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First off, I'd like to thank Chris and Juan for doing these guest episodes. Both of them enjoyed Final Crisis and found it a lot more understandable than Bob and I did. Hopefully these two can clarify the sometimes confusing narrative.

Okay, on to Final Crisis #1...

Sure, maybe the sliver cover was foreshadowing the ending othe series. I'll grant you that. But does that mean that all of the sliver covers have similar meaning?

While the series does start with Anthro, I don't think he is ever named in the series. So, either you know that or you don't. This is one of the many things that makes the seires less accessible than is could be.

When did Metron get this new look? He didn't have it in Seven Soliders: Mister Miracle. Or in Death of the New Gods. Or Countdown to Final Crisis. This implies that he might be the Metron of the Fifth World (and not the old Metron of the Fourth World New Gods).

When Metron gives Antro "knowledge" it appears that Anthro is teleported. Prior to that he was at the top of a bunch of rocks. (We had nearly a complete 360 view over hte past few pages with virtually nothing but the rock from the first page and two page splash being taller than Anthro. Suddenly he is at the bottom of a large hill of rocks with fire. The large body of water from the previous few pages is also nowhere to be seen. An alternate reading of the scene is that Metron transported him from on Earth to another, giving Anthro knowledge of the multiverse.

Vandal Savage is another character that either you know or don't.

So Anthro was the first arsonist?

I compeltely missed the ax wound in the Vandal Savage scene. Good catch. This a great example of Morrison implying story element versus showing them. He has a *lot* more happening in the gutters than the average comic book storyteller. In my opinion, a bit too much is happening there at times.

What is so important about those missing kids? Everybody was looking for them (Dan Turpin, Questoin, Lois Lane, etc).

It seems odd for a former Metropolis police officer like Dan Turpin to abandon a crime scene the way he did.

It also seems odd that John Stewart hasn't heard of a 101 since New Gods have been gettign killed off on Earth for a while now. John also seems relucant to do anything until Hal gets there. Why? John is a full fledged member of the Green Lantern Corps just like Hal is.

I find it interesting that the Dark Side Club is at the heart of this series yet there is never any mention beyond the first scene with Turpin and Question about the metagene fight club being run by the Dark Side Club.

What? No mention of the scar on Hal's face? This is the only scene it is in and is the big clue for the reveal in a few issues during Hal's trial on Oa.

The dialogue from the Guardians sounded like a bad police procedural television show tweaked to make it sound sci-fi. And planets have multiple LaGrange points. Any why is Orion's death so important? Again, New Gods have been dropping like flies. Orion is the last one to go. Didn't they know about the others? Or did they simply not care? Are the Guardians acknowledging that Orion was an actual god and a superior being to them?

How did Metron's chair get in the dump?

Empress was a member of Young Justice. She was also in the recent Wonder Girl miniseries. Prior to this seires she didn't have visions like the one she described here.

Sparx was one of the New Blood characters and later was a member of the Ravers that Superboy (Connor Kent) hung out with in Superboy and the Ravers. She is mentioned in Teen Titans #66 as someone to possibly recruit so presumably she survived the events here.

Mas Y Menos originated in the Teen Titans cartoon and were later established to have been memebers of the Teen Titans during 52. Presumably they survive these events also.

Talia and Human Flame were also in the Secret Society meeting.

Why did Luthor and the other allow Human Flame to record (and broadcast?) the events of the meeting? They are in the "heart of Flash territory" so it seems like a live broadcast of these events might be a bad idea.

Martian Manhunter's death seemed a bit out of the blue. A quick page page death. When I first read the issue, I didn't take this scene as the killing of the Martian Manhunter. It wasn't until the end of the issue that it was clear that he was killed here.

Why is Tattooed Man talking with Turpin?

Bludhaven was destroyed when the Secret Society dropped Chemo on it early in Infinite Crisis.

Turpin is a private eye now, not a police officer. He has no officier jurisdiction.

Red Tornado, Hawkgirl and Vixen are current members of the Justice League. Firestorm was recently drafted into the Justice League by Batman after the recent battle against the Injustice League. It makes perfect sense for them to be at this meeting. What doesn't makes sense is the absence of Hal Jordan.

A couple of New Gods have been members of the Justice League, including Orion.

Universe 51 was destroyed in Countdown, rebuilt in Countdown and the location of the Great Disaster in Countdown.

Is the Monitor really breakign the fourth wall? Or is he communicating with an accomplice via some sort of wrist communicator? If he is breakign the fourth wall, why here? Why now? Why doesn't he do so again?

Kamandi is also not named in the series.

The reason Anthro didn't understand Kamandi is because Morrison has established in the earlier scenes that Anthro's people don't have language yet. Not that all of the word balloons for Anthro, Vandal Savage and their people are punctuation marks, presumably denoting grunts of various types.

Juan asked some great questions about the Anthro/Kamandi scene. I'd like to see more of these kind of tough questions addressed.

I'm looking forward to the episodes on the other parts of Final Crisis.

Sure, maybe the sliver cover was foreshadowing the ending othe series. I'll grant you that. But does that mean that all of the sliver covers have similar meaning?

No. Off the top of my head, 1 and 2 have the most significance. Some are rather generic, like #3 which is an Anti-Life Wonder Woman. There's an inconsistency there.

While the series does start with Anthro, I don't think he is ever named in the series. So, either you know that or you don't. This is one of the many things that makes the seires less accessible than is could be.

A valid point.

When did Metron get this new look? He didn't have it in Seven Soliders: Mister Miracle. Or in Death of the New Gods. Or Countdown to Final Crisis. This implies that he might be the Metron of the Fifth World (and not the old Metron of the Fourth World New Gods).

Since he appears with that look later with Nix Uoatn, I think it's most likely he is the Fifth World Metron.

When Metron gives Antro "knowledge" it appears that Anthro is teleported. Prior to that he was at the top of a bunch of rocks. (We had nearly a complete 360 view over hte past few pages with virtually nothing but the rock from the first page and two page splash being taller than Anthro. Suddenly he is at the bottom of a large hill of rocks with fire. The large body of water from the previous few pages is also nowhere to be seen. An alternate reading of the scene is that Metron transported him from on Earth to another, giving Anthro knowledge of the multiverse.

It's possible he could have been transfered to another Earth, especially after the Batman epilogue to #7.

Vandal Savage is another character that either you know or don't.

I'm pretty sure he was named in the Secret Society scene, but I'm not 100% sure.

So Anthro was the first arsonist?

Or the first super-hero.

I compeltely missed the ax wound in the Vandal Savage scene. Good catch. This a great example of Morrison implying story element versus showing them. He has a *lot* more happening in the gutters than the average comic book storyteller. In my opinion, a bit too much is happening there at times.

I'll likely agree with you in other cases, but I have to disagree with you here. I don't know how you can blame Morrison for telling too much story when there's clearly an ax wound on the page. You can miss it, true, but is that really Morrison's fault? Now an example I can think of that I'd agree with you on is the mention of Hal Jordan's scar in the Final Crisis #1 Director's Cut. Do we ever see that scar?

What is so important about those missing kids? Everybody was looking for them (Dan Turpin, Questoin, Lois Lane, etc).

I believe Montoya mentions the kids possibly being meta humans. I can see the urgency in that more than if they were normal kids.

It seems odd for a former Metropolis police officer like Dan Turpin to abandon a crime scene the way he did.

Good point.

It also seems odd that John Stewart hasn't heard of a 101 since New Gods have been gettign killed off on Earth for a while now. John also seems relucant to do anything until Hal gets there. Why? John is a full fledged member of the Green Lantern Corps just like Hal is.

I'd chalk that up to the discontinuity between Countdown/Death of The New Gods and Final Crisis (which I blame editorial for). Good point on the waiting for Hal though, I hadn't thought of that.

I find it interesting that the Dark Side Club is at the heart of this series yet there is never any mention beyond the first scene with Turpin and Question about the metagene fight club being run by the Dark Side Club.

I had no idea there was a metagene fight club being run by the Dark Side Club.

What? No mention of the scar on Hal's face? This is the only scene it is in and is the big clue for the reveal in a few issues during Hal's trial on Oa.

As you could probably tell from earlier, I totally missed the scar. For such an important story point, there should have been a bit of dialogue.

The dialogue from the Guardians sounded like a bad police procedural television show tweaked to make it sound sci-fi. And planets have multiple LaGrange points. Any why is Orion's death so important? Again, New Gods have been dropping like flies. Orion is the last one to go. Didn't they know about the others? Or did they simply not care? Are the Guardians acknowledging that Orion was an actual god and a superior being to them?

Again, I chalk it up to continuity discrepencies. And I doubt the Guardians would acknowledge anyone as superior to them.

How did Metron's chair get in the dump?

Beats me.

Empress was a member of Young Justice. She was also in the recent Wonder Girl miniseries. Prior to this seires she didn't have visions like the one she described here.

Sparx was one of the New Blood characters and later was a member of the Ravers that Superboy (Connor Kent) hung out with in Superboy and the Ravers. She is mentioned in Teen Titans #66 as someone to possibly recruit so presumably she survived the events here.

Mas Y Menos originated in the Teen Titans cartoon and were later established to have been memebers of the Teen Titans during 52. Presumably they survive these events also.

Thanks for the info.

Talia and Human Flame were also in the Secret Society meeting.

I think I mentioned Human Flame during Martian Manhunter's execution, but I missed Talia. Good catch.

Why did Luthor and the other allow Human Flame to record (and broadcast?) the events of the meeting? They are in the "heart of Flash territory" so it seems like a live broadcast of these events might be a bad idea.

Was it a live broadcast? I must have missed that.

Martian Manhunter's death seemed a bit out of the blue. A quick page page death. When I first read the issue, I didn't take this scene as the killing of the Martian Manhunter. It wasn't until the end of the issue that it was clear that he was killed here.

I kinda figured a flaming spear through the chest would kill a martian.

Why is Tattooed Man talking with Turpin?

I'm going to say he was taking Turpin to the Dark Side Club on Darkseid's orders.

Bludhaven was destroyed when the Secret Society dropped Chemo on it early in Infinite Crisis.

That's right. Now that you say that I remember the scene.

Turpin is a private eye now, not a police officer. He has no officier jurisdiction.

That makes a lot of sense.

Red Tornado, Hawkgirl and Vixen are current members of the Justice League. Firestorm was recently drafted into the Justice League by Batman after the recent battle against the Injustice League. It makes perfect sense for them to be at this meeting. What doesn't makes sense is the absence of Hal Jordan.

I figured Hal was still dealing with Orion.

Is the Monitor really breakign the fourth wall? Or is he communicating with an accomplice via some sort of wrist communicator? If he is breakign the fourth wall, why here? Why now? Why doesn't he do so again?

I don't think it's necessarily the Monitor breaking the fourth wall, but Morrison breaking the fourth wall through the Monitor. I probably could have phrased that better.

Kamandi is also not named in the series.

Not to compare Crises here, but was every character named in Crisis on Infinite Earths?

The reason Anthro didn't understand Kamandi is because Morrison has established in the earlier scenes that Anthro's people don't have language yet. Not that all of the word balloons for Anthro, Vandal Savage and their people are punctuation marks, presumably denoting grunts of various types.

D'oh!

Juan asked some great questions about the Anthro/Kamandi scene. I'd like to see more of these kind of tough questions addressed.

Juan and I both had questions about a scene in issue 2, which unless other information presents itself in the other issues, is pretty much a huge gaping plot hole.

As far as Metron is concerned, I believe there are different sets of rules that govern him. While he may be a member of the Fourth World family, he is NOT a native of either New Genesis or Apokalips. I'd be interested in seeing how he got "rebooted" so it's anyone's guess as to why he looks the way he did.

But great job, Chris and Juan! I dug it!

Thanks Matt!

Koete wrote:

When did Metron get this new look? He didn't have it in Seven Soliders: Mister Miracle. Or in Death of the New Gods. Or Countdown to Final Crisis. This implies that he might be the Metron of the Fifth World (and not the old Metron of the Fourth World New Gods).

Since he appears with that look later with Nix Uoatn, I think it's most likely he is the Fifth World Metron.

I agree that it is most likely the Fifth World Metron but the entire transition from the Fourth World to the Fifth World was really unclear in the series.

Koete wrote:

Vandal Savage is another character that either you know or don't.

I'm pretty sure he was named in the Secret Society scene, but I'm not 100% sure.

He was named there but there was no clear connection indication it was him in the earlier scene. The time of the original scene was never set. While it is mentioned that Vandal has lived or thousands of years all we have is circumstancial evidence that it might have been him in the earlier scene. (I'm not saying it wasn't him in that scene, just that there isn't rock solid evidence that it was.)

Koete wrote:

I compeltely missed the ax wound in the Vandal Savage scene. Good catch. This a great example of Morrison implying story element versus showing them. He has a *lot* more happening in the gutters than the average comic book storyteller. In my opinion, a bit too much is happening there at times.

I'll likely agree with you in other cases, but I have to disagree with you here. I don't know how you can blame Morrison for telling too much story when there's clearly an ax wound on the page. You can miss it, true, but is that really Morrison's fault? Now an example I can think of that I'd agree with you on is the mention of Hal Jordan's scar in the Final Crisis #1 Director's Cut. Do we ever see that scar?

I'm not blaming Morrison for too much story. I'm blaming him for leaving too much story untold in the gutters. Big difference. In this case, I didn't really notice the wound on Vandal in that one panel.

Hal's scar is very clear on the scenes of Orion's body. If you can miss that, can you really blame me for missing the fight between Vanal and the woman that took place entirely off panel?

Koete wrote:

What is so important about those missing kids? Everybody was looking for them (Dan Turpin, Questoin, Lois Lane, etc).

I believe Montoya mentions the kids possibly being meta humans. I can see the urgency in that more than if they were normal kids.

Certainly the kids being metahumans might place more urgency on finding them. I'm just surprised so many people were looking for them for what appears to have been unconnected reasons. Not a big deal, jus seemed odd.

Koete wrote:

It also seems odd that John Stewart hasn't heard of a 1011 since New Gods have been gettign killed off on Earth for a while now. John also seems relucant to do anything until Hal gets there. Why? John is a full fledged member of the Green Lantern Corps just like Hal is.

I'd chalk that up to the discontinuity between Countdown/Death of The New Gods and Final Crisis (which I blame editorial for). Good point on the waiting for Hal though, I hadn't thought of that.

New Gods were dying over the past year or two in a number of books prior to Death of the New Gods including Action Comics and Birds of Prey. Editorial should have caught that error. Of course, since Morrison was writing the major event for DC for 2008, it doesn't seem entirely unreasonable to expect him have read most of the DC Universe titles over the past year or two.

Koete wrote:

I find it interesting that the Dark Side Club is at the heart of this series yet there is never any mention beyond the first scene with Turpin and Question about the metagene fight club being run by the Dark Side Club.

I had no idea there was a metagene fight club being run by the Dark Side Club.

I'm surprised you didn't know about the metagene fight club. Not only was it a major aspect of Teen Titans, Terror Titans and Birds of Prey over hte past year but was also mentioned a time or two in the DC Nation column over the past year or so.

Koete wrote:

What? No mention of the scar on Hal's face? This is the only scene it is in and is the big clue for the reveal in a few issues during Hal's trial on Oa.

As you could probably tell from earlier, I totally missed the scar. For such an important story point, there should have been a bit of dialogue.

If we are supposed to be filling in some major gaps in the gutters, then shouldn't we be expected to catch every little detail like Hal's scar? Personally, I think that this sort of subtle storytelling usually doesn't work as well in comics as writers seem to think it does.

Koete wrote:

Talia and Human Flame were also in the Secret Society meeting.

I think I mentioned Human Flame during Martian Manhunter's execution, but I missed Talia. Good catch.

In fairness, I don't think she was ever named in the scene.

Koete wrote:

Why did Luthor and the other allow Human Flame to record (and broadcast?) the events of the meeting? They are in the "heart of Flash territory" so it seems like a live broadcast of these events might be a bad idea.

Was it a live broadcast? I must have missed that.

It may not have been a live broadcast but it could have been. Given that it was a cell phone and not a video camera, I would have at least expected someone in the room of super-geniuses to think it might have been a live broadcast.

Koete wrote:

Martian Manhunter's death seemed a bit out of the blue. A quick page page death. When I first read the issue, I didn't take this scene as the killing of the Martian Manhunter. It wasn't until the end of the issue that it was clear that he was killed here.

I kinda figured a flaming spear through the chest would kill a martian.

The flaming aspect I'll agree could be problematic for a martian. But, given he is a shapeshifter there is no reason to think that there would be any vital organs in his chest. (If he even has vital organs at all. While he was clearly hurt by the attack, I saw no reason to think it killed him. I chalk this up to unclear storytelling.

Koete wrote:

Why is Tattooed Man talking with Turpin?

I'm going to say he was taking Turpin to the Dark Side Club on Darkseid's orders.

Could be but it was unclear.

Koete wrote:

Bludhaven was destroyed when the Secret Society dropped Chemo on it early in Infinite Crisis.

That's right. Now that you say that I remember the scene.

I kind of thought it was one of the more memorable scenes in Infinite Crisis. Not often something like that happens in comics.

Koete wrote:

Turpin is a private eye now, not a police officer. He has no officier jurisdiction.

That makes a lot of sense.

And it was stated in the captions in the issue.

Koete wrote:

Red Tornado, Hawkgirl and Vixen are current members of the Justice League. Firestorm was recently drafted into the Justice League by Batman after the recent battle against the Injustice League. It makes perfect sense for them to be at this meeting. What doesn't makes sense is the absence of Hal Jordan.

I figured Hal was still dealing with Orion.

Fair enough. It just felt strange given how much John was taking a back seat to Hal earlier in the issue that they wouldn't have had Hal at the meeting and left John dealing with the grunt work of dealing with Orion.

Koete wrote:

Is the Monitor really breaking the fourth wall? Or is he communicating with an accomplice via some sort of wrist communicator? If he is breakign the fourth wall, why here? Why now? Why doesn't he do so again?

I don't think it's necessarily the Monitor breaking the fourth wall, but Morrison breaking the fourth wall through the Monitor. I probably could have phrased that better.

That whole bit just seemed a bit out of sync with things.

Koete wrote:

Kamandi is also not named in the series.

Not to compare Crises here, but was every character named in Crisis on Infinite Earths?

I have to take issue with your comment here. I'm not suggesting that every character tha shows up needed to be named. Now, if I was faulting the story for not naming everyone in the crowd of heroes drafted in a later issue or something like that, then you'd have a point. But the series opened with Kamandi and spent several pages with him as the focal point of the issue. The issue ended with him too. We have every reason at this point to think he is a *key* player in the story. Having Metron call him by name doesn't seem unreasonable, even if Metron had to invent a name for the linguistically challenged fellow.

Koete wrote:

Juan asked some great questions about the Anthro/Kamandi scene. I'd like to see more of these kind of tough questions addressed.

Juan and I both had questions about a scene in issue 2, which unless other information presents itself in the other issues, is pretty much a huge gaping plot hole.

I look forward to listening to the next episode for that and other aspects of the story I might have missed.

Great work guys.

Darth Kramer wrote:As far as Metron is concerned, I believe there are different sets of rules that govern him. While he may be a member of the Fourth World family, he is NOT a native of either New Genesis or Apokalips. I'd be interested in seeing how he got "rebooted" so it's anyone's guess as to why he looks the way he did.

But great job, Chris and Juan! I dug it!

Metron isn't one of the New Gods? I'll admit to not being any sort of New Gods expert. What is he if not a New God?

JohnMayo wrote:

Darth Kramer wrote:As far as Metron is concerned, I believe there are different sets of rules that govern him. While he may be a member of the Fourth World family, he is NOT a native of either New Genesis or Apokalips. I'd be interested in seeing how he got "rebooted" so it's anyone's guess as to why he looks the way he did.

But great job, Chris and Juan! I dug it!

Metron isn't one of the New Gods? I'll admit to not being any sort of New Gods expert. What is he if not a New God?

From New Gods #7, "The Pact,": "I have no link with the Old Gods -- or New!! I am something different! Something that was unforeseen!! -- On New Genesis -- or here!!"

Darth Kramer wrote:

JohnMayo wrote:

Darth Kramer wrote:As far as Metron is concerned, I believe there are different sets of rules that govern him. While he may be a member of the Fourth World family, he is NOT a native of either New Genesis or Apokalips. I'd be interested in seeing how he got "rebooted" so it's anyone's guess as to why he looks the way he did.

But great job, Chris and Juan! I dug it!

Metron isn't one of the New Gods? I'll admit to not being any sort of New Gods expert. What is he if not a New God?

From New Gods #7, "The Pact,": "I have no link with the Old Gods -- or New!! I am something different! Something that was unforeseen!! -- On New Genesis -- or here!!"

Interesting.

I agree that it is most likely the Fifth World Metron but the entire transition from the Fourth World to the Fifth World was really unclear in the series.

I would agree with that.

He was named there but there was no clear connection indication it was him in the earlier scene. The time of the original scene was never set. While it is mentioned that Vandal has lived or thousands of years all we have is circumstancial evidence that it might have been him in the earlier scene. (I'm not saying it wasn't him in that scene, just that there isn't rock solid evidence that it was.)

I can see that.

I'm not blaming Morrison for too much story. I'm blaming him for leaving too much story untold in the gutters. Big difference. In this case, I didn't really notice the wound on Vandal in that one panel.

Hal's scar is very clear on the scenes of Orion's body. If you can miss that, can you really blame me for missing the fight between Vanal and the woman that took place entirely off panel?

Nope, I can't blame you at all. I see your point as entirely valid now.

New Gods were dying over the past year or two in a number of books prior to Death of the New Gods including Action Comics and Birds of Prey. Editorial should have caught that error. Of course, since Morrison was writing the major event for DC for 2008, it doesn't seem entirely unreasonable to expect him have read most of the DC Universe titles over the past year or two.

Hmm...I was unaware that New God deaths were occurring outside of the Countdown of books. That certainly changes things.

I'm surprised you didn't know about the metagene fight club. Not only was it a major aspect of Teen Titans, Terror Titans and Birds of Prey over hte past year but was also mentioned a time or two in the DC Nation column over the past year or so.

I don't read any or the Titans books or Birds of Prey and only read the DC Nation columns from time to time.

If we are supposed to be filling in some major gaps in the gutters, then shouldn't we be expected to catch every little detail like Hal's scar? Personally, I think that this sort of subtle storytelling usually doesn't work as well in comics as writers seem to think it does.

True. It's not much of a pick and choose situation is it?

In fairness, I don't think she was ever named in the scene.

Well...neither were Grodd, Ocean Master, and a couple others.

It may not have been a live broadcast but it could have been. Given that it was a cell phone and not a video camera, I would have at least expected someone in the room of super-geniuses to think it might have been a live broadcast.

Footage is seen on a TV in issue 2 when Turpin is "interrogating" Mad Hatter. Juan's idea was that it was put on Youtube or some similar leak.

The flaming aspect I'll agree could be problematic for a martian. But, given he is a shapeshifter there is no reason to think that there would be any vital organs in his chest. (If he even has vital organs at all. While he was clearly hurt by the attack, I saw no reason to think it killed him. I chalk this up to unclear storytelling.

Fair enough.

Could be but it was unclear.

I was drawing on what was available, so I agree with you there.

I kind of thought it was one of the more memorable scenes in Infinite Crisis. Not often something like that happens in comics.

True, I'm kinda kicking myself for forgetting it.

And it was stated in the captions in the issue.

And I'm embarrassed Juan and I both seemed to miss that.

That whole bit just seemed a bit out of sync with things.

I saw it as a bit of forshadowing to the Mandrakk storyline. Then again, a case can be made for the Mandrakk storyline itself being out of synch with Final Crisis.

I have to take issue with your comment here. I'm not suggesting that every character tha shows up needed to be named. Now, if I was faulting the story for not naming everyone in the crowd of heroes drafted in a later issue or something like that, then you'd have a point. But the series opened with Kamandi and spent several pages with him as the focal point of the issue. The issue ended with him too. We have every reason at this point to think he is a *key* player in the story. Having Metron call him by name doesn't seem unreasonable, even if Metron had to invent a name for the linguistically challenged fellow.

I can see Metron calling Anthro by name, but I'm wracking my brains as to how Kamandi could be named outside of a caption box and an arrow. He wouldn't say, "My name is Kamandi!", the situation's a bit too dire to bother with introductions.

I look forward to listening to the next episode for that and other aspects of the story I might have missed.

Great work guys.

We'll do our best. Thanks again.

Koete wrote:

In fairness, I don't think she was ever named in the scene.

Well...neither were Grodd, Ocean Master, and a couple others.

Since Grodd, Ocean Master and Talia didn't really do anything in the scene (or entire Final Crisis story for that matter), I wasn't really bothered by those characters not being named.

Koete wrote:

It may not have been a live broadcast but it could have been. Given that it was a cell phone and not a video camera, I would have at least expected someone in the room of super-geniuses to think it might have been a live broadcast.

Footage is seen on a TV in issue 2 when Turpin is "interrogating" Mad Hatter. Juan's idea was that it was put on Youtube or some similar leak.

It still seems like even having the chance of a live feed of a JLA member getting murdered while in the heart of Flash territory seems risky. Putting it up on YouTube after the fact isn't a big deal since it doesn't involve the risk of super speedsters chrashing the party in progress.

Koete wrote:

That whole bit just seemed a bit out of sync with things.

I saw it as a bit of forshadowing to the Mandrakk storyline. Then again, a case can be made for the Mandrakk storyline itself being out of synch with Final Crisis.

The entire Mandrakk thing should have been set up better in Final Crisis given that was the "epic battle" of sorts at the end.

Koete wrote:

I have to take issue with your comment here. I'm not suggesting that every character tha shows up needed to be named. Now, if I was faulting the story for not naming everyone in the crowd of heroes drafted in a later issue or something like that, then you'd have a point. But the series opened with Kamandi and spent several pages with him as the focal point of the issue. The issue ended with him too. We have every reason at this point to think he is a *key* player in the story. Having Metron call him by name doesn't seem unreasonable, even if Metron had to invent a name for the linguistically challenged fellow.

I can see Metron calling Anthro by name, but I'm wracking my brains as to how Kamandi could be named outside of a caption box and an arrow. He wouldn't say, "My name is Kamandi!", the situation's a bit too dire to bother with introductions.

Metron could have called him Kamandi saying that it translates to "the first man" in his (Metron's) language.

As for the situation being too dire, exactly how and why that was is never really made clear. Kamandi didn't seem to be in any sort of imminent danger. Heck, Metron seems to have selected him as the person to give "knowledge" to because he was fated to live to a nice old age and die a peaceful death.