How do you create a Darkseid?
It almost feels like Grant Morrison is trying to write an anti-event book. Almost half of Final Crisis #4 is spent filling in some details from the two week gap in issue #3, showing what happens when evil ends up winning. Without most of the iconic DC superheroes or New God characters, Morrison’s story focuses equally on the 2nd tier DC heroes (Green Arrow, Black Canary and Ray) and 2nd tier Jack Kirby evil gods (Simyan, Mokkari, Glorious Godfrey.) We see more of the working-class characters here, oddly bringing the cosmic event down to a more street level. But is any over arching plot actually moved along this issue?
This series has had the tagline “the day evil won” and I think we finally see that this issue. Of course, it felt like we saw that in the last issue with Wonder Woman turned into an Apocalyptian Female Fury but this issue plays with time a bit, beginning a bit before the end of the previous issue. Remember, there was a two week gap between most of #3 and the final sequence. This issue, along with this week’s Final Crisis: Submit, fills in the gap a bit as the Anti-Life equation is unleashed on the world.
Once this is all over, it will be fascinating to look at the structure of this story and how it’s spread across a couple of titles, particularly those written by Morrison himself. In Superman Beyond #1, Superman was taken out of the main title and sent on the mission by the Monitors, only to find out what the Monitors think is the supposed real threat. That issue sort of acted as Final Crisis #3.5 but nothing in that issue overtly linked back into FC #4. Are we not going to see Superman in here again until the end? Then there is this week’s Final Crisis: Submit which also could be subtitled Final Crisis #3.5 and focuses on a 2nd tier Justice Leaguer Black Lightning after the forces of Darksied have apparently won. Both of these issues fill in gaps of storytelling that’s spilling out of the main title. These spinoffs both focus more on character and extended sequences than the main title does. It’s almost hard to not argue that both Submit and Superman Beyond should have taken place in the main series; both titles add needed color and detail to the larger story Morrison is trying to tell while the main series is trying to hit the big scenes and trying to hit the main plot points while letting the spin off titles play with enlarging some of the more personal and smaller moments of the story.
Final Crisis #4M does contain some wonderful and short character moments such as Green Arrow sacrificing himself to Darkseid’s forces, allowing Black Canary to escape or the competition between Darkseid’s war generals who are trying to recreate their lord and master in the body of Dan Turpin. It’s one thing to see the heroes fail but it’s actually more to see humanity failing. Dan Turpin has been the reader’s identification character, a mere human caught in the battle between heroes and gods. Just briefly in a few scenes, we see Turpin loosing his grip on reality, succuming to the massive power that is battling for the earth right now.
Suprisingly, the addition of Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino to the art team works well. Pacheco and JG Jones’s styles mesh nicely together. Pacheco’s work is a bit more fluid than Jones’s but their distinct styles don’t clash and end up blending nicely together. Alex Sinclair’s colors unify the two artists, merging their pages together with a similar color palette.
Who is left to fight once Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are removed from the battlefield? Superman’s traveling through the multiverse, Batman is a captive of Darksied’s henchman and Wonder Woman has been transformed into a Female Fury. The icons are gone so it’s up to Green Arrow to save the day– maybe. Of course, there are two Flashes now running around and we get a rather touching reunion in this issue. As promised, evil has won. Now the fun part should be seeing how Morrison has good rise up once again.
Final Crisis #4
“Darkseid Says”
Written by: Grant Morrison
Penciled by: JG Jones & Carlos Pacheco
Inked by: JG Jones and Jesus Merino
Colored by: Alex Sinclair
Lettered by: Rob Leigh
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Tags: Carlos Pacheco, Final Crisis, Grant Morrison, JG Jones