Product Description

Over the years, Earth's greatest heroes have triumphed over evil time and time again. But now comes an evil force nothing can stand against - Darkseid, and the awesome, terrible Anti-Life Equation - and the heroes have already lost! It begins with the death of Orion, a god from space - and suddenly Superman is gone, Batman captured, Wonder Woman turned evil, the Martian Manhunter murdered, and time and space fracturing. Only a secret from the beginning of humanity can save existence as we know it - but is it already too late? From the brilliantly creative mind of Grant Morrison ("JLA") and superstar artist JG Jones ("Wanted") comes an unsettling, thrilling, frightening and inspiring super-epic!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3675 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-24
• Released on: 2009-07-24
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

About the Author
Grant Morrison is one of comics' most innovative writers. His long list of credits includes Batman R.I.P., JLA, Animal Man, Judge Dredd and New X-Men, He is also the author of the award-winning Batman: Arkham Asylum, and is currently writing Seaguy. J. G. Jones is one of the comics industry's most sought-after cover and interior artists, with work including Marvel Boy. He is also the painter of all fifty-two covers for the multi-million-selling weekly 52 series, an incredible and unprecedented achievement.

Customer Reviews

Work of Genius
If you read any review of this book, you will receive one of two opinions- loved it or hated it. I'm afraid there is no middle ground. Either you enjoy the way in which Morrison deconstructs and reconstructs the DC universe; using the concepts that Jack Kirby created in ways they have never been used before or not. If you in any way precious about your superhero universes and risk averse to invention then avoid this. Otherwise, dive in. It is, in my belief, and with only shades of hyperbole, a work of genius.

Final Crisis, Morrison's masterpiece?
Most people will find Final Crisis to be a mixed bag. Some people can't stand it, others love it. I happen to be among the latter. This Final Crisis hardcover comes complete with Superman Beyond 1 and 2. These two issues are absolutely essential to the series, without having read them, Final Crisis will not make a lick of sense half the time. Who is Nix Uotan? Mandrakk? Countdown also helps make sense, but it's fully possible to understand and enjoy Final Crisis without having read Countdown.

Now, on to the actual review. In Final Crisis Morrison goes beyond the regular plots found in most major plots these days. Somehow, he manages to conjure up one of the more complex comic book stories written till day's date, yet keep it simple. This is where Superman Beyond plays such an important part, it helps bring forth and clarify what Superman is. This is the classic depiction of good versus evil. A boy from Krypton raised to fight for all that is good, staring down a dying god and vampires feeding off that which cannot be bottled or held. This casts an entirely new light on the New Gods, Monitors and even big blue himself. Old classics are presented in a new way and finally made out to be something greater that they always have been. For many years now Superman has been named a symbol and considered to be the number 1 hero. In Final Crisis, he becomes the readers will and desire for good to prevail, personified. The battle of good versus evil is taken to a whole new level and nobody but Grant "God" Morrison himself could have done it. While this takes place, Grant, like Johns, is not above paying a little homage to long time fans of DC comics. Old faces make a return and this is part of why Final Crisis pleases on so many levels.

Final Crisis will either completely reinvent the way you look upon DC's big boy and comics themselves, or it will feel like another mediocre oddity. I say roll the dice.

An epic story for those who can read betwen the lines
I could ho into a lot of detail about the awesomeness of this epic story, but for your benefit I'll keep it short...

Dont buy into the hate this series gets, sure it's not a Civil War or a Secret Invasion, but that's a good thing! Morrison has always written tales that require a bit more processing than your average Spider-Man book and Final Crisis continues the trend. The talks about FC being incomprehensible are utter bull, I personally could understand pretty much everything on my first readthrough, it all comes down to just how much you're willing to try yourself. In an age where stories are dumbed down and for a wider audience, Final Crisis stands out, because regardless it's summer-event status, it doesn't sacrifice ANYTHING...For a Kirby enthusiast this book wa a treat, with alot of references to his Fourth World work. The biggest flaws with the book are strictly editorial and art-related. (a shame, really)

All you need to do to "get" Final Crisis is this:

- Read it through with care, as if it was a proper novel
- Use your own brains to analyze the infromation and paint the "bigger picture" (instead of the comic just flat-out announcing it to you)
- Read between the lines
- Enjoy

I can't promise you that you'll like it, but after approaching Final Crisis with the respect that it requires to be read, I'm proud to say that this is the best event book I've ever read...and I've read them all.

It's not perfect, but nothing ever is.