COL, Dave. [Chuckles out loud.]

And Brian, if you keep reporting the sad sorry facts like this, you're going to turn me into a horrible cynic. I'd like to think that, some day, we readers will once again get to enjoy an event that plays out without any bait-and-switch moves. But the last time I can recall that happening was DC 1,000,000. And that was, what, 10 or 12 years ago?!?

Mostly I got that out of “Final Crisis” … Its biggest flaw is the bizarre dovetailing of “Batman RIP” with “F.C.,” and who’s to say if that was strictly Morrison’s doing or if DC mucked that up.

Morrison has explained that that was, indeed, DC's decision.

Basically, every idea Morrison had (and apparently, the same is going for Johns) was treated with, "Hmmm...that's a good idea. But how can we turn that into a crossover?"

Brian, I imagine that your list is accurate. But most of it deals with the dreaded "Countdown," which anyone could see was a train wreck after just one or two issues. I read the first one in the comic shop, put it back on the shelf, and that was that. (If I'd started to hear great things about it, I might've given it another chance ... but of course that didn't happen. And having just followed, and enjoyed, one weekly series in "52," I had no particular desire to track another.)

So for me, "Final Crisis" began with "F.C." #1. I bought all seven issues and all Morrison-penned extra chapters ("Superman Beyond," plus "Submit" and "Resist" — i actually don't remember which ones he wrote; I enjoyed them both. Oh, and I bought "Requiem," because I like J'onn, and found it to be a fine memorial/send-off.) So when I say that they didn't screw up "F.C." much, I mean that from the perspective of a selective buyer who had the good sense to pick and choose what he purchased. To an outsider, sure, it was a complete train wreck, unreadable to those who don't know DC lore and especially impenetrable to anyone who didn't know enough to buy all Morrison add-ons. But considering that DC doesn't publish anything these days for the uninitiated (except their Johnny DC titles for young kids), I figure (perhaps incorrectly) that most people have the good sense to approach ANY event with similar discretion.

Also, I couldn't care less if Hawkman or Aquaman are alive or dead at the end. Nobody ever stays dead in comics anyway. Morrison has a special way of messing with the status quo (New X-Men and Magneto, anyone?) that the companies will just ignore as soon as he's gone. And aren't we all used to him introducing great characters and concepts (the UltraMarines, the Seven Soldiers, etc.) that just get ignored? So really, all I was looking for was a good story and excellent art. Mostly I got that out of "Final Crisis" ... Its biggest flaw is the bizarre dovetailing of "Batman RIP" with "F.C.," and who's to say if that was strictly Morrison's doing or if DC mucked that up.

Of course, as Dread Lord and Master at CSBG, you should absolutely hold DC's feet to the fire about all their dumb scheduling choices and editorial interference. But for me — in the wake of "Infinite Crisis" and "Civil War" in particular (both of which contained major plot points in other books) — I'm not surprised anymore when events run off the rails, and I guess I've mostly gone beyond caring. If an event isn't done by creators I really enjoy, then I'm skipping it — and if I do decide to plug in, I'm going to be very selective about it. The completist mentality just leads to an empty wallet and head full of woe over dopey things like "Countdown." (Which I hope you didn't shell out any money for, either.)

For serious?

DC threw a TON of screw-ups at Final Crisis.

Like, say, “I want to write a stand-alone mini-series” “No, it is going to be the company-wide crossover, and in fact, can we have a year-long series leading into it?”
“Okay, I guess - here are a couple of plot points you can use.” “Gotcha, but we’re going to avoid pretty much all the plot points you asked for and, in fact, actually have plot points that specifically CONTRADICT your plot points.”
“Can we have the New Gods not show up for awhile?” “Okay, how about a mini-series starring them leading directly into your series but not actually based on your series?”
“I don’t want to tie into anything” “Here are a bunch of tie-ins!”
“I want 12 issues” “You can have seven!”
“Okay, can I do seven and then just continue the story in other books?” “Sure, that won’t cause any problems at all!”
“I’m killing off Hawkman and Hawkgirl” “Okay!” “Wait, did we say okay? Never mind.”
“I’m introducing a new Aquaman.” “Okay!” “Wait, did we say okay? Never mind.”

And then the criticisms come about:

- A year’s worth of Countdown stories were sold to fans as “important parts of the story” then revealed to be utterly pointless
- Final Crisis itself wasn’t a standard crossover
-The series didn’t tie into other books
- Superman Beyond was a vital part of the story yet not published as part of the series.

All of those criticisms came about due to DC pushing things on Morrison that he did not want.

I agree, DC's editorial decisions and Morrison's storytelling decisions definitely deserve to share the blame together for the problems with Final Crisis. DC editorial definitely shouldn't be let off the hook.

Whatever my complaints about the execrable execution of most of them, Marvel's crossovers of late have at least tried to start with distinctive core ideas. It's the difference, I guess, between making the story about the smarmy cynicism of the publishing plan (DC) or giving the story it's very own special brand of smarmy cynicism (Marvel).

(And then there's the fact that what started out as an awesome intergalactic action event with an ensemble cast devolved into a boring earth-based "Hal Jordan is the best superhero ever!" wankathon by the end, but that's to be expected in any Geoff Johns Green Lantern storyline.)

Btw, I don’t think DC did much to screw up “Final Crisis.”

For serious?

DC threw a TON of screw-ups at Final Crisis.

Like, say, "I want to write a stand-alone mini-series" "No, it is going to be the company-wide crossover, and in fact, can we have a year-long series leading into it?"
"Okay, I guess - here are a couple of plot points you can use." "Gotcha, but we're going to avoid pretty much all the plot points you asked for and, in fact, actually have plot points that specifically CONTRADICT your plot points."
"Can we have the New Gods not show up for awhile?" "Okay, how about a mini-series starring them leading directly into your series but not actually based on your series?"
"I don't want to tie into anything" "Here are a bunch of tie-ins!"
"I want 12 issues" "You can have seven!"
"Okay, can I do seven and then just continue the story in other books?" "Sure, that won't cause any problems at all!"
"I'm killing off Hawkman and Hawkgirl" "Okay!" "Wait, did we say okay? Never mind."
"I'm introducing a new Aquaman." "Okay!" "Wait, did we say okay? Never mind."

And then the criticisms come about:

- A year's worth of Countdown stories were sold to fans as "important parts of the story" then revealed to be utterly pointless
- Final Crisis itself wasn't a standard crossover
-The series didn't tie into other books
- Superman Beyond was a vital part of the story yet not published as part of the series.

All of those criticisms came about due to DC pushing things on Morrison that he did not want.

That depends on whether you consider "52" an event. (I don't — it was a comic with a gimmick, to be sure, but a great gimmick. and i really enjoyed "52" consistently.) DC did right by that because they kept it small. At the end, trying to cash in on the hit it had become, Didio & Co. added those four "WW3" one-shots, but they were completely extraneous (i didn't buy nor read them, and i enjoyed the main series just fine). They also kept "Sinestro Corps War" small. So we'll see what comes of "Blackest Night." I'll be picking up the main mini-series of that and the two GL comics and probably ignoring all the rest of the tie-ins.

Btw, I don't think DC did much to screw up "Final Crisis." Any struggles anyone had with it pretty much belong to Morrison's storytelling choices. And they kept the rest of their books out of they way, which was fine by me.

I'll order the trades (whatever collects Palo's work, at least) after I change up my pull list next week, I think.

Stop enabling Marvel & Land, Greg.

Stop.

It.

NOW.

At this point, I'm a little concerned that DC is going to ruin Blackest Night by making it too much of an event ... but I enjoyed Sinestro Corps War so I'm hopeful. Right now the GL books are two of only three ongoing titles from DC that I'm buying. (The other being Secret Six.) You oughtta at least page through GL Corps when you're at the shop next, Greg.

joshschr: The cosplayer does say he's going to throw away his blade, but you're right - he says it while on bended knee, and then in the next panel it's flying over the wall. It would have been much clearer if we'd seen a long shot of him chucking it.