Guest Episode: Final Crisis #2
Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 11:43 pm
Thanks again to Chris and Juan for the Guest Episode.
Okay, Final Crisis #2...
Interesting comments about the sliver cover. Frankly, I didn't give those covers that much thought.
One the first page, the character that looks sort of like the the Spirit could riff on Midnight, a knock-off of the Spirit published by Quality Comics who was a member of the All Star Squadron. Either way, it doesn't really matter.
I loved the double page spread. The monster fighting aspect was a nice touch. Interesting that none of these Japanese characters seem to have any connection at all to actual Japanese superheores such as the Kamen Riders or the Super Sentai teams. At least there is a nod to Ultraman with the Ultimon.
Given the amount of time spent setting up Super Young Team, I really expected them to play a larger part in the story. Very little in this scene really establishes these guys as anything more than cosplayers.
I wasn't familiar with Sonny Sumo prior to this issue. Does knowing his backstory add anything?
So, why exactly is Shilo putting together a team? Does he think he can win the cosmic war that was already lost? Why is he recruiting Sonny Sumo? Heck, how did he even know where Sonny would be?
The Black Adam-ish word search never really played well for me in this series. The prior issue did technically establish the Word of Attention but never explained what it was or did.
Why is "Thesaurus Lad" sketching Overman, Overgirl, Captain Adam and the evil Monitor? It is already established that he remembers "dreaming" his existance as a Monitor.
I completely missed the footage of the Martain Manhunter's death on the television in the first panel on my initial reading.
How and why did Turpin get out of the Dark Side Club? It seems a bit odd for him to be going on like the meeting with Boss Dark Side never happened.
The mention of a resurrection in the one page funeral for Martain Manhunter bothered me. It really undercut any possible sense of the death being remotely permanent.
Good catch on the Flash being at a computer reading the internet during the scene at the JLA headquarters.
The damage to Orion's skull could have easily been from the beating he took in Death of the New Gods, Countdown or any number of places.
Given how often JLA members have helped out the Guardians in the past (altough that may be out of continuity on New Earth), I would think that this local crime fighting club would be a lot more respected by the Guardians and an Alpha Lantern.
Great catch on the radion bullet. Batman clearly states here that the bullet left no other trace of its passage. While the bullet is found in the next scene, it never seems to make it into the possesion of the JLA for Batman to take. And, on the third page from the end of Batman #683, Batman is clearly taking the radion bullet from the Hall of Justice for further study. (Which begs the question of why the Hall or Justice doesn't have the state of the art equipment Batman needs.) That does seem like a huge plot hole. Again, great catch, guys.
I was curious what Opto was hearing too. I can understand how an alien might hear things humans don't but it seemed very like a way too convenient plot device.
In the scene where Hal is arrested, his Lantern is clearly visible. Doesn't he usually keep that thing invisible in order to keep it safe? Just seemed a bit odd.
Superman taking off to protect his secret identity seemed a bit forced. Doesn't he have robots for times like this? And is it just me or does the "S" on Superman's chest seem to havea must thicker outline than usual?
While there is no mention of the radion bullet at this point, clearly Batman must have it in his belt at this pint since he is taken captive in this scene with Alpha Lantern Kraken.
As for the ring imprint, John hit a ring hand wearing a white glove. Kraken doesn't wear the standard Green Lantern uniform with white gloves. Why would she disguise herself in a standard Green Lantern uniform but not mask her identity in any meaningful way? John seems to immediately recognize her. It doesn't make any sense.
"Black Alert" is yet another phrase introduced to create a sense of urgency.
The energy things Kraken uses to attack Batman remind me of the Goa'uld from Stargate SG-1.
I'm still a bit unclear how Granny was able to take over an Alpha Lantern.
What is Kamandi doing at Command D? How did he get there?
Kamandi can't be the last boy on Earth not under the sway of the Anti-Life equation since at this point it hasn't been unleashed yet. And, even after that, apparently some poeople are naturally immune to it so it stands to reason that at least one of those people would be a boy. Tattooed Man's son in Final Crisis: Submit is one such example.
Sundoller Coffee was introduced in 52. More information can be found here.
I had missed the planting of the bomb by Clayface. That makes the sense make more sense. Before, I was thinking that Clayface was after the information on the missing kids that Lois had.
The thing that kep Superman's secret identity safe was the bomb that just went off, nearly killing everyone there. (I'd love to see a similar scene someday in a comic revealing most of the people in the office to be super-heroes.) Given how fast Superman can be, I'm surprised he wasn't able to react fast enough to do anything.
Final Crisis: Superman Beyond is essential reading for Final Crisis.
I was wondering if you guys would catch the fact that the Flashes didn't actually meet at the community center but at Jay's home. Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths, Grant Morrison established that for a while (10 years? 30 years) Keystone City was frozen in time and that Barry synced up with it in a story that mirrored the classic first meeting of the characters. (See here.) Presumably in that story (Secret Origins #50), Bary and Jay first met at the community center. Of course since Jay was stuck in Keystone City an the community center is in Central City, I'm not sure how that would work. Seems like Grant Morrison ought to reread his own stories before referencing them...
Why would there be a seismic pulse when Martian Manhunter was killed? There was no indication of that in the first issue. And last issue, the JLA didn't seem to know much about the New Gods, now Wally recognizes the new Mobius Chair? And when did Batman have time to tell Wally his theory about the bullet fired backwards in time? How and why is the chair the scope for the gun? That doesn't make any sense to me. Of course, I'm still confused about when/where/how Metron lost the Mobius Chair in the first place.
The scene with the Flashes was cool but felt tacked on and not really part of the issue.
And, yeah, I expect that Final Crisis: Superman Beyond will take a bit of time to explain. A ton of stuff happens in those issues. Are you going to do both issues at once or one episode per issue?
Overall, great stuff again guys. I look forward to the future episodes...
Okay, Final Crisis #2...
Interesting comments about the sliver cover. Frankly, I didn't give those covers that much thought.
One the first page, the character that looks sort of like the the Spirit could riff on Midnight, a knock-off of the Spirit published by Quality Comics who was a member of the All Star Squadron. Either way, it doesn't really matter.
I loved the double page spread. The monster fighting aspect was a nice touch. Interesting that none of these Japanese characters seem to have any connection at all to actual Japanese superheores such as the Kamen Riders or the Super Sentai teams. At least there is a nod to Ultraman with the Ultimon.
Given the amount of time spent setting up Super Young Team, I really expected them to play a larger part in the story. Very little in this scene really establishes these guys as anything more than cosplayers.
I wasn't familiar with Sonny Sumo prior to this issue. Does knowing his backstory add anything?
So, why exactly is Shilo putting together a team? Does he think he can win the cosmic war that was already lost? Why is he recruiting Sonny Sumo? Heck, how did he even know where Sonny would be?
The Black Adam-ish word search never really played well for me in this series. The prior issue did technically establish the Word of Attention but never explained what it was or did.
Why is "Thesaurus Lad" sketching Overman, Overgirl, Captain Adam and the evil Monitor? It is already established that he remembers "dreaming" his existance as a Monitor.
I completely missed the footage of the Martain Manhunter's death on the television in the first panel on my initial reading.
How and why did Turpin get out of the Dark Side Club? It seems a bit odd for him to be going on like the meeting with Boss Dark Side never happened.
The mention of a resurrection in the one page funeral for Martain Manhunter bothered me. It really undercut any possible sense of the death being remotely permanent.
Good catch on the Flash being at a computer reading the internet during the scene at the JLA headquarters.
The damage to Orion's skull could have easily been from the beating he took in Death of the New Gods, Countdown or any number of places.
Given how often JLA members have helped out the Guardians in the past (altough that may be out of continuity on New Earth), I would think that this local crime fighting club would be a lot more respected by the Guardians and an Alpha Lantern.
Great catch on the radion bullet. Batman clearly states here that the bullet left no other trace of its passage. While the bullet is found in the next scene, it never seems to make it into the possesion of the JLA for Batman to take. And, on the third page from the end of Batman #683, Batman is clearly taking the radion bullet from the Hall of Justice for further study. (Which begs the question of why the Hall or Justice doesn't have the state of the art equipment Batman needs.) That does seem like a huge plot hole. Again, great catch, guys.
I was curious what Opto was hearing too. I can understand how an alien might hear things humans don't but it seemed very like a way too convenient plot device.
In the scene where Hal is arrested, his Lantern is clearly visible. Doesn't he usually keep that thing invisible in order to keep it safe? Just seemed a bit odd.
Superman taking off to protect his secret identity seemed a bit forced. Doesn't he have robots for times like this? And is it just me or does the "S" on Superman's chest seem to havea must thicker outline than usual?
While there is no mention of the radion bullet at this point, clearly Batman must have it in his belt at this pint since he is taken captive in this scene with Alpha Lantern Kraken.
As for the ring imprint, John hit a ring hand wearing a white glove. Kraken doesn't wear the standard Green Lantern uniform with white gloves. Why would she disguise herself in a standard Green Lantern uniform but not mask her identity in any meaningful way? John seems to immediately recognize her. It doesn't make any sense.
"Black Alert" is yet another phrase introduced to create a sense of urgency.
The energy things Kraken uses to attack Batman remind me of the Goa'uld from Stargate SG-1.
I'm still a bit unclear how Granny was able to take over an Alpha Lantern.
What is Kamandi doing at Command D? How did he get there?
Kamandi can't be the last boy on Earth not under the sway of the Anti-Life equation since at this point it hasn't been unleashed yet. And, even after that, apparently some poeople are naturally immune to it so it stands to reason that at least one of those people would be a boy. Tattooed Man's son in Final Crisis: Submit is one such example.
Sundoller Coffee was introduced in 52. More information can be found here.
I had missed the planting of the bomb by Clayface. That makes the sense make more sense. Before, I was thinking that Clayface was after the information on the missing kids that Lois had.
The thing that kep Superman's secret identity safe was the bomb that just went off, nearly killing everyone there. (I'd love to see a similar scene someday in a comic revealing most of the people in the office to be super-heroes.) Given how fast Superman can be, I'm surprised he wasn't able to react fast enough to do anything.
Final Crisis: Superman Beyond is essential reading for Final Crisis.
I was wondering if you guys would catch the fact that the Flashes didn't actually meet at the community center but at Jay's home. Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths, Grant Morrison established that for a while (10 years? 30 years) Keystone City was frozen in time and that Barry synced up with it in a story that mirrored the classic first meeting of the characters. (See here.) Presumably in that story (Secret Origins #50), Bary and Jay first met at the community center. Of course since Jay was stuck in Keystone City an the community center is in Central City, I'm not sure how that would work. Seems like Grant Morrison ought to reread his own stories before referencing them...
Why would there be a seismic pulse when Martian Manhunter was killed? There was no indication of that in the first issue. And last issue, the JLA didn't seem to know much about the New Gods, now Wally recognizes the new Mobius Chair? And when did Batman have time to tell Wally his theory about the bullet fired backwards in time? How and why is the chair the scope for the gun? That doesn't make any sense to me. Of course, I'm still confused about when/where/how Metron lost the Mobius Chair in the first place.
The scene with the Flashes was cool but felt tacked on and not really part of the issue.
And, yeah, I expect that Final Crisis: Superman Beyond will take a bit of time to explain. A ton of stuff happens in those issues. Are you going to do both issues at once or one episode per issue?
Overall, great stuff again guys. I look forward to the future episodes...