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So I’ve been reading Final Crisis and some of it’s tie-ins, in an effort to have a better understanding of the modern comic book scene. All I can say is… wow. Morrison is really going all out, and so are the other writers. Three issues in on the main book and this is already astoundingly better than Infinite Crisis. There’s a certain kind of emotional impact that the previous Crisis lacked, and that this one seems to capture perfectly.

Some of the tie-ins are pretty great, too. They don’t have the same feel, but the writers definitely know what they’re doing. This Crisis is… darker. The overall theme has been “The Day Evil Wins” and you really get that feel. It’s impressive, really, the lengths everything is going to tie it all together. One of the biggest problems with an event like a Crisis, or something similar, is that there’s always umpteen-million tie-ins for people to follow. You have the tie-ins on the main comics, the named tie-ins (like the one-shot Final Crisis: Requiem) and sometimes just the passing-by tie-ins like all of the “Hey, the sky is turning red” comics from Crisis on Infinite Earths.

I’m still not sure what a lot of the things are in some of these books, because it’s been so long since I’ve read a current comic book. I don’t know who these Alpha Lanterns are, but I get an idea.

And they really brought Barry Allen back. I’m still not sure how I feel about that. It was done well enough. I don’t think, really, that it could have been done better. DC Universe #0 was a beautiful comic, and the subsequent re-introduction of the character in Final Crisis #2 was also perfect.

I’m actually optimistic about this Crisis. But maybe I’m a little crazy.

On that note, I want to talk a little bit about the tie-in Final Crisis: Requiem. In Final Crisis #1, something rather interesting happened; The Martian Manhunter was killed. I’m not well-versed in that character, because he’s a bit harder to come across. I’ve only seen him in the Justice League books, and the occasional cameo in related titles, but I’ve not read his solo books. And this is despite being a huge fan of John Ostrander. My point to this ramble was that I can’t be sure, but I’m fairly certain that this is actually J’onn’s first death in the modern canon, if not the entirety of the books. If this website were more popular, I’m sure I could get someone to correct me, but I don’t know if I have that luxury.

Requiem was a great one-shot in that it was the perfect way to honor the fallen hero. J’onn, especially lately, has been kind of out of the spotlight of the comics I read before I got so lagged behind in reading everything else– after all, he wasn’t even in the most recent incarnation of the JLA, despite being a cornerstone member since the very beginning. He was even in the ridiculous Justice League International books that DeMatteis and the other fellow wrote. It’s a funny book, though, JLI.

Anyway. I thought Requiem was tastefully done, and you don’t get that a lot anymore in comic books. Deaths happen so regularly, and resurrections just as much, that deaths seem to be taken for granted. I mean, shit, Barry is back. I hope they bring J’onn back, I really do. He was a good character.

Now I want to talk a little bit about Countdown to Mystery and the first issue of Final Crisis: Revelation. These are two series that deal primarily with The Spectre, though Countdown to Mystery dealt with The Spectre, Eclipso, and Doctor Fate. So there’s that. Anyway. One of the things that has bothered me about Crispus Allen being the new Spectre is how they seem to be treating him completely different from the previous Spectres. I understand that this is a new age of magic, and, as such, there are things that have changed. But, for some reason, they decided to make Crispus completely intangible, just a ghost who is attached to the Spectre entity until such a time that he would be needed, then he’d be visible as The Spectre With A Cool Goatee.

Crispus is also the only one who’s gone through a lot of hardships by comparison. Corrigan was simply killed, and was pissed off. Hal Jordan sought redemption for his time as Parallax, and that was then retconned into the Spectre Entity bonding with him to burn out Parallax. Crispus on the other hand, was killed, subsequently used without consent by The Spectre during 52, and had to kill his own son in Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre. Really, Crispus has gone through a lot of shit in the three short years he’s been The Spectre.

Countdown To Mystery dealt mostly with the corruption of various characters by Eclipso, and The Spectre’s attempt to kind of fend off as much damage as he could. One of the great things about this mini-series was, for the first time since his death, Crispus could actually affect his surroundings on a constant basis. He was actually a tangible entity, though he was dead. They didn’t keep this, which I thought was pretty shitty, though. Crispus has more than earned his keep as The Spectre, and the writers should just go ahead and ease up on the intangible thing, because it really limits the stories.

I’m done with that.

Revelation is an interesting story. In it, The Spectre kills the villains Doctor Light and Effigy, who are partially responsible for the death of J’onn at the hands of a fellow named Libra. We also learn that The Spectre can’t actually cast judgment on Libra for some kind of obscure reason that doesn’t really make sense, but I’m not going to bother thinking about it because I figure something will change within this mini-series, or after it.

It’s really quite surprising that Doctor Light was killed. But the manner Effigy and Light were killed reminded me of the more relevant and less sarcastic murders of the Bronze Age and I thought that was a nice touch.

Crispus, for the most part, is having some trouble accepting his role as The Spectre. He points out, consistently, that he hates himself and what he’s become. He even goes so far as to try to deny what he’s become. But the first issue ends with him having to go after Renee Montoya, who is the new Question. I’m really curious to see where that’s going to go. A little apprehensive, but I think with Allen’s current state of disappointment and minor rebellion, we won’t lose Montoya.

Not yet at least.

Here’s hoping the next issues keep me interested.