#Final Crisis

[bats-cats-and-batmobiles]

[cantsayidont]

September 2010. As Bruce contemplates his very narrow escape from the Black Glove in BATMAN #701, he fields a call from Superman, who is always operating on a completely different wavelength. Morrison's observation here about Batman's relationship with his costumed colleagues isn't exactly new — witness the well-known scene in JUSTICE LEAGUE: TAS where he plunges from the sky while laconically reminding his comrades over the radio that he can't fly, at all — but it is succinct. The central theme of the "Batman: R.I.P." story of which this is part, and really Morrison's key insight into Batman as a character, is that being Batman is part of Bruce Wayne's determination to always control the narrative, no matter what. This brief scene is a reminder that however much love or respect Bruce may have for Clark, Superman's mere presence makes that control very difficult, because Superman by his very nature exists in a world of alien visitors, cosmic crises, and evil gods.

In the late '80s and throughout the '90s, it became very de mode to insist that Batman had a sort of Luthorian dread of super-people and was never more than one or two steps away from plotting their extermination, but Morrison's take is simpler than that: The core issue for Bruce is not necessarily that he mistrusts people with superhuman powers, but that when he's around them, they expect him to be a superhero, and not just a costumed mystery-man with a head full of esoteric knowledge and a belt full of Bat-gimmicks. It's true, too — I'm reminded of WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #278, back in 1982, where Katar Hol decides it's time for some regime change on his home planet Thanagar and recruits Superman and Batman to help him. What's most striking about the story is that neither Katar nor Superman even bothers to ask if Bruce might need to stop by the cave to pick up anything before they fly off to invade an alien world 400 light years away. They just expect him to roll with it, because after all, he's Batman, isn't he?

[fastestmanalive333]

Crazy how many Flash fans dont know Barry essentially had an adopted son through Iris that got brutally murdered in Final Crisis and wiped from existence before he got to even meet him (talking about Josh Jackam)

[aenxiome]

New chapter just dropped

[danthepest]

You have no idea just how much I love the pre-Flashpoint Catman and the Secret Six. All these attempts to make the Suicide Squad seem like found family and shit? That's them.

Catman went from a bored rich dude to a joke, to a washed up, out-of-shape nobody who got ridiculed by Green Arrow and Arsenal. And then he goes to Africa to take control of his life, to better himself.

When the villain community was being coerced, threatened or manipulated into joining the Secret Society, Catman said no. To the faces of Talia and Dr. Psycho. When they started threatening him, he tells them he doesn't care and to fuck off. Talia is reminded of Batman and Dr. Psycho holds a grudge against the man for a good long while.

He's then approached by Scandal Savage and Deadshot to join them because they also refused the Society's offer. He does. And they manage to resist the Society's torture and hold them off long enough for the attack on the Six to be called off.

His bromance with Deadshot, budding romance with Huntress (being the Catwoman to her Batman), fighting Batman to a standstill with the two showing each other respect, the interactions with the rest of the Six, Scandal's relationship with a stripper who has a heart of gold, Bane going a date with one of the stripper's friends, Deadshot shooting Waller and telling her where to stick it when she tries to force him to come back to work for her, Bane trying to be a father figure to Scandal, Ragdoll III trying to lift everyone's spirits while dealing with his own loneliness, the motherly nature of Jeanette when dealing with her teammates, Scandal & Catman trying to be the moral anchors of the group etc. I adore this shit so much.

There's an issue where Deadshot meets with a reverend when he feels he's losing controls of his homicidal urges. Talks about his family, his first meeting with the Bat, why he can't kill him, the root of his urges etc.

When they go to Hell (no, really, they do), Catman asks Etrigan to show him his father and we learn the messed up childhood he had and Catman is at peace when he sees that his dad is being punished and when Etrigan reveals why his mother got the fate she did in the afterlife.

They fought the Society, Vandal Savage, Wonder Woman, slavers, the Birds of Prey, entire swathes of villains, the Doom Patrol, went to defend Gotham after Batman died in Final Crisis, fought Amanda Waller and her Suicide Squad, went to Hell and more or less came out on top before going out in a blaze of glory against almost the entire hero community. They would both kill each other and die for each other.

Seriously, go read the "Villains United" and the "Secret Six" titles.

[the-antiapocalyptic-man]

Michael Desai, Boss Dark Side of Club Apocalypse, and his enforcer, Kalibak the Tiger-Man

[vertigoartgore]

2009's Batman and Robin Vol.1 #1 cover by Frank Quitely and Alex Sinclair (original pencils, sketch variant, 1st printing & 2nd printing).

[thevindicativevordan]

Someone floated the question of who besides Darkseid would have been a good choice to kick off the Absolute Universe. After thinking about it for a couple minutes the answer is so obvious I'm now mad they didn't pick him: Mandrakk.

Snyder talked up how he wanted Darkseid to act as a stand-in for the people proclaiming the death of the superhero. Darkseid was advertised as "evolving" into something new and different, the Omega, who would bring an end to the very concept of the superhero. But Mandrakk is already exactly that! He's the Dark Monitor, the Destroyer of Stories, whose fight with the the Superman Thought Robot was literally the platonic concept of the superhero fighting against it's own ending! Oh and get this: what does Nix Uotan call him?

The Absolute Enemy! Destroyed by the usage of the Miracle Machine and a multiversal team-up! Mandrakk would have been perfect for this Absolute Universe, he was created by the Monitors getting infected by the stories they obsessed over, now he would have turning the tables and infecting the stories with his own essence, using the very machine which destroyed him to ensure his triumph. If I have one big criticism over using Darkseid it's that he rejects the idea of leading an army to destroy Earth 0 in favor of... leading a legion to destroy Earth 0. Nothing has really changed despite all the blabbing from Snyder about Darkseid evolving. I'm excited still for the individual Absolute books, but the Darkseid Myth arc I'm not that enthused for. For all his Morrison and Hickman fanboyism, Snyder doesn't have the big ideas to enrichen the big bombastic storytelling he wants to do.

[balu8]

Final Crisis #3

by Grant Morrison: JG Jones, Alex Sinclair and Rob Leigh

DC

[all-0f-the-above]

J'onn's head shape changes throughout the historical group photos of the jl in the background of several panels during final crisis: requiem- he trusts this team, he loves this planet, and slowly takes on a more martian form. his subconscious comfort around them physically manifests as his body allowing itself to take a martian shape (all IDs in alt text)

SPOILERS FOR FINAL CRISIS: REQUIEM

he was like a grandfather or a father to some of them, a mentor to many, and a friend to all. the fact that Nightwing finds him dead is so powerful because, in this continuity, Dick has known J'onn since his time as Robin. Dick is frequently at the beginning of modern heroes (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman) in DC, so him being the one who finds J'onn feels very full-circle

the usage of "Martian Manhunter" vs "J'onn" is of note as well. when the Secret Society is fighting him, they only refer to him as Martian Manhunter, while every single hero calls him J'onn

the day after J'onn died, a telepathic link is activated in the minds of Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Hal Jordan, Cynthia Reynolds, and Dinah Lance that causes them to record and recite J'onn's history of Mars. not only did he trust them to accept his martian form, he entrusted them with his account of his almost dead civilization. and they not only keep that promise by combining their part of the account into a book, but they also bury him on Mars so he could be reunited with his home at last

Superman being the orator at the funeral becomes even more fitting when J'onn recounts meeting a young Clark Kent in Smallville. they share not only a history, but a burden: as some of the last members of their civilizations, aliens on Earth, and heroes, J'onn frequently lent an ear to Clark's troubles

Batman is not known for his displays of affection, but the end of the comic makes clear that Bruce will miss him. with his cowl off, he leaves a single choco (the DC's version of oreos) on J'onn's casket and calls him an old friend before leaving back to Earth

J'onn's steady presence in the league is so important to their ability to come together, not just as an organization, but as a community. it is not the same without him

[evilhorse]

That is not at all how the Final Crisis ended. You left out all the singing.

(Wonder Woman #6)

[wwprice1]

Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds is such a good read!

[catastrophicalcat]

So I'm reading Knightfall for the first time, and I did not expect these panels. Bruce wanted to retire? And have a normal life? And Tim is against it?

Man, poor Tim. I wonder if he thinks about this moment every time something horrible happens to Bruce when he becomes Batman again and blames himself for not saying "go, please go!". Kind of helps contextualize his quest to find Bruce after everyone thought he died in Final Crisis.

And wow, poor Bruce. "Join the human race." Where were you before and where were you after, buddy?

[nitewrighter]

What’s your pettiest DC opinion? Like, a little detail that arguably Doesn’t Really Matter in the grand scheme of things story wise but seeing it or not seeing it still annoys you? (Mine is Jim Gordon’s wife AND daughter both being named Barbara. No. There is one Barbara Gordon don’t do this to me.)

I mean I guess he and Barbara are just kind of weirdoes like that because their firstborn is also named... James...

But I dunno how good a gauge I have on how petty my DC opinions are--like there's fandom complaints (AKA "Clark having his DNA stolen when he was fucking dead doesn't automatically make him obligated to be a father figure to a clone that was literally designed to co-opt and profit off of his image, you weirdos") and then there's writing complaints ("What the hell was Final Crisis's actual goal with Mary Marvel--like how is this a character arc if she's like at least 40% possessed the entire time--is this some kind of weird extended metaphor for superpowers as addiction--why are there so many upskirt shots") I think a lot of the writing complaints can be shrugged off just by virtue of the naturally nebulous and writer-dependent nature of comics, y'know, "If you don't like it, you can find another run."

I guess... this isn't really 'petty' per se, but I feel like when it comes to their Elseworlds and Multiverse stuff, DC's kind of put itself into a hole where, like, because Elseworlds isn't the canonical universe, they feel this need to take things in as dark and shocking directions as possible and honestly that's gotten really tired and redundant. Dark Nights Metal, Tales from the Dark Multiverse, DC vs Vampires--like, if you look back at older Elseworlds titles, sure, you had some dark, high-body-count, end of the world stuff (Like Distant Fires---BOOO DISTANT FIRES, BOOOO WE HATE YOUR PUSSY), but for the most part a lot of the Elseworlds titles were about exploring how major setting changes and role swaps and shifts in characters' lives and development could affect familiar and well-known DC stories (Like Superman Inc and JLA: The Nail--YAAAAY SUPERMAN INC AND JLA: THE NAIL YAAAY WE LOVE YOUR PUSSY). I haven't read Dark Knights of Steel yet, but that one seems like a refreshing pump on the brakes from all the grimdark shit. But anyway, yeah--basically the assumption of, "If we're going to make this Elseworlds story memorable, we have to kill off SO MANY beloved characters"--like after a while it starts to feel like a child throwing a tantrum and kicking his toys around rather than telling a story.

Also bruh how many times are you going to kill off Martian Manhunter I mean REALLY. LEAVE HIM ALONE. JUST LET HIM HAVE HIS CHOCO COOKIES AND STOP SETTING HIM ON FIRE. BRO WHAT DID HE DO.

[aenxiome]

Hey, I’m trying to write a fic and there’s something I’m not sure of and I don’t have access to the comics.

How long was Batman stuck in time? I know how it happened, Darkseid, final crisis, and I know Tim had something to do with getting him back, but how long was he gone?

From what I’ve researched it couldn’t have been too long, afew months to a year at most, Dick was filling in for a bit, but I can’t narrow it down more than that.

Does anyone have a better timeline?

[heyitstaytay21]

Chapter 50 of The Ghosts of The Gotham Opera House is now out 🙃

Introducing Peter-vision for all your trauma needs.

Spoilers below