Crisis Time! - Final Crisis #5

Well, I’ve gotten pass the midpoint for this event. This time around I’m just looking at one issue: Final Crisis #5. The covers have some of that “Girl Power” this time around. Wonder Woman graces the main cover while a fight between Supergirl and Evil Mary Marvel is on the variant cover. I’ll have to go with Wonder Woman’s awesome image this time around. If Evil Mary Marvel wasn’t looking “toe up from the flo’ up,” I might actually go with the variant. The creative team is pretty much the same with Marco Rudy coming in to handle some artwork along with the other three. I don’t have much to say, so let’s hit it.

Final Crisis #5

Writer: Grant Morrison

Artists: J.G. Jones, Marco Rudy, Jesus Merino, and Carlos Pacheco

Colors: Alex Sinclair

Letters: Travis Lanham

"Into Oblivion"
We start out by finally getting to Oa and seeing Hal Jordan on trial. Remember that Alpha Lantern Kraken (possessed by Granny Goodness) framed him for attacking John Stewart and killing Orion. After she presents her evidence, Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner come to defend Hal. They tell the Guardians that Hal’s being framed and Kraken is possessed by a New God. Goodness breaks her cover and tries to go for the Corps Battery. A fight ensues between the Lanterns and Kraken. Eventually, she’s taken out by Hal himself. Hal is acquitted of the charges. The Guardians find out that Darkseid's presence is causing the whole universe out of wack, so they send in the Corps led by Hal.

Hey, Hal. I actually missed ya'll for some reason.

On Earth, we catch up with the situation at Castle Checkmate. Outside, Alan Scott and other heroes fight the Justifiers. Inside, Amanda Waller and another gentleman are showing Renee Montoya plans for attack if the superheroes fail. They also ask her to join Checkmate. We also see that Overgirl (the blonde woman from #3) has died and is being autopsied. In another part of the castle, a fight almost breaks out between the SHADE and the Super Young Team because of what happened last issue. Things calm down with Mr. Terrific getting in between them and Mr. Miracle surviving his shot to the chest. I bet he’s glad he wore his trick armor. Miracle tells them of the Circuit which is painted around his and the Young Team’s faces. They’ll need this in order to keep from falling under Darkseid’s influence. 

Other than Superbat and that Green Battery guy, I don't know who the rest are.

In Bludhaven, the minions bow at the feet of Darkseid. They want him to heal them since their bodies are dying. Darkseid doesn’t care about his minions and waits for his world to envelop Earth. In another part of the compound, the Furies (Wonder Woman, Batwoman, Catwoman and Giganta) ready for battle. We also see Kalibak with his group of Tiger men. We then see an amassed group of superheroes in Bludhaven ready for battle. You gotta love seeing the Frankenstein Monster on a motorcycle. The battle begins as Evil Mary Marvel starts to attack the heroes. She gets attacked by Black Adam who is easily taken down by her. He then notices that Mary is also possessed by a New God. Kalibak ends up attacking Tawny The Tiger… yep, his name’s Tawny.

Frankenstein leading the charge? I'm in.

At one of Darkseid’s compounds, we finally catch up with Nix Uotan, the exiled Monitor. If you don’t remember about him, don’t worry because he’s kind of forgettable even with that ridiculous hair-do. He’s being locked up in a cell with two other people because he is one of the humans who can’t be affected by the Equation. There is also a man in a wheelchair playing with a Rubix cube. Someone who is looks like an ape (????) tries to remind Nix of his life as a Monitor and that Nix has the power to end this. He doesn’t accept it at first but he begins to remember his lover, Weeja Dell. When the Justifiers come back to kill the Nix and the cellmates, the cube that the wheelchair-bound man has acts like a Mother Box and blinds everyone in the cell.

In another part of the country, Libra (remember him?) is having some villains publicly hanged for conspiring against Darkseid. Lex Luthor and Sivana are there and Lex is looking sad that he’s being forced to watch this.

At Command-D, Supergirl and GL John Stewart break in to stop its operation. Unfortunately, it’s all for naught as Darkseid rises from his chair. Before his minions die, one of them mentions something about clones of Batman… I’m saving that for the next post. He states that he is truly a god now and we see how powerful he has become as he sends out a signal to pretty much screw up everybody. John’s ring starts to die and Supergirl gets attacked by Evil Mary Marvel.  In space, we end up seeing the Corps forcing their way toward Earth. A barrier is around it and the Corps can only move little by little toward the planet.

Darkseid: a bit of a prick.

We also see that Darkseid basically has control over all of the people under the Equation’s influence. He plans to use them as his own weapon against the heroes. We even see him in his pretty cool uniform that was on the cover to issue #4. Be prepared to not see that after this issue except for in a variant cover. We head back to the place where Nix Uotan was being held. His captors are disheveled and he now remembers who he is. The wheelchaired person is also revealed to be the New God, Metron. The issue ends with Uotan in a new suit seeing all that is happening in the Multiverse.

The Judge of Evil is here… and he still has that awful haircut!

………………………………………………………..

This was a fine read, but I had some hiccups along the way. After last issue’s look at the Earth post-invasion, we get a lot of previous plot points thrown back in. We get caught up with The Green Lantern Corps, Libra, and Nix Uotan. We also get the beginning of this final assault on Bludhaven. Darkseid finally gets off his lazy butt and doesn’t bode well for the heroes. We also start to see that someone may be controlling Mary Marvel to be so evil and fashion-less. The artwork is good as usual. I really don’t have many complaints on it. All of the artists make the effort to keep their styles similar to one another.

There are some things about the issue I’m not a fan of. I felt like the resolution with the Green Lantern plot was resolved too quickly. I also feel the same way about the Libra plot and Nix’s plot. I had actually forgotten about them since that last issue was so focused on the human resistance. We get thrown into the thick of things and we really don’t get any build-up to it all. It’s like Morrison forgot about these plot points and had to somehow shoehorn them into the issue. I don’t think they’re bad, but I do wish they had more plot to them. I even don’t care about the Libra and Nix plot because of that. This is something I’m beginning to notice with the main issues and I may be saying this more as I get to the end.

Other than those complaints, I still thought it was a fine issue. It may be my least favorite issue of the main series though. Next time will be a big one. I’ll be looking at Final Crisis #6 and a couple of issues about that Dark Knight fella. Peace, God Bless, and don’t tick off the Green Lantern Corps. Also, Happy Thanksgiving!!

NEXT TIME: BATMAN, CLONES, MORE FIGHTS, AND MORE WEIRDNESS!