Comments on: Making a Final Crisis FAQ

By: Da Fug

Da Fug — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 06:09:43 +0000

Did Brian’s Final Crisis FAQ post answering these questions ever appear on the blog? Just curious (since I probably won’t be reading most of it anyway).

By: Mika Oksanen

Mika Oksanen — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:22:55 +0000

Exactly what happened to the Monitors in the end? Ryan Frank already asked this, and Morrison’s exit interview answers part of his question, but as far as I can see leaves a lot still unclear.. Morrison says in his exit interview that “Monitor-Mind has worked through its own Ultimate Story and spared Nix Uotan to be its sole representative and interface with the Multiverse”. Does this imply (along with statements in the last issue like “make your peace” and “this really is the last day”) that the rest of the Monitors were destroyed? Or does it just imply (along with Nix’s mention of withdrawal in his speech to the Circle of Monitors) that the Monitors are cut off from interacting with the Multiverse but remain in existence? If they are destroyed then how does this happen? Do they destroy themselves (as Nix’s reference to what they have to sacrifice suggests, though how could the rest of the Monitors agree to go along with a suicidal plan?) or does the Monitor-Mind wipe them out? In either case, if they are all destroyed, then how can Nix Uotan say to Weeja Dell that Superman “wished only the best for all of us…He wished for a happy ending”? If the Monitors except for Nix are all destroyed it is surely not a happy ending for them. Genocide is not a happy ending! In either case it is not a happy ending even for Nix, as he loses Weeja for ever. Does this just imply that there are limits even to the Miracle Machine’s power so that it can provide a happy ending for others only at the cost of a bad ending for the Monitors? Is Nix’s last speech with Weeja meant to be a bit ironic?

By: Nick Evans

Nick Evans — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:16:22 +0000

Ooh, I can answer the Captain Marvel question: the one in FC came from Earth-5, as he’s the Earth-5 (essentially Earth-S pre-Crisis, so Fawcett-world) version of Superman.

By: ticknart

ticknart — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:33:08 +0000

Did anything actually change for the main DCU because of Final Crisis? (And Batman “dying” doesn’t count.)
Is it actually the “5th world,” even though all the New Gods are alive again?

By: Juisarian

Juisarian — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:13:52 +0000

See BATMAN #682 and 683

S&M were using Batman’s brain as a template to program an army of unstoppable clone warriors, but the trauma of reliving Batman’s life caused them all to go mad and kill themselves. The Lump, a psychic construct in the form of Alfred inserted into Batman’s dream as their agent to control Batman, joined forces with him and attacked S&M, allowing Bats to escape.

By: adam!

adam! — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:50:00 +0000

they’ll probably do a hardcover with a separate book of annotations or scripts or something. it’d be great if they cut-n-paste all the relevant pages from other books into one big fat FINAL CRISIS phonebook edition.

By: Juisarian

Juisarian — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:13:21 +0000

Where did Captain Marvel come from? Last I heard he was hanging in limbo doing the wizard in his white costume.

By: sgt pepper

sgt pepper — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:08:55 +0000

Yes. Batman defeated Darseid’s minions by using his memories.

By: ZZZ

ZZZ — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 09:37:45 +0000

Oh, and how did Batman escape while he was Darkseid’s minions’ prisoner? When I read it, I just chalked it up to “he’s Batman” and assumed a panel of him slipping his bonds was just implied, but from what I’ve seen online, that was actually explained somewhere. Could someone sum it up in a sentence or two?

By: ZZZ

ZZZ — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 09:33:25 +0000

This might not ring a bell with anyone, and I wish I could give an issue number (I want to say 2 or 3, but I could be wrong – heck, it could have been in one of the tie-ins and I’m completely misremembering) but at one point fairly early on, I could swear there was a scene on the JLA satellite, and in the foreground, unseen by the characters in the scene, we see what appear to be shrunken heroes trapped in bottles. At the time, I remember thinking that was supposed to be an explanation of where the heroes who were missing at the time were, and that later we’d find out how they got there … Did I just imagine that, or was there some explanation?

By: Geralex

Geralex — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 07:09:05 +0000

Final Crisis: Frequently Asked Questions:

Eh?
What just happened?

By: Ronn K.

Ronn K. — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:52:28 +0000

I echo the requests for a reading order for FC tie-ins. And as I asked elsewhere in a similar vein, will the FC TPB, supposedly scheduled for release in April, be just a compilation of the 7 issues or will the other FC tie-in titles like “Rogue’s Revenge”, “Legion of Three Worlds”, “Superman Beyond”, etc. be included as well? Also, regarding the Cliff notes comments, should it be necessary to have Cliff notes next to a copy of “A Tale of Two Cities”, for instance, in order to enjoy & comprehend it? Barring grammatical, lingual, cultural & era-specific references, shouldn’t a work of fiction be fairly comprehensible to it’s target audience? While the Christian Bible is largely considered non-fiction & essentially historical, it has been updated & translated to attract a larger audience & thereby further it’s teachings, this is understandable. But is this necessary for a work of fiction with a largely established target audience? And finally, as I’ve also mentioned elsewhere, this ultimately seems like just an easy way for DC to side-step continuity problems by saying “Oh, that happened on Earth-# whatever.”, tout the commissioned work of a popular, talented (though, at times, over-hyped, incomprehensible & controversial) writer & make a quick buck in the process. Wasn’t the purpose of the now-defunct, but understandable “Hypertime” supposed to have dealt with continuity problems? I don’t have a problem with the existence of other Earths or continuity issues & never have in my 35-odd (some, VERY odd) years of reading comics. It’s fiction, fantasy, it shouldn’t always have to make absolutely perfect scientific sense to be enjoyable (though if it does, it’s a plus!), if that were the case, there would at least be a “real” Batman or even a Capt. America, but it SHOULD have a comprehensible progression of events that fans are able to understand with a minimum of confusion & without the need to buy every single tie-in title that MIGHT contain pertinent information. These formerly “special events” have ceased to be special anymore, with seemingly no other purpose than to try to out-sell or outdo the “other guy”, or the previous events that promised “long-lasting, far-reaching, reality-altering” events that are eventually scrapped by later writers at their convenience. Personally, I am just finding them more & more tiresome & often not worthy of the hype or the increasing prices, especially with the recent financial hardships being felt by most of us.

By: Linda D.

Linda D. — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:33:51 +0000

Did Trinity take place before Final Crisis? Is New Krypton after? In Teen Titans we see Wonder Girl in a new costume, and Tim leaving apparently due to R.I.P., but in Wonder Woman, she is seen in her prior costume? Does that mean ‘Olympians is before R.I.P; and thus before Final Crisis? It seems like all over the place!

By: sgt pepper

sgt pepper — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:14:22 +0000

The monkey-behind-the-typewriter’s hairy hands?

By: Amy Grayson

Amy Grayson — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:59:17 +0000

Oh yeah, one last thing, when the Monitors first appeared way back when now, we saw in the center, an Anti-Monitor. Is that THE Anti-Monitor, and if so, how was it that he was just there and the other Monitors didn’t care, and allowed him to be exploited for use by Sinestro, and then is the heart of the Black Lantern? If Harlequin/ Joker’s Daughter was such an aberration needed to be killed, wouldn’t A-M’s departure figure in as pretty big too? Is Blackest Night really a Crisis sequel considering that we know now that two heroes who have died during two Crises are confirmed as Black Lanterns?

Sorry, for all of this, but I’m pretty heavy into DC Continuity, and FC has confused me. The original Multiverse wasn’t confusing. The Legion reboots weren’t confusing. This is!

By: Loren

Loren — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:55:08 +0000

Whose hairy hands were handling the drawings (of Weeja Dell and the Nazi Superman) at the end of Final Crisis #5?

By: Loren

Loren — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:52:48 +0000

In Final Crisis #1, it’s said that Nix Uotan’s negligence is responsible for the loss of Earth 51, and Uotan responds that he “arrived too late to save Earth. There was sabotage, I swear.” A couple of pages later, Zillo Valla says “Ogama fears we have become contaminated during contact with the obscure lifeforms that grow within the workings of the orrery.”

In Final Crisis #7, Nix Uotan says “And here: the plan I used to reconstruct Earth 51, destroyed by Ogama’s treachery.”

I think these are the only references to “Ogama” or “Earth 51″ in Final Crisis, even though these details seem kinda important to Uotan’s plotline. So who is Ogama? What happened to Earth 51? What was Uotan’s supposed negligence? And what treachery of Ogama’s led to the destruction of Earth 51? And why should any of this make a lick of sense?

By: Amy Grayson

Amy Grayson — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:47:43 +0000

Thanks so much Brian for attempting to do this, it’s a shame that someone HAS to, and that it was so incoherent to so many, including me.

At the risk of repeating a question (I tried to read as many up there already), how were the Justifiers “recruited”? Were they “possessed” and then they just worked together? Was that Elasti-Girl or Giganta?

Overgirl, according to FC: Secret Files, was the first successful *experiment* using genetic material from Overman, but then is referenced as his cousin, making her seem more like an alternate Kara Zor-El than “Kon-El”. Which is it?

I never picked up Superman Beyond, I just thought I’d actually be able to know what was going on in the series itself, I guess I was wrong, but how did that “Legion of Supermen” happen, how was Earth-5 Captain Marvel recruited etc.

With regard to Countdown, I get the Monitors connection, and the anti-life thing, but was there supposed to be anything further with Harley and Holly? What happened with Pied Piper?

Did Barry Allen never actually die if he became part of the Speed Force, and either way, how is that explained anyway? I never understood how if Barry was “dead” but Wally and Family lived there and grew up, and the same with Bart?

Finally, and I don’t really expect an answer to this, but what is Morrison’s beef with the whole BDSM gear stuff … I mean why did he feel that gear should be attributed to all things evil? Darker than “the norm” I can understand, but it offends me if it’s put out as evil. Not to mention that Desaad was supposed to wear high heels under his robe, it’s like he’s saying cross dressers are deviant or just weird enough for Darkseid kind of thing.

Thanks for your time!!!!

By: Mike Loughlin

Mike Loughlin — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:20:18 +0000

Do you think Morrison left some of the minor plot points (e.g. what the Hawks and Atoms were up to) vague intentionally because part of the Final Crisis reading experience was that the reader creates his own version of the story to go with what’s on the page?

I’m not trying to excuse unclear storytelling, just thinking about how Morrison likes to experiment with comic books as a storytelling devices (not just stories themselves) and has done stories in which the reader interacts with the pages (e.g. Zatanna putting her hand out to the reader, Morrison addressing the audience in Animal Man). Having the reader draw his or her own conclusions may be a way to further immerse onesself a fictional universe.

By: Willie

Willie — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:36:43 +0000

At what point chronologically did Wonder Woman put the kids in freezer pops. Was that before or after she smashed her mask and bound darkseid…