"Final Crisis" is a 2008 American comics crossover storyline that ran in books published by DC Comics, consisting of a central, eponymous seven-issue miniseries written by Grant Morrison, and a number of other tie-in books. Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely by J. G. Jones; artists Carlos Pacheco, Marco Rudy and Doug Mahnke later provided art for the series.
The storyline directly follows DC Universe #0 after the conclusion of the 51-issue Countdown to Final Crisis weekly limited series. Promotion about the limited series describes its story as "the day evil won". The series deals with alien villain Darkseid's plot to overthrow reality, and the subsequent death and corruption of various DC characters and their universe.
Contents
Publication history
"Final Crisis" originated from several ideas Grant Morrison had when they returned to DC Comics in 2003. Morrison said, "I pitched a huge crossover event called Hypercrisis, which didn't happen for various reasons. Some of Hypercrisis went into Seven Soldiers, some went into All-Star Superman, some went into 52 and some of it found a home in 'Final Crisis'." According to Grant Morrison, work finally began on Final Crisis #1 in early 2006, with the intention of the series being a thematic and literal sequel to Seven Soldiers and 52, two projects that Morrison was heavily involved in at the time.
In a 2008 interview, Morrison stated that the common theme that unites their work on Batman, All-Star Superman, and Final Crisis, is "the death of western civilization." According to them, Final Crisis was "geared towards these feelings a lot of people had in the Western world after September 11. Danger all around, the world's not feeling stable, faith is lost. That happens in the DC Universe now on a bigger level. And then Darkseid comes in."
References to the "Infinite Crisis" storyline as the "middle Crisis" gave readers the impression there would be at least one additional major follow-up to "Crisis on Infinite Earths". A May 2007 teaser poster confirmed this speculation with the tagline: "Heroes die. Legends live forever."
"Final Crisis" was preceded by Countdown, a year-long weekly series which was meant as a follow-up to 52. Halfway through, the series was renamed Countdown to Final Crisis. However, the artwork met with delays. To keep the release on schedule, Countdown wrapped with issue #1 and its planned final issue (#0) was revamped as a 50 cent one-shot special called DC Universe #0. Besides hyping upcoming storylines such as "Batman R.I.P." and "Blackest Night," the issue was narrated by Barry Allen and featured Libra leading a group of super-villains in prayer for the "god of evil", Darkseid. The result is, as described by Morrison, that "we're watching him fall back through the present, into the past of Seven Soldiers where he finally comes to rest in the body of 'Boss Dark Side', the gangster from that story."
To help readers identify events pertinent to Final Crisis and other major DCU events as the crossover approached, a "Sightings" cover banner appeared on various DC comics as "signposts, marking important storybeats and moments throughout the DC Universe." The first such headers appeared on Justice League of America (vol. 2) #21 and Action Comics #866, respectively (the JLA issue featured Libra's return and his recruiting of the Human Flame).
The original intent was for Jones to pencil the whole series. Due to delays, however, Carlos Pacheco drew issues #4–6 with Jones and issue 7 was drawn entirely by Doug Mahnke. Jones said that "Any problems completing the series are my own. I love Doug Mahnke's art, and he would have probably been a better choice to draw this series in the first place."
In addition to the core limited series the larger storyline includes a number of tie-ins, including one-shots and limited series.
The one-shots comprise "Requiem," "Resist," "Secret Files" and "Submit". Also "Rage of the Red Lanterns" is the start of a storyline of the same name, that picks up on events in "Green Lantern: Secret Origin" and continues in Green Lantern #36–38. It starts as a tie-in because, according to writer Geoff Johns, "events in Final Crisis have motivated the Guardians to proceed further with their attempted containment of the light".
The limited series comprise Superman Beyond (a two issue mini-series also written by Grant Morrison), Legion of 3 Worlds (a five-issue limited series focusing on the different incarnations of the Legion of Super-Heroes), Revelations (a five-issue limited series), and Rogues' Revenge (a three-issue mini-series focused on the Flash Rogues).
Plot
Following the final battle of the New Gods, Darkseid's spirit tumbles through time itself, coming to rest on Earth, where he, along with the spirits of the other evil gods of Apokolips, manifests himself in the body of a human being. Darkseid's "fall" has sundered reality, creating a singularity at the heart of creation, into which all of space and time are slowly being drawn, setting the stage for the evil god's final victory, to be claimed in his inevitable death. Through his agent Libra, he arranges for a huge army of super villains to be gathered, who capture and kill Martian Manhunter as the opening salvo of the conflict. Coinciding with the Manhunter's death is the arrival on Earth of Nix Uotan, an exiled member of the cosmic Monitors, who has been sentenced to become human as punishment for failure in his duties.
Following the trail of a group of missing child prodigies, detective Dan Turpin discovers the dying body of Darkseid's son, Orion. The Justice League of America liaise with the Green Lantern Corps to investigate the murder, deducing the cause of death to be a bullet of Radion (a substance toxic to New Gods) fired backward through time from the future. New God Granny Goodness, possessing the body of Green Lantern Kraken, stymies the investigation by framing Hal Jordan for the murder; when Batman deduces her true identity, she captures him and teleports him to Command D, a government bio-chemical weapons facility beneath the city of Blüdhaven that has fallen under the control of Darkseid's minions. Slowly becoming aware of the threat the evil gods pose, Alan Scott enacts "Article X", a superhero draft that readies Earth's metahuman forces for the coming war.
With Batman and Jordan removed from play, the New Gods continue to eliminate the greatest threats to Darkseid's plan. Wonder Woman, while investigating Bludhaven, is infected by the Morticoccus bacterium by a DeSaad-possessed Mary Marvel. Superman departs for the future to obtain a cure for Lois Lane after a bomb in the Daily Planet building mortally wounds her. The Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen, is resurrected from within the Speed Force by powers unknown and races back in time alongside Wally West in an attempt to outrun the Black Racer and stop the bullet that will kill Orion.
Turpin's search for the missing children leads him to the Dark Side Club, where he is confronted by Darkseid's human host, Boss Dark Side. Darkseid transfers his essence into Turpin's body and brings him to Command D, where the detective is subjected to bio-genetic restructuring to transform his body into a replica of Darkseid's original form. Concurrently, Darkseid's agents release the Anti-Life Equation through all of Earth's communications networks, spreading it across the entire planet. The two Flashes, having failed to prevent Orion's death, emerge from the time stream one month after the equation's release and discover that the minds of nearly the entire population have fallen under Darkseid's control, with its super-human victims having been transformed into a military force of "Justifiers".
Format
The first issue of Final Crisis went on sale May 28, 2008. Final Crisis was seven oversized issues released over nine months starting in May 2008. Morrison explained that the sequence of stories in the main series and tie-ins is Final Crisis #1–3, Superman Beyond #1–2, Final Crisis: Submit, Final Crisis #4–5, Batman #682–683, and finally Final Crisis #6–7.
Tie-ins
Several one-shots and mini-series were released as tie-ins to Final Crisis; three series ran in parallel to the main one and the one-shot, DC Universe: Last Will and Testament, was planned to fit in the "break" between Final Crisis #3 and #4.
Morrison, who wrote one of the "final" Batman stories in "Batman R.I.P.," stated, "First it's R.I.P., and we'll see how that winds up for Batman. Then the two-parter mentioned (Batman #682–683) goes through Batman's whole career, in a big summing up of everything that also ties directly into Final Crisis. And Final Crisis is where we see the final fate of Batman."
While not an official tie-in, the Terror Titans mini-series takes place during the events of Final Crisis and deals with the Dark Side Club and the Anti-Life Equation.
Batman #682–683, #701–702
DC Universe #0
DC Universe: Last Will and Testament
Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #1–5
Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns (one-shot)
Final Crisis: Requiem (one-shot)
Final Crisis: Resist (one-shot)
Final Crisis: Revelations #1–5
Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #1–3
Final Crisis: Secret Files (one-shot)
Final Crisis: Sketchbook (one-shot)
Final Crisis: Submit (one-shot)
Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1–2
Aftermath
In a move Dan DiDio described as "inspirationally tied to Final Crisis," in early 2009, the villains took over the main DC Universe titles and some were featured in "Faces of Evil," a series of one-shots, all designed to examine the question "What happens when evil wins?"
Four Final Crisis Aftermath six-issue limited series were announced at New York Comic Con 2009:
Final Crisis Aftermath: Run! #1–6 featuring the Human Flame, written by Lilah Sturges, with art by Freddie Williams
Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance #1–6 featuring the Super Young Team, written by Joe Casey, with art by ChrisCross
Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape #1–6 featuring Nemesis, written by Ivan Brandon, with art by Marco Rudy
Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink #1–6 featuring the Tattooed Man, written by Eric Wallace, with art by Fabrizio Fiorentino
The Flash: Rebirth #1–6, written by Geoff Johns with art from Ethan Van Sciver, addresses Barry Allen's return in Final Crisis.
Battle for the Cowl #1–3, written and drawn by Tony Daniel deals with the aftermath of the apparent death of Batman and the selection of his successor.
When Worlds Collide, a storyline serialized in the Justice League of America #27–28 and 30–34 and written by Dwayne McDuffie with art from Ed Benes, Rags Morales, and Eddy Barrows, deals with the arrival of the Milestone Media characters on New Earth as a result of Final Crisis.
The Red Circle event written by J. Michael Straczynski deals with the characters of Red Circle Comics, who arrived on New Earth following Final Crisis. One-shots were released for The Hangman, The Inferno, The Shield, and The Web.
Connections to previous titles
In the 1997–1998 JLA story arc "Rock of Ages" a future where Darkseid had enslaved the human race using the Anti-Life Equation was shown. This story arc resembles some similarities to events shown in Final Crisis and was also written by Grant Morrison.
In other media
Elements of "Final Crisis" were incorporated into the 2020 animated film Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.