Final Crisis HC

by Grant Morrison

[inlibrisveritas]

know this is not a traditional book but I felt that it is worth reviewing since it's so big, both in size for a graphic novel and in the DC universe.

This is an epic and chaotic DC crossover graphic novel dealing with the rise of an evil power by the name of Darksied. The superheros are, of course, trying to stop him but some of them succumb to his Anti-Life germ which in turn makes them turn into the bad guys. (While others are simply killed off for the time being). I thought the use of a germ to take control of the heroes was a pretty cool touch, but it's not totally originally when it comes to superheros. Someone is always getting mindjacked and having to fight their friends or lovers. You would think they'd get use to it, then again maybe they are with the amount of speeches they have to try and bring the person around. That aside, it is visually pleasing, fast past and long.

However...being fast paced it also brings in a sort of chaos that makes it somewhat hard to follow at times. While I enjoyed it, it confused the hell out of me at times to the point where the internet was needed for explanations and timelines. In truth I only wanted to know what happened to Batman...but I ended up with much more. There are a tremendous amount of characters brought in and maintained in sections, and while it's one main overall storyline there are smaller story lines within that must be remembered. DC chooses to crossover multiple character stories and universes, so you get everything from 6 different Superman types to a rabbit hero (at the end). The list of heroes is vast and you can easily keep up with the main ones but all of the smaller ones will become sort of confusing until about halfway through. The chaos of the story was almost overwhelming until about halfway through as well and then it finally becomes a manageable sort of chaos.I did get to find out what happened to Batman, and I do finally feel set up enough to move and start Return of Bruce Wayne and the Blackest Night arc...but boy was it somewhat of an ordeal to get to that part.

Overall it's good for any DC universe fan who's familiar with a vast amount of heroes and possibly stories...however I wouldn't recommend it to those who know little of either and just want to read it for fun.