io9
Marvel's Secret Invasion may be the comic book getting all the press right now, but DC's Final Crisis is truly the big idea event comic of the year. At least, if the latest interview with writer Grant Morrison is anything to go by. A seven-part series involving all of the DC Universe and detailing what happens when the good guys lose, Morrison is promising things fan have never seen before when the series begins in May.
Despite spinning out of his Seven Soldiers series of books, Morrison wants readers to know that you don't need to know anything about what's come before when you pick up the first issue:
I like to write things so you don't have to read anything extra... Obviously, it sells more books for me, so yes, everyone should go out and buy 'Seven Soldiers.' Particularly 'Mister Miracle,' which was the most hated of the 'Seven Soldiers' books and sold least. Stuff like that has little clues in it, but honestly, you don't have to read anything else. 'Final Crisis' is like picking up a book. It's like you're picking up any science fiction book or a fantasy book and starting from page 1. Everything you need to know about the characters will be in the book.
And what threats will heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman (who, Morrison promises, "isn't coming back from it. Batman, as we know him, is not coming back from it.") be facing? Only the end of the world:
What would it really be like if bad gods turned up on Earth? Because as this story opens, the war between Good and Evil has been won by the wrong side and Evil is now in control of the DC Universe. And then we see what happens next as a result of that...The Gods are here to destroy everything that we hold dear, everything that has meaning to us, everything that has value for us. They want to utterly crush the human species and reduce us all to slavery and that's as big a threat as it gets. We wanted to do a primal superhero myth that would pit absolute evil against pure good in a way you don't see much of in comics these days so it's the story of the DC universe facing its apocalypse and only Darkseid could cut it as the main villain.
It's always good to aim small in your writing, isn't it? And if that's not enough to make you curious enough to try out the series, then this has to be:
If you've got a favorite character, I am sure he's in it. Supergirl and Mary Marvel are in it. They have a big climatic battle to decide how femininity should be portrayed in superhero comics!I'll put you down for two, shall I...?
All-Star Grant Morrison 1: Final Crisis [Comic Book Resources]
Comments
The one thing that Grant Morrison does not do is aim small.
So, we don't have to know what happened in Seven Soliders in order understand Final Crisis?
Thank god.
Wow, from that write up this sounds all sorts of awesome.
Like, Kingdom Come awesome. Or Watchman awesome.
I think my word of the day is "awesome". (boom!)
No Universe for Old Superheroes?
I have a bit of inside information on Morrisons' writing process. And I'm sure that whatever the DMT Elves of the mammalian superconciousness trasmit to him via neural-linguistic telepathy will be great.
Yes, I am re-reading The Invisibles. And it is AWESOME.
I hope Supergirl and Mary Marvel rip each other's costumes to shreds in the course of the fight. And I hope the big Batman development is that he gets a new costume...and it's red.
@moff: Not a costume change... a sex change.
@moff: I was hoping the Mary Marvel and Supergirl fight would include Power Girl...and baby oil...and kissing...with the Huntress filming it all on a camcorder.
Morrison is promising things fan have never seen before when the series begins in May. Like a story line that makes sense, has continuity, and doesn't end with everything back to normal and peachy-keen?
@NefariousNewt: Or maybe Darkseid just chops his penis off.
@BullfightsOnAcid: I hope for that every time I pick up a comic book.
@braak: So, if I was to do a write-up of what you need to know from Seven Soldiers in order to understand Final Crisis, you wouldn't be interested, then...?
So Mr. Morrison, would you say that "Nothing Will Ever Be The Same Again" after this event?
[io9.com]
Seven Soldiers was kinda "meh" with the 2nd group of characters.
I just plain hated Klarion the Witch Boy.
@Graeme McMillan: No, I was just trying to say this: even as someone who avidly read Seven Soldiers when it came out (I bought single issues, which is unusual for me, and trades), I'm still not a hundred percent sure what the hell was going on.
So, basing your new event on people knowing what happened in Seven Soldiers would be kind of crazy.
Unless Jason fucking Todd dies, I ain't reading it.
All this is a serpentine effort to make the events in "Kingdom Come" part of canon within 6-8 years. Which on one hand is cool. But on the other hand, it's kind of lazy.
This is why I haven't spent a dime on a comic in 2 years. From a $80/week habit to $0.
Yeah, DC... you broke me heart. You. broke. my. heart.
@NefariousNewt: There's no way Grant Morrison is promising to make sense.
Morrison already did this story from the other end in JLA: Rock of Ages -- the good guys win, eventually.
I dunno, I'm MEGAAMAZINGCROSSOVEROMG'd out right now.
@braak: If this is "JLA: Rock of Ages" Grant, maybe; but I have a feeling this is "JLA: WWIII" Grant. Ew.
@JennaW: Is it wrong of me to be hoping that it is 'Zenith' Grant?
It's "c-l-i-m-a-c-t-i-c."
Like, Kingdom Come awesome. Or Watchman awesome.
Only one of those things is strictly awesome.
@JennaW: I like him, because I think it's neat that I guy can get regular work writing comics despite being clearly completely insane.
@braak: Ah well then... I pass.
@ElijahDProphet:
Maybe? Would that be good or bad? (I am unfamiliar with 2000AD stuff.)
@braak: If you're British, I think that's a requirement for working on comics in the states.
@JennaW: [Neil Gaiman excepted]
Or they put in the employment ads like this:
"Insanity a plus"
@braak: But with Morrison, the crazy is just so goddamned entertaining.
Batman gets super-powers. I'm calling it now. That way when it happens, I can be the one to point and laugh at everyone who thought it would be awesome.
@JennaW: @KiddChaos: I still think Grant Morrison has a special kind of crazy.
I mean, Alan Moore is also nuts--and getting sort of increasingly skeevily nuts, I might add--but I can't think of anyone that's as much of an out-and-out cosmic loonie as Grant.
Ah, but what about... WARREN ELLIS? The man who drunk-texts thousands of people in the dead of night and rails about his decrepit agedness when he's barely 40! Who thought up Apollo and Midnighter and *got away with it!* Who has about three billion web presences going at any given time. I see your Grant Morrison, braak, and I raise you WARREN ELLIS!
So, Big Tits in a tight baby-t and booty shorts Vs Big Tits in a skin tight Latex Catsuit. Right. Real feminine...
@ceejeemcbeegee: There is good stuff out there in mainstream superhero world. Captain America, Iron Fist, All Star Superman... Okay. I'm done.
@Macloserboy: Seriously, there is. Deadpool. And Deadpool + Cable. Mostly just Deadpool.
It's stuff like this that makes me wish I was more into DC than I am. There's a lot I don't understand about the universe and I remember trying to get into Infinity Crisis and just getting completely lost.
Oh well, you know I'll be taking a crack at it anyway!
OMG Batman will nevar b teh same!
God. I think the biggest problem with comics focusing on longtime fans over new ones is that we've already seen this song and dance at least a half-dozen times.
@JennaW: @braak:I think we can all agree that the world of comics is a better place for having both Ellis and Morrison in it.
Also, I just wanted to say that I loved Morrison's Mister Miracle. It may not have been the best of Seven Soldiers but it was my favorite.
@bnpederson: Hahahah. I was going to say almost exactly the same thing..
> Batman, as we know him, is not coming
> back from it.
Let me guess...he'll be darker, more distrubed, some might even say brooding.
I'm going out on limb, mind you.
One day someone should run a Batman miniseries where he ends the thing as a Gotham City street pretzel & lollipop dealer.
"Batman, as we know him, is not coming back from it"
So the company that can't keep Jason Todd dead and Red Kryptonite out will take their most marketable character and permanently, significantly change him, forever.
Does anyone buy this? And if you do, would you like to invest in my cold fusion reactor?
In all fairness, Batman has been fundamentally altered by a single book in the past. Miller's Dark Knight Returns essentially created the modern Batman. And when DC decides to revamp, they do it hardcore (for better or worse). There's a chance the press release isn't lying.
I seem to recall some of the "set in the future" Bruce Wayne's were unable to walk? Perhaps a new Batman will replace him/be guided by him? Captain America died "permanently" and got replaced, and it's not the first time DC's looked to Marvel for an idea.
In any event, I personally doubt any really permanent changes will come about. Anything they do to Batman's going to have fans in an uproar, and with the movie due out soon and likely bringing in new readers, changing the main character too much would make it harder for them to pick up the series.
@Balius: "I seem to recall some of the "set in the future" Bruce Wayne's were unable to walk?"
That was in Knightfall. He's better now.
"Captain America died "permanently" and got replaced..."
Give them time.
Mark My Words:
After Final Crisis, Bruce Wayne finally becomes "too old for this shit".
It's been hinted in Morrison's Batman since issue 1. He gets a son. Then we get glimpses of a possible future where the son is Batman. Then a new villain is introduced, the King Of Crime, the theoretical villain Batman can't beat (who, my theory is, is really just Batman in a subconscious state). Then new posters left and right with Robin holding a dead or near-death Batman.
Too many old wounds? Too much pressure? Too much time passed? All of the above?
It all adds up. Batman will turn in the cowl and go [Batman Beyond] old Bruce Wayne.
BATMAN. IS. QUITTING.
most probable scenario: Batman quits completely, someone else takes the mantle, then when it seems the new Batman is over his head in trouble, Bruce Wayne steps in as mentor/base instructor via sound-link in the Batcave. He effectively becomes a new more aggressive Oracle.
I think Bruce Wayne will become one of the New NEW Gods. Dethroning Darkseid and becoming immortal. Some type of cosmic justice-guy. Wait, Spectre's already some dead guy...
whatever happened to all that "the DC characters have gotten too dark" stuff DC was spewing before Infinite Crisis?
I guess that wasn't selling.
@JennaW: That's always the risk you take when it comes to Grant.@
JesusDeSaad: I dunno... That'd really screw up any run off they were hoping to get from the movie.
@JennaW: Well, you'll get no argument from me that Ellis is a mad, pervy bastard. But even has hasn't yet rejected linear consciousness.
It's one of those things where, in Planetary, Ellis talks about self-transforming machine elves, and their secret relationship to the mass consciousness of the world...but Morrison clearly believes it.
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