Comic Book Review: Final Crisis #2

The Revolution completely enjoyed Final Crisis #1. Too bad that the sales numbers reflect that not many comic book readers share my enthusiasm over this title. Now, there is probably no way that I will not love Final Crisis #2. I am a huge Barry Allen fan. I was just a little kid when DC killed Barry and I was completely and totally traumatized. Barry’s death was the first one I experienced in my young comic book reading life. I hated it then and I still hate it. I cannot wait to see the iconic Flash make his return in Final Crisis #2. Let’s go ahead and hit this review.

Creative Team
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: J.G. Jones

Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with young Japanese super heroes hanging out in a trendy club in Tokyo. We see a news report being played on one of the TV’s in the club. On the news report is an older hero named Rising Sun who is ranting about the new young heroes as being useless posers. That all the young heroes do is hang out in clubs and have made being a super hero nothing more than a gimmick.

Rising Sun rants that in his day, fellow heroes like Ultimon, Hammersuit, Zero-X and Junior Waveman were true heroes as a part of Big Science Action. Rising Sun states that Japan has had a proud tradition of super-heroism with special distinction in the field of monster hunting.

Excellent Super Bat scoffs at Rising Sun as nothing more than a stupid old man. Excellent Super Bat states that something will happen to put Super Young Team on the map.

We then see Super Sumo enter the club. Super Sumo sits down at the bar and orders a drink. Mega Yakuza then walks up behind Super Sumo and challenges him to a fight. Super Sumo states that he only fights for money and proceeds to ignore the challenge. Mega Yakuza then blasts flames at Super Sumo that light his back on fire.

Super Sumo casually finishes his drink and then proceeds to rip Mega Yakuza’s heart out and stuff it in a glass. We then see Super Sumo go to the bathroom. Super Sumo examines the burns on his skin. Excellent Super Bat encourages his friend, Atomic Lantern Boy to go get Sumo’s autograph.

Atomic Lantern Boy enters the bathroom and ask for Sumo’s autograph. Sumo yells for Atomic Lantern Boy to leave him alone. Suddenly, Shilo Norman (the other Mister Miracle) enters the bathroom and whips out his motherboxxx and heals Sumo’s burned skin. Shilo says that Motherboxxx is about the only thing left after the cosmic war that the powers of evil won. Shilo reveals that they are here among them right now. Shilo asks for Super Sumo to help him put together a team.

We slide over to the exiled Monitor, Nix Uotan, reading the dictionary from front to back. The exiled Monitor is now working at Big Belly Burgers. Nix thinks how he feels like he belongs somewhere else. Like one day he is going to find the magic worked that will take him home. We then see the exiled Monitor sketching various costumed characters.

We cut to Turpin beating the crap out of Mad Hatter. There is blood all over the Mad Hatter’s apartment. Turpin demands to know where the children were taken. Mad Hatter pleads that he does not know anything. Turpin continues to viciously beat the Mad Hatter. Mad Hatter finally admits that the children were taken to Bludhaven.

During this vicious scene, Turpin wonders to himself what is wrong with him. Turpin wonders why he is acting so viciously. Turpin sees himself in the mirror an comments that he does not look too good. Turpin thinks that he should have known better. That all roads lead to Hell.

We slide over to J’onn J’onzz’s funeral being held on Mars. Superman gives a touching eulogy. Superman ends the eulogy by saying “We’ll all miss him. And pray for a resurrection.”

We shift to the meeting between Libra and all the super villains. Lex still is not impressed with Libra. Lex states that Martian Manhunter was an easy target. Lex says that he will think about following Libra if Libra is able to hurt Superman.

All the villains then exit the abandoned strip club where they were holding their meeting. Lex tells Vandal Savage that Lex and Sivana are going to form an alliance against Libra’s ambitions. Lex asks if he can count on Savage’s support. Savage tells Lex that Savage will follow Libra since it seems that Libra has something interesting planned for all the super heroes.

Human Flame thanks Libra for giving him back his respect and dignity. Libra then tells Human Flame to come talk to him about what the Human Flame now owes Libra.

We cut to Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman pouring over the evidence found at Orion’s murder scene. Wonder Woman comments how the death of Martian Manhunter strips them of their instantaneous mind-to-mind contact that he used to provide for them. Batman responds that it appears that the Secret Society vowed revenge on J’onn for impersonating Blockbuster recently. (Um, yeah whose idea was that, batboy?) That J’onn’s death was an organized crime styled execution.

Batman then says that Orion’s murder is something totally different. In walks Hal Jordan and Alpha Lantern Kraken. Hal informs out heroes that Alpha Lantern Kraken is now in control of the crime scene. Kraken acts like a bitch and is dismissive of Hal’s “crime fighting club” and wonders how it impairs Hal’s duties to his space sector.

Batman states that Orion was shot. That the internal trauma is consistent with the blast pattern of a bullet detonating inside his skull. Batman says the question remains what kind of bullet was used since it left no other trace of its passage. Kraken dismisses Batman’s opinion since there is no bullet wound. Batman disagrees and says that he has already sent John Stewart to reexamine the murder scene.

Kraken asks under whose authority did Batman send a Green Lantern back out to the murder scene. Kraken states that it is her duty as an Alpha Lantern to handle the crime scene and that Earth falls under the jurisdiction of the Guardians. Kraken says that she is in charge and not Batman. Batman spits back that he does not remember voting for the Guardians.

We shift to John Stewart and another Lantern investigating the murder scene once again. John’s ring detects an energy signature it could not identify. Johns then says that whatever it is it has been buried in the concrete for fifty-years. The other Lantern flies off to investigate the rest of the crime scene.

John digs up the object in the concrete and sees that it appears to be some type of bullet shaped object. John’s ring scans it and says that it has Radion in it. Suddenly, John’s power ring dies.

A hooded figure with a cape in a Green Lantern outfit appears on the scene and attacks John. John immediately recognizes the Lantern and says “My god. It’s you!” The mysterious Lantern fires energy spikes at John that pin him to the wall. The mysterious Lantern tells John to say goodbye to his eyes. The mysterious Lantern then uses the energy spikes to gouge out John’s eyes.

We cut to Hal Jordan asleep at his apartment. Suddenly, the Alpha Lanterns led by Kraken appear in his bedroom and inform him that he is under arrest for the murder of a New God and the attempted murder of his partner. The Alpha Lanterns then strip Hal of his power ring.

We shift to the Hall of Justice where Batman tells Superman that Kraken is wrong. Batman says that Hal is not the killer. Superman agrees. Superman says that Doctor Mid-Nite and Wonder Woman are with John Stewart and are administering purple ray treatments. Superman then states that he has to run to the Daily Planet to keep his secret identity from getting blown. Superman asks Batman to hold down the fort for a couple of hours. Batman watches Superman fly off and says “Hh. Superman, Superman…”

Batman then enters the lab where Kraken is closing up her investigation. Batman tells Kraken that Hal is not the murderer. Kraken dismisses Batman and says that the investigation is over and that Hal has a criminal history with his stint as Parallax.

Suddenly, Kraken cries out “Help me! She’s eating my mind alive. Tell them our weapons don’t work…” Suddenly, Kraken barks why Batman is looking at her. Batman attacks Kraken and orders a Black Alert and for the Hall of Justice to be sealed immediately. The two brawl, but Kraken ends up taking down Batman and then opening up a boom tube. Kraken says that Batman will make a nice plaything for Granny Goodness.

We shift to Turpin arriving in Bludhaven. Reverend Good approaches Turpin and calls Turpin “the great one” and asks Turpin to come with him. Good tells Turpin that everything is going well and according to plan. Good says that they have been working to create this pit as a cradle for Turpin’s rebirth. Turpin asks what the hell Good is talking about.

Good answers that the Gods of Apokolips are bringing about the final crisis of man. Good tells Turpin that they have grown a new body for his son, Kalibak the Cruel. Turpin keeps wondering what is wrong with himself. We see tons of people being held in cells. Among them we see Kamandi. We see blood drip from Turpin’s ears. Turpin whispers that none of this is right.

Good then gives Turpin a complete tour of the “Evil Factory” where they are rounding up the heroes of Earth and performing surgeries on them. We see Batman behind strapped up to one of the machines in the lab. Batman yells “They’re coming to get us all. Warn the Justice League! Warn everyone!” Batman is then hooked into the machine and falls silent. Turpin then says “Oh God, Oh Jesus. There’s someone in my head.”

We slide over to the Daily Planet where Perry White is praising Clark for his article on Martian Manhunter’s death. We see Jimmy Olsen dropping off a disk to Lois Lane. Jimmy then hops back onto the elevator. We see Jimmy turn into Clayface.

Clark thinks that he just saw Jimmy outside the building. Clark then approaches Lois when suddenly a huge explosion rips through the Daily Planet. We see Clark standing amid the rubble of the Daily Planet’s offices. We see Lois’ hand sticking out of a bunch of rubble.

We shift to Wally and Jay arriving at the abandoned strip club where Libra and the villains were meeting. Wally said that Batman had him search the internet for anything unusual around the time J’onn was murdered. Wally discovered that there was a seismic pulse at the same time as J’onn’s death and the epicenter was this location.

Jay tells Wally that this is where Jay first met Barry. That back then it was a community center. Wally does a high-speed search of the facility and tells Jay that he found traces of Martian blood and a “crime bible.” Wally also says he found something that looks just like Metron’s Mobius chair even though it is mostly plastic and wire.

Wally mentions how Batman came up with a wild idea which Wally ran with since they are talking about god weapons. Wally says imagine a bullet fired backwards through time. Jay mentions that he hates all forms of time travel.

Wally says what if this is where the god-bullet breaks into time. The shell travels back through time, kills Orion, and passes through him into the past where it finally buries itself in the concrete fifty years ago. Wally then points at Metron’s chair and says that it is the scope of a higher-dimensional gun.

Suddenly, Metron’s chair begins to glow with energy and make a noise. Jay yells that he recognizes the vibrations. That it can’t be, not after all these years. Suddenly, we see Barry Allen running out of the energy chasing the god-bullet. We see the Black Racer hot on Barry Allen’s trail. Barry yells for Jay and Wally to run. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Final Crisis #2 was an incredible read. Morrison blows the reader’s mind with a complex and gripping tale. It is far too early for me to render a final opinion on the Secret Invasion versus Final Crisis debate. However, I can say that Final Crisis #2 completely destroyed Secret Invasion #2.

Final Crisis #2 was certainly an improvement over the first issue of Final Crisis. Yes, Final Crisis #2 is still providing more set-up for this event and there was not much action in this issue. However, lots of action was not necessary at all in this issue. Final Crisis #2 provides plenty of through provoking plotlines and teasers.

Rather than mindlessly entertaining the reader with big explosions destroying iconic structures in the DCU, Morrison seeks to actually engage the reader. Final Crisis #2 is much more of a psychological thriller than a mindless action story. Morrison creates some wonderful tension in the reader and an ever increasing sense of doom as we head to the ending of this issue.

Our Marvel heroes may have suffered plenty of property damage over in Secret Invasion, but our DC heroes suffer more personal losses in Secret Invasion #2. J’onn is dead. Lois is gravely injured. Batman is captured and hooked into a machine at the Evil Factory, John Stewart is seriously injured and has his eyes gouged out, Hal Jordan finds himself arrested for murder and Turpin realizes that Darkseid is inside of his body. Final Crisis #2 was a very bad day for many of our heroes.

Final Crisis #2 is pleasantly paced as Morrison begins with a measured pace and slowly increases the intensity as we arrive at a frenzied final scene with the dramatic appearance of Barry Allen. Final Crisis #2 is a strongly plotted issue. Morrison is weaving multiple intriguing and complex plotlines and is allowing them to evolve organically.

In Final Crisis #2, Morrison proceeds to systematically strip New Earth’s heroes of strategic characters. This is just like the type of strategy that you see in any war. The reader sees a two prong attack from the New Gods of Apokolips and the Secret Society led by Libra. The first thing that it taken out in a war is the enemy’s communications. For our heroes that is Martian Manhunter who has always streamlined the communication between the JLA members.

Next to be taken out in a war is the command and logistics center. In Final Crisis, Batman is the equivalent of the command and logistic center for our New Earth heroes. Next to be taken out are the two top cops in John and Hal in order to effectively end the investigation into Orion’s murder. This was a brilliantly constructed attack on our heroes that progressed in a logical fashion.

Morrison dishes out plenty of strong dialogue. Morrison also pulls off some excellent character work. All the characters are nicely fleshed out and well developed. Morrison generates some pleasant chemistry between the various characters. It is the little touches that make it such a well crafted issue.

For example, when Superman has to fly off to the daily Planet in order to give Clark Kent some needed face time, we see Batman shaking his head as he says “Superman, Superman…” This small touch shows how radically different Batman and Superman are about how they operate.

I really enjoyed the opening scene in Japan. Of course, I have to admit that I love everything about Japan, so I might be a little biased. I dig all the characters from Super Young Team and Big Science Action. I like the nod to Japan’s love of Kaiju in that the Japanese super heroes crafted a specialty in monster fighting. I definitely look forward to seeing more of these characters.

Super Sumo is a total bad-ass. I dig his calm and casual manner in which he takes out Mega Yakuza. I liked the appearance of Shiloh armed with his motherboxxx. I am interested in Shiloh’s plan to build his own team to lock horns with the Gods from Apokolips who are walking among us as regular humans.

I like that Morrison is orchestrating several different factions in this story. We have the big three leading our traditional super heroes. We have the Green Lanterns and their investigation. And now we get Shiloh forming his own group to battle the New Gods of Apokolips.

I am curious to learn more about the characters that we see the exiled Monitor, Nix Uotan, drawing. I do not recognize the Superman-esque male with a lightning bolt on his chest nor the female version of that same character. It does appear that one of the characters Nix is drawing is a Monitor. And the fourth character that we see Nix drawing looks like a variation of Dr. Manhattan from the Watchmen. It makes sense that Nix is drawing characters from various multiple Earths that he still retains vague memories about.

I liked J’onn’s funeral scene. Morrison does a nice job giving Martian Manhunter a proper send-off. What I found the most interesting about this scene was the very end of Superman’s eulogy where he says that they will all pray for a resurrection. Morrison is practically screaming at the reader that J’onn is not permanently dead. And belief in resurrection in the DCU makes sense since Superman, Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen, to name a few have all experienced resurrections of some sort.

I liked the scene involving John Stewart at Orion’s murder scene. Morrison does a nice job with John’s character by getting across the fact that John is one of the Corps’ top cops. Of course, the best part of this scene was the incredibly vicious attack by a mysterious hooded Lantern.

I am curious to learn the identity of John’s attacker. We see that John recognizes the hooded Green Lantern. What is odd is that John’s ring was drained of all its power. That is something an Alpha Lantern can do. However, we know the attacker was not Kraken since the hooded character was wearing a white glove that is typical for a traditional Green Lantern outfit which is unlike what Kraken wears. It must be another Lantern possessed by a God of Apokolips. I cannot wait to see who the mysterious Lantern is.

I totally dig how Morrison handles Batman’s character. Morrison shows off Batman’s detective skills as second to no one; even that of an Alpha Lantern armed with superior technology. The tension between Kraken and Batman was well handled. I chuckled at Batman’s sarcastic comment that he never voted for the Guardians.

Morrison stuns the reader when Kraken gains a moment of lucidity and calls out to Batman to help her and that someone is eating her mind. It was a pretty cool twist that Kraken is in fact under control of one of the Gods of Apokolips. That neatly explained Kraken’s rush to arrest Hal for Orion’s murder and the attack on John Stewart and then subsequently pronounce the investigation into Orion’s murder closed.

I liked how Morrison handled Lex’s reaction to Libra killing Martian Manhunter. Lex is understandably a tough man to impress. Lex is quite clear that the only thing Libra can do to impress him is to hurt Superman. We also get an interesting little plot wrinkle as it appears that Lex is trying to form an alliance to move against Libra. We already know that Sivana is willing to side with Lex. I will be curious to see if Lex ends up gathering a competing faction of villains to vie against Libra’s group.

Morrison has Libra mention that it is time to see what Human Flame can do for Libra since Human Flame owes Libra. I am interested to see what in the world a lame character like Human Flame could possible do for someone like Libra.

Morrison delivers an intense read with the final three scene in Final Crisis #2. These three scenes hit the reader like consecutive blows from a jackhammer. First, we have the stunning reveal involving Turpin and the gruesome fate of Batman. Second, we get the shocking scene at the Daily Planet. And lastly, we get the dramatic return of Barry Allen.

I love how Morrison uses Turpin in this issue. Morrison hints to the reader that there is something terribly wrong with Turpin in the scene where he brutally beats the Mad Hatter. The feeling of impending doom continually grows as we see Reverend Good approach Turpin and talk to him like Turpin is his boss.

That uneasy feeling of dread reaches its height as Turpin is taken on a tour of the Evil Factory. Once Good mentions that they are now able to bring back Turpin’s son, Kalibak the reader realizes that Darkseid has taken over Turpin. The cool part of this scene is that Turpin realizes what is going on with himself at about the same time that the reader finally puts it all together as well. Turpin exclaiming that there is someone in his mind confirms the reader’s suspicions.

This would also explain how Turpin managed to escape Boss Dark Side and his evil children in the first issue. Morrison handling of Turpin and his falling under Darkseid’s control was pure genius. Turpin’s monologue is so wonderfully crafted. The scenes involving Turpin completely captivate the reader’s attention.

Morrison also shocks the reader with the sight of Batman trapped in the Evil Factory. The Evil Factory is a hellish looking place and I can only wonder what type of machine that Batman is being hooked into. I would imagine that Morrison is going to remove Batman from the playing field for the rest of this big event.

That is probably because Batman is not a character that works particularly well in big cosmic events. After all, Batman did not do much in the original Crisis, either. Of course, Morrison might also give Batman a temporary power-upgrade via the New God technology and allow Batman to play a more active role in a battle involving gods.

The next bomb that Morrison drops on the reader near the end of Final Crisis #2 is the scene where Clayface sets off the bomb in the Daily Planet. It appears that Lois is in serious trouble. I would certainly think this qualifies as hurting Superman.

Now, as much as I would love it if DC had the cojones to kill off Lois Lane, I don’t think she is dead. I figure that the last thing Libra wants is a Superman who is in a murderous rage and has nothing at all to lose. That is absolutely the one type of adversary you don’t want to battle against.

I would imagine that Lois will be in a coma. This will certainly cause pain to Superman and take him off the playing field as he will be preoccupied with Lois’ condition and will probably spend most of his time at her bedside. All in all, this was a well done scene.

But, by far and away the best part of Final Crisis #2 was the final scene involving Jay and Wally. I found the idea of a god-bullet that travels through time to be a pretty damn cool concept. Leave it to Morrison to come up with some wild method in order to kill a god.

And of course, since I am a massive Barry Allen fan, I loved seeing the iconic Flash make his dramatic appearance on the final page as we see him chasing a god-bullet while the Black Racer is hot on his trail. What was so amazing is that even though I knew what was coming, I still got goose bumps.

We all knew that Barry would be making his return by the end of Final Crisis #2. Yet, Morrison manages to do it in such a brilliant fashion that the reader is still filled with excitement and surprise when it actually happens. That is a sign of excellent writing.

Obviously, I am intensely curious to learn how the man, the myth, the legend: Barry Allen, managed to come back from the dead. This should certainly make for one interesting story. I trust Morrison to come up with something well crafted.

J.G. Jones provides plenty of excellent artwork. Final Crisis #2 is a beautiful issue. Jones does an impressive job bringing Morrison’s story to life.

The Bad: Personally, I have no complaints with Final Crisis #2. But, there are certainly aspects of this issue that will not appeal to some comic book readers. I would imagine that some readers will view the opening scene in Japan to be largely unnecessary and too drawn out just to serve the purpose of introducing Shilo into the story.

I am sure that some readers will think that Morrison made a mistake by introducing new characters into a big event like Final Crisis. The thinking will be that Morrison should have just had Shilo approach already established characters like the JLA, JSA, Titans, Outsiders, etc. for help instead of travelling to Japan to try and recruit a bunch of characters that the reader has never seen before.

Personally, I dig that Morrison is trying to introduce some new characters into the story rather than rely solely on already established characters. But, I can understand why this scene would fail to impress some readers.

I would think that some readers will find Final Crisis #2 too lacking in the action category. A common criticism will be that two issues of set-up on a seven issue mini-series is too much. And that is a valid argument.

However, I would argue that a lot happened in this issue that goes beyond set-up. You do not need mindless action to progress a storyline. Morrison has plenty occur in this issue that was more interesting and gripping to read than just mindlessly blowing up the Hall of Justice, the JSA brownstone, the Watchtower, Titans Tower, etc. Morrison gives us attacks on New Earth’s heroes that have a much more personal and devastating impact on them and the reader than just mindless big explosions.

A continuing inherent weakness of Final Crisis is that Morrison is not attempting to make this mini-series all that new reader friendly. I could give Secret Invasion to a new reader and they could enjoy it with zero effort on their part. Green aliens have infiltrated Earth and now we have a huge brawl on our hands. On the other hand, Final Crisis is thick with continuity that may make it harder for newer readers to fully understand and enjoy.

And I still think it is a risky gamble to center the Final Crisis around the New Gods franchise. Even though I adore them, the fact remains that the overwhelming majority of comic book readers just have not gotten into the New Gods. This franchise has never been a strong seller. I do not know how many readers are that interested in seeing the birth of the Fifth World.

Overall: Final Crisis #2 was a brilliant read. Morrison treats the reader to a wonderfully crafted issue. To be sure, Morrison challenges the reader and requires them to work while reading Final Crisis #2. Morrison gives the reader a rich story full of plenty of substance for the reader to digest. This is definitely an issue that is even better after a second or third reading. It is that detailed and deep.

If you enjoy reading comic books that are thought provoking and require the reader to think then you will certainly enjoy Final Crisis #2. However, if you prefer to simply be entertained and not to have to put forth much effort, then I would suggest sticking with Secret Invasion. Final Crisis #2 probably is not going to appeal all that much to action fans. Unlike Secret Invasion, Final Crisis does not have that summer blockbuster feel to it.