Buy Pile Report: Final Crisis

The most important book of the month, both in quality needs and economic needs for DC, came out today in the form of Final Crisis #2.

As I said in the preview last night, the first issue of this event book not only did not take top spot on the sales charts for the month, but it was only really enjoyed by a minority of the fans. Some were unhappy the book did not adhere to recent continuity, leading to confusion, while others were unhappy the story was inaccessible to newbie readers.

Well, half of that quality problem is fixed here -- and it hits you out of the blue in this issue. Honestly, 17 pages into this issue, I started to wonder if this would be the worst story since "Amazons Attack," wondering if getting through the next five issues was going to be like grinding teeth.

And then, like a flash (no pun intended), the 18th page, 58th page of this series, will open your eyes wide. And, the 61st page will drop your jaw to the floor.

Morrison's master plans for this whole idea of the New Gods inhabiting human bodies really starts to take shape here too, which helps to draw you into the world of the story.

There are even a couple of nods to past continuity here, believe it or not. At one point, in a word bubble that seemed like it might have been added recently, Batman says "According to my sources, the Secret Society vowed revenge on J'onn after he impersonated Blockbuster recently," which is, of course, a reference to "Salvation Run." Later, we see a device in Bludhaven that looks very much like the device Desaad was playing with near the mid-point of "Countdown to Final Crisis." I could be wrong.

I am struggling not to give anything away, because I really think EVERYBODY should go and read this book, and pick up "Final Crisis #1" if you haven't already, because this second issue makes the first a lot more readable.

I only have one question that's starting to bubble in my head after reading, though, and it's due to one big-looking event that happens here... Is it possible the end of this book will see our heroes turn back time and prevent all this destruction from beginning?