ art; it has a certain gritty feel to it that takes it a bit beyond the cartoon-comics, and gives the book the weight it should have. Granted, that weight is immediately removed thanks to the almost total lack of story, and the confusion around what story is left.

Final Crisis was supposed to be the event of the year for me, but it turns out I’m enjoying Secret Invasion more than I am Final Crisis so far, and that’s saying something considering the way that Secret Invasion is going in the tie-ins. Final Crisis #1 gets a 2 out of 5 for story, and a 4 out of 5 for art. I would strongly suggest you not pick this up, because it seemingly gives you nothing in the way of advancing a story. Though, the covers are pretty. Maybe that’s a reason to buy it?