SuperSearnold - Comic Book Reviews

Greetings – once again – from your friendly neighborhood Searnold [Shár- Nŭhld]. Today is Sunday, November 2nd, 2008. Welcome to my daily comic book review blog – thanks for tuning in! Are you interested in a comic book but not sure you want to shell out the cash? Let me know and I’ll review it for you – letting you know if it’s worth your hard earned money!

Warning:
This is a new disclaimer I’m going to be including for the next two weeks during my Final Crisis reviews. Everything I know about the DC Universe I learned from watching Justice League Unlimited. I am most definitely a DC neophyte, and I’m sure that has tainted my perspective of this enormous DC crossover event. Namely, I found that I did not understand a lot of what was going on. I sort of have a feel for things now that I’ve read EVERY Final Crisis book. But in order to save you from having to do the same, I’m going to be including a bit more summary than usual - which some might claim teeters on the edge of spoilers. So if you already plan on reading EVERY Final Crisis title, I recommend you skip this blog for now. Otherwise, enjoy the next two weeks of CRISIS!

Today’s Issue:
DC Universe #0. This is a 50 cent preview that DC published back in April 2008 as a prequel to Final Crisis. Wait til you get a load of this creative team: Writers - Grant Morrison & Geoff Johns; Pencilers - George Perez, Doug Mahnke, Tony S. Daniel, Ivan Reis, Aaron Lopresti, Philip Tan, Ed Benes, Carlos Pacheco, & JG Jones; Inkers - Scott Koblish, Christian Alamy, Tony S. Daniel, Oclair Albert, Matt Ryan, Jeff De Los Santos, Ed Benes, Jesus Merino, & JG Jones; Colors - Alex Sinclair, Tom Smith, & David Barton. WOW - what a team!

Premise:
First, what is Final Crisis? Well - I’m glad you asked. Final Crisis is the last event in a trilogy of giant crossovers that have reshaped the entire DC Multiverse. It began back in 1985 with the Crisis on Infinite Earths. This was an attempt to simplify DC continuity by explaining all of the different versions of their characters that had been used over the years. The explanation involved an infinite number of alternate universes which all came colliding into a single universe. The next event, Infinite Crisis (2005) created 52 new parallel universes and led to the event called 52. And now, the Final Crisis being hyped as the day that evil won. Darkseid, one of the New Gods, has found the Anti-Life equation.
DCU #0 is the prequel to Final Crisis. It essentially sets the stage for what is about to happen. It gives backstory about the previous crises. It also shows us where each of the major DC characters are at the beginning of Final Crisis. But more than that, it sets the stage for all of the OTHER DC events going on right now - such as Batman R.I.P. and Green Lantern: Blackest Night.

Awesome Parts:
DCU #0 did a decent job of setting the stage. I went from knowing nothing to having the basic framework of knowledge I would need to understand Final Crisis. It was a helpful introduction to the history of the crises as well as to a few of the major players. Also, who can say anything bad about a comic book that only costs 50 cents?

Un-Awesome Parts:
This is just a general complaint about Final Crisis but I simply cannot wrap my head around it. I apologize if anything I say here is confusing or downright incorrect - but I am STILL having a difficult time understanding exactly what is going on in the DC Universe. My experience has led me to believe that this universe is for people already familiar with it. In general, it seems very inaccessible to new readers. For example, I’m very unclear as to who was narrating DCU #0. I believe it would have been clear to people already familiar with DC, but it wasn’t to me. Confusion abounds, even in the midsts of this attempt to clarify.

My Recommendation:
This is tough, because I DO recommend DCU #0 if you plan on reading Final Crisis. But right now, I can’t recommend Final Crisis as a whole. It’s just too damn confusing. There were a few issues that I enjoyed reading which I will recommend in the coming weeks. But in general, you’re going to be hearing a lot of “skip it.” In terms of DCU #0 as just an issue standing alone, DCU #0 doesn’t really tell a story - it’s a snapshot of the universe. So even though it only costs 50 cents, I can’t really recommend it.

Alright, that’s it for today. As always - thanks for reading - see you tomorrow for Justice League of America #21. And don’t forget to let me know if there are any comic books you’d like me to review for you – I take requests!
-Searnold, SuperSearnold@yahoo.com www.myspace.com/SuperSearnold

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