Final Crisis
Final Crisis | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Genre |
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Publication date | May 2008 – January 2009 |
No. of issues | 7 |
Main character(s) |
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"Final Crisis" is a
The storyline directly follows DC Universe #0 after the conclusion of the 51-issue Countdown to Final Crisis weekly limited series.[3] Promotion about the limited series describes its story as "the day evil won". The series deals with alien villain Darkseid's plot to overthrow reality, and the subsequent death and corruption of various DC characters and their universe.
Publication history
Final Crisis came out of several ideas Grant Morrison had when they returned to DC Comics in 2003. Morrison said, "I pitched a huge crossover event called Hypercrisis, which didn't happen for various reasons. Some of Hypercrisis went into Seven Soldiers, some went into All-Star Superman, some went into 52 and some of it found a home in Final Crisis."[4] According to Grant Morrison, work finally began on Final Crisis #1 in early 2006, with the intention of the series being a thematic and literal sequel to Seven Soldiers and 52, two projects that Morrison was heavily involved in at the time.[5]
References to Infinite Crisis as the "middle Crisis"[6] gave readers the impression there would be at least one additional major follow-up to the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. A May 2007 teaser poster confirmed this speculation with the tagline: "Heroes die. Legends live forever."
Final Crisis was preceded by Countdown, a year-long weekly series which was meant as a follow-up to 52. Halfway through, the series was renamed Countdown to Final Crisis. However, the artwork met with delays.[citation needed] To keep the release on schedule, Countdown wrapped with issue #1 and its planned final issue (#0) was revamped as a 50 cent one-shot special called DC Universe #0. Besides hyping upcoming storylines such as "Batman R.I.P." and "Blackest Night," the issue was narrated by Barry Allen and featured Libra leading a group of super-villains in prayer for the "god of evil", Darkseid. The result is, as described by Morrison, that "we're watching him fall back through the present, into the past of Seven Soldiers where he finally comes to rest in the body of 'Boss Dark Side', the gangster from that story."[5]
To help readers identify events pertinent to Final Crisis and other major DCU events as the crossover approached, a "Sightings" cover banner appeared on various DC comics as "signposts, marking important storybeats and moments throughout the DC Universe."[7] The first such headers appeared on Justice League of America (vol. 2) #21 and Action Comics #866, respectively (the JLA issue featured Libra's return and his recruiting of the Human Flame).
The original intent was for Jones to pencil the whole series. Due to delays, however, Carlos Pacheco drew issues #4–6 with Jones and issue 7 was drawn entirely by Doug Mahnke. Jones said that "Any problems completing the series are my own. I love Doug Mahnke's art, and he would have probably been a better choice to draw this series in the first place."[8]
In addition to the core limited series the larger storyline includes a number of tie-ins, including one-shots and limited series.
The one-shots comprise "Requiem,"[9] "Resist,"[10] "Secret Files" and "Submit". Also "Rage of the Red Lanterns" is the start of a storyline of the same name, that picks up on events in "Green Lantern: Secret Origin" and continues in Green Lantern #36–38. It starts as a tie-in because, according to writer Geoff Johns, "events in Final Crisis have motivated the Guardians to proceed further with their attempted containment of the light".[11]
The limited series comprise Superman Beyond (a two issue mini-series also written by Grant Morrison), Legion of 3 Worlds (a five-issue limited series focusing on the different incarnations of the Legion of Super-Heroes[12]), Revelations (a five-issue limited series[13]), and Rogues' Revenge (a three-issue mini-series focused on the Flash Rogues[14]).
Plot
Following the final battle of the
Following the trail of a group of missing child prodigies, detective
With Batman and Jordan removed from play, the New Gods continue to eliminate the greatest threats to Darkseid's plan.
Turpin's search for the missing children leads him to the Dark Side Club, where he is confronted by Darkseid's human host, Boss Dark Side. Darkseid transfers his essence into Turpin's body and brings him to Command D, where the detective is subjected to bio-genetic restructuring to transform his body into a replica of Darkseid's original form. Concurrently, Darkseid's agents release the Anti-Life Equation through all of Earth's communications networks, spreading it across the entire planet. The two Flashes, having failed to prevent Orion's death, emerge from the time stream one month after the equation's release and discover that the minds of nearly the entire population have fallen under Darkseid's control, with its super-human victims having been transformed into a military force of "Justifiers".
With the help of the
Escaping confinement in Command D, Batman uses the Radion bullet to mortally wound Darkseid, while Darkseid in turn kills Batman with his Omega Beams. Superman returns to the present and tears Command D apart to recover Batman's corpse and faces off against Darkseid as the Flashes come racing into Blüdhaven, the Black Racer hot on their heels. As the heroes reach super-luminal velocity, time warps around the Flashes, creating the temporal eddy into which Darkseid fires the bullet, sending it back in time to kill Orion. Outpacing Omega Beams fired from the eyes of the humans in Darkseid's thrall, the Flashes lead both the beams and the Black Racer straight to Darkseid, finishing the job Batman had begun to kill him. Simultaneously,
Although physically bested, Darkseid's dying essence is still dragging all of reality into nothingness along with it. Time and space break down as the effect worsens, until eventually, only Superman is left in the darkness at the end of creation, struggling to complete a copy of the "Miracle Machine", a wish-granting machine shown to him by Brainiac 5 during his trip to the future. Darkseid's essence re-emerges to claim the machine, but Superman destroys him for good by using the last of his super-powered breath to sing, countering the vibrational frequency of Darkseid's life force.
With Darkseid's end, however, the evil behind evils emerges:
In the distant past, Anthro dies of old age in a cave. His body is discovered by Bruce Wayne—not killed, but having been sent back in time by the Omega Beams. He picks up where Anthro left off, drawing a bat symbol on the cave wall.
Format
The first issue of Final Crisis went on sale May 28, 2008.[15] Final Crisis was seven oversized issues released over nine months starting in May 2008.[16] Morrison explained that the sequence of stories in the main series and tie-ins is Final Crisis #1–3, Superman Beyond #1–2, Final Crisis: Submit, Final Crisis #4–5, Batman #682–683, and finally Final Crisis #6–7.[4]
Tie-ins
Several one-shots and mini-series were released as tie-ins to Final Crisis;[17] three series ran in parallel to the main one and the one-shot, DC Universe: Last Will and Testament, was planned to fit in the "break" between Final Crisis #3 and #4.[18]
Morrison, who wrote one of the "final" Batman stories in "Batman R.I.P.," stated, "First it's R.I.P., and we'll see how that winds up for Batman. Then the two-parter mentioned (Batman #682–683) goes through Batman's whole career, in a big summing up of everything that also ties directly into Final Crisis. And Final Crisis is where we see the final fate of Batman."[19]
While not an official tie-in, the Terror Titans mini-series takes place during the events of Final Crisis and deals heavily with the Dark Side Club and the Anti-Life Equation.
- Batman #682–683,[20] #701–702
- DC Universe #0
- DC Universe: Last Will and Testament[18]
- Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #1–5[12]
- Final Crisis:
- Final Crisis: Requiem (one-shot)[9]
- Final Crisis: Resist (one-shot)[10]
- Final Crisis: Revelations #1–5[13]
- Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #1–3[14]
- Final Crisis: Secret Files (one-shot)
- Final Crisis: Sketchbook (one-shot)
- Final Crisis: Submit (one-shot)
- Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1–2
- Justice League of America (vol. 2) #21 27
- Superman/Batman #76
- Superman #670
- Action Comics #866
- Superman: New Krypton Special #1
- Reign in Hell #4
- Birds of Prey #118
- The Flash #240
- Infinity Inc. #11–12
- Teen Titans #59–60
- Terror Titans #1–6
Aftermath
In a move Dan DiDio described as "inspirationally tied to Final Crisis," in early 2009, the villains took over the main DC Universe titles and some were featured in "Faces of Evil," a series of one-shots, all designed to examine the question "What happens when evil wins?"[22]
Four Final Crisis Aftermath six-issue limited series were announced at New York Comic Con 2009:[23][24]
- Final Crisis Aftermath: Run! #1–6 featuring the Human Flame, written by Lilah Sturges,[25][26][27] with art by Freddie Williams
- Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance #1–6 featuring the Super Young Team, written by Joe Casey,[28] with art by ChrisCross
- Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape #1–6 featuring Nemesis, written by Ivan Brandon, with art by Marco Rudy[29][30]
- Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink #1–6 featuring the Tattooed Man, written by Eric Wallace, with art by Fabrizio Fiorentino[31]
- The Flash: Rebirth #1–6, written by Geoff Johns with art from Ethan Van Sciver, addresses Barry Allen's return in Final Crisis.
- Battle for the Cowl #1–3, written and drawn by Tony Daniel deals with the aftermath of the apparent death of Batman and the selection of his successor.
- When Worlds Collide, a storyline serialized in the Justice League of America #27–28 and 30–34 and written by Dwayne McDuffie with art from Ed Benes, Rags Morales, and Eddy Barrows, deals with the arrival of the Milestone Mediacharacters on New Earth as a result of Final Crisis.
- The Red Circle event written by Red Circle Comics, who arrived on New Earth following Final Crisis. One-shots were released for The Hangman, The Inferno, The Shield, and The Web.
- Milestone Forever #1–2, a M.D. Bright, goes into greater detail about the merger of the Milestone and DC Universes after Final Crisis.[32]
- Blackest Knight, the third story arc in Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin #7–9, deals with the revelation of the truth regarding the supposed "body" of Bruce Wayne left behind at the conclusion of Final Crisis #6.[33]
- Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1–6 deals with Bruce Wayne making his way back to the present after being sent to the distant past by Darkseid's Omega Sanction.[34]
- alternative versions of Supergirl, killed while trying to cross the Bleed between alternate universes of the DC Multiverse, in 2015 [35]
Connections to previous titles
In the 1997–1998
Collected editions
Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|
Final Crisis | Final Crisis #1–7, Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1–2, Final Crisis: Submit #1 | June 2009 | 978-1401222819 |
Final Crisis (New Edition) | Final Crisis #1-7, Final Crisis: Submit #1, Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1-2, DC Universe Zero, Batman #682-683 | April 2014 | 978-1401245177 |
Absolute Final Crisis | Final Crisis #1-7, Final Crisis: Submit #1, Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1-2, Final Crisis Sketchbook, Final Crisis #1: Director's Cut, Batman #682-683 | November 2012 | 978-1401235116 |
Final Crisis Companion | Final Crisis #1: Director's Cut, Final Crisis: Requiem #1, Final Crisis: Resist #1, Final Crisis: Secret Files #1 | June 2009 | 978-1401222741 |
Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds | Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1–5 | October 2009 | 978-1401223243 |
Final Crisis: Revelations | Final Crisis: Revelations #1–5 | August 2009 | 978-1848563513 |
Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge | Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #1–3, The Flash (vol. 2) #182 and 197 | July 2009 | 978-1401223335 |
Green Lantern: Rage of the Red Lanterns | Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns #1 and Green Lantern #26–28, 36–38 | July 2009 | 978-1401223014 |
Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance | Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance #1–6 | February 2010 | 978-1848565456 |
Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape | Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape #1–6 | March 2010 | 978-1401226084 |
Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink | Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink #1–6 | March 2010 | 978-1848565470 |
Final Crisis Aftermath: Run | Final Crisis Aftermath: Run #1–6 | March 2010 | 978-1848566354 |
Final Crisis Omnibus | Batman #676-683, 701-702, Birds of Prey #118, DC Universe #0, DC Universe: The Last Will and Testament #1, Final Crisis #1-7, Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1-5, Final Crisis: Requiem #1, Final Crisis: Resist #1, Final Crisis: Revelations #1-5, Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #1-3, Final Crisis: Secret Files #1, Final Crisis: Submit #1, Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1-2, Flash #240-241, Justice League of America #21, Superman/Batman #76, Teen Titans #59-60, Terror Titans #1-6 | October 2018 | 978-1401285036 |
In other media
- Elements of the storyline were incorporated into the 2020 animated film Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.
References
- ^ Carlos Pacheco Joins JG Jones on Final Crisis, Newsarama, June 16, 2008
- ^ Review of Final Crisis #5, comiXtreme, December 13, 2008
- ^ SDCC '07: DC's 'Countdown...To The End?' PANEL Archived August 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Newsarama, July 26, 2007
- ^ a b Grant Morrison: Final Crisis Exit Interview, Part 1, Newsarama, January 28, 2009
- ^ a b Grant Morrison on Final Crisis #1, Newsarama, June 9, 2008
- ^ Justice League of America #9: "The Lightning Saga, Chapter Three", July 2007.
- ^ "DC Nation" #110
- ^ Renaud, Jeffrey (2008-10-21). "J.G. Jones Apologizes For Unfinished Final Crisis Work". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
- ^ a b Remembering the Martian: Tomasi on FC: Requiem, Newsarama, July 9, 2008
- ^ a b Resistance Leaders: Rucka, Trautmann on Final Crisis Special, Newsarama, October 29, 2008
- ^ a b Geoff Johns on Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns, Newsarama, October 27, 2008
- ^ a b INFINITE GEOFF JOHNS II: Action Comics, Comic Book Resources, April 2, 2008
- ^ a b Rucka Reveals Final Crisis: Revelations, Comic Book Resources, June 5, 2008
- ^ a b Back With A Flash: Johns & Kolins Talk lash: Rogue's Revenge Archived 2009-02-18 at the Wayback Machine, Newsarama, January 11, 2008
- ^ "DC Comics' solicitation for Final Crisis #1". Dccomics.com. 2010-04-21. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
- ^ Phillips, Dan (2008-02-11). "Dan DiDio on DC's Future". IGN. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
- ^ Final Crisis: Secrets and Truths with Geoff Johns[permanent dead link], Newsarama, May 9, 2008
- ^ a b Meltzer Bridges Final Crisis with "Last Will and Testament", Comic Book Resources, June 4, 2008
- ^ Phillips, Dan (2008-08-26). "Killing Batman And The DC Universe". IGN. p. 6. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
- ^ NYCC '08: DC's Final FINAL CRISIS PANEL Archived 2009-02-18 at the Wayback Machine, Newsarama, April 20, 2008
- ^ Drawing the Rage: Shane Davis Talks Red Lanterns, Newsarama, October 20, 2008
- ^ January Sees 'Faces of Evil' at DC – Dan DiDio Spills, Newsarama, September 18, 2008
- ^ NYCC '09 – DC Universe Panel, Newsarama, February 7, 2009
- ^ Ian Sattler on the Final Crisis: Aftermath Titles, Newsarama, February 11, 2009
- ^ Behind the Page – Matthew Sturges, 2, Newsarama, February 10, 2009
- ^ The Most Powerful? Matt Sturges on The Human Flame and Run!, Newsarama, February 16, 2009
- ^ On the "Run!" with Matthew Sturges, Comic Book Resources, March 10, 2009
- ^ Joe Casey "Dances" with Super Young Team in "Final Crisis Aftermath", Comic Book Resources, March 5, 2009
- ^ Brady, Matt (March 13, 2009). "Getting Away from Electric City: Ivan Brandon on Escape". Newsarama. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
- ^ Renaud, Jeffrey (March 13, 2009). "Ivan Brandon Siphons Secrets in "Escape"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved January 7, 2010.
- ^ Ink to Paper: Eric Wallace on Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink, Newsarama, March 4, 2009
- ^ "DC Universe: The Source » Blog Archive » Prepare for MILESTONE FOREVER in 2010". Dcu.blog.dccomics.com. 2009-11-05. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
- ^ Batman and Robin #8
- ^ Geddes, John (December 9, 2009). "Grant Morrison on return of original Batman". USA Today. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
- ^ Multiversity: Mastermen (February 2015)
External links
- Final Crisis at the Grand Comics Database
- Final Crisis at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)