ComicList Critiques by Charles LePage

Final Crisis #1
DC Comics
Morrison/Jones

A first issue of a comic books series serves one overall purpose: to explain why you should continue purchasing and reading the series. Final Crisis #1 certainly opens a lot of doors to future developments, but it remains to be seen if, when finished, this is a story that will be understood on its own without depending on knowledge of other DC titles that many readers might not have.

FC can't help but be compared to Crisis On Infinite Earths, as it appears to be another, perhaps the last, chapter in that tale. I liked Crisis enough to buy a hardcover version of it, even though I already owned the individual issues. As much as I disagreed with the idea of destroying the multiverse, I appreciated the hard work and creativity put into Crisis. Certainly there were elements that would have confused someone who was not reading other DC comics of that period, but not to the extent I believe FC will confuse readers.

Many of the apparently important plotlines- an Earth/universe being destroyed, monitors (Monitors?) watching over the 51 or 52 Earths, the death of a long time DC hero, bad things happening to the New Gods- are all rushed over without much explanation for the uninitiated. The comic reads like it was written for a few thousand devoted DC readers, instead of being designed to introduce new readers to a blueprint of the future of DC.

It's my hope as this series continues, it will coalesce into a story worthy of the name "Crisis." Otherwise, far from being an enduring classic like MARVELS or DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, it will be just another forgotten Crisis, just another summer crossover that has no impact beyond this year.

Final Crisis #1 (of 7)