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Remember Final Crisis? All the one-shots, the mini-series, the 3-D glasses, the dope covers, the slew of 4-dollar issues, and the heated debate afterwards are some of the things that marked the event in my mind. But there was one more little identifying mark wasn’t there? Like me, I’m guessing many of you would frequently hit the comic book shop during that event, ready to gobble up the latest FC issues, only to find that there were no new issues released as scheduled. Yes, I am referring to tardiness. But who am I to complain? I haven’t written anything for ACBR since July 12! If I had to wait a month for every single comic I bought, I would go nuts! (I guess that explains the weak amount of hits since the 12th)

The reason I bring up Final Crisis is because they rebounded from their problems and brought some kick-ass issues of Legion of Three Worlds (eventually). Despite the delays at DC, the Lo3W team still brought us a great product, and that is how I want to come back!

But I have been behind before, haven’t I? Those few of you who are frequent visitors to my measly website may have noticed that I am always playing catch-up with reviews. There are always a few titles that I am behind on even if I am caught up with almost everything. So how can I bring the quality work, be in the middle of a class session, keep up appearances at two jobs, and maintain a fairly healthy social life?

The answer is shorter reviews. I was looking at ACBR’s stats the other day and noticed that most of you stay on for less than one minute and then move on to another page. My guess is that you glance around, see if anything new piques your interest, maybe take a peek at the star ratings on the front page, and then move on to something else. It’s the internet equivalent of channel surfing, and I don’t blame you. I do the same thing. Chances are (if you are one of the 98% of ACBR visitors) you aren’t even reading this sentence. Shorter reviews would be good for both of us, wouldn’t it? I can get more points across, and you get more arbitrary info in the 30-60 seconds that you’re here.

Now if you are one of the 2% of readers that actually read, the few who make it to the bottom of a post; I’m not trying to diss you here. 98% might give me enough hits to make advertising potentially possible, but you are the 2% that actually make this fun for me. Cheers to you. If I feel strongly about a topic or a comic, I will definitely write more than just a paragraph or two. And if you think my opinion is unfounded (or not explained thoroughly enough), a couple visits to the forum page or a look-see at the few comments I have here will show you that I will reply to those that take the time to chat with me. Your much-appreciated and prolonged visits to this site can still be as fruitful as ever!

So far, I have really enjoyed working on the site, and this change to shorter reviews is to replace some of its monotonous ranting with some exciting discussion. I have some pretty interesting things coming up like Blackest Night, Tyrese Gibson’s Mayhem, Comic Con recaps/pics, the worst comic book ever written, more Tales of the TMNT, and tons of other junk for you to have fun wasting your time on. So tell your friends, add me on MySpace, follow my tweets, strap in, and get ready for ACBR to step it up!

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All four of the Final Crisis Aftermath series have now been started (three of which have released their second issues), and still I find that the stories in each are a bit more obscure than the Aftermath titles that followed Infinite Crisis. This time around, we are dealing with costars that have been upgraded into starring roles. While some might find these characters a bit inconsequential and boring, I think their inconsequentiality is what makes them exciting. The fate of the Super Young Team, for example, will probably have no bearing on the most exciting things in the DCU right now, such as the rebuilt Gotham family or Blackest Night. Thanks to that assumed noninvolvement, I really have no idea as to what is going to happen, what twists may come about, and where things are going to end up. Though I have varying opinions on the enjoyment of each series so far, the fact remains that all four have some unique entertainment value.

If you have yet to meet any of the characters in these titles, do not fear. I am making this post to clear the fog and keep us all on the same page in terms of the Final Crisis Aftermath.

Run! The Human Flame: The Human Flame has always been a second tier villain in the DCU. When it comes to pyromaniac baddies; villains like Flash rogue Heat Wave and Batman foe Firefly take the cake, and for good reason. The Human Flame (Michael Miller) is a bit of a fatty, and his ego is greatly outweighed by his actual formability. After a short altercation with the Martian Manhunter, Miller was thrown in prison where he held residence for eight years. During Final Crisis, he joined up with Libra to gain revenge on his alien adversary and he ended up videotaping his brutal defeat. Now the Human Flame is on the run from the Martian Manhunter’s powerful friends in the Justice League and the larger villains that he sold out to Libra. Along the way, he hopes to gain some street credibility as a more fearsome villain in the DCU.

Escape, Tom Tresser: Tom Tresser (AKA Nemeis) began his vigilante career as a member of the morally ambiguous Suicide squad, led by Amanda Waller. From there, Tresser worked with Diana Prince (AKA Wonder Woman) at the Metahuman Affairs Unit in Washington DC. As far as I can remember, Tresser didn’t play much, if any, part in the Final Crisis; but Amanda Waller was in the process of building a machine to send survivors of the Antilife to a new planet in a different universe to start things over. Meanwhile I assume Tresser was among the countless other DCU characters to succumb to the Antilife equation and serve in Darkseid’s army. Upon awakening, Tom finds himself in a world that is not his own. Are the Rick Flagg and Amanda Waller in this place the real Flagg and Waller, or are they just figments of this psychedelic reality? One thing is for sure; he needs to get the hell out of there!

Dance, The Super Young Team: The Super Young team are comprised of the newest stars to be seen i9n Final Crisis Aftermath. Led by the Most Excellent Superbat, the Super Young Team was first seen by most of us in a Tokyo club near the outset of Final Crisis. The older generation of Japanese superheroes, namely The Rising Sun, sees the SYT as a bunch of do-nothing time-wasters that are just out to party rather than do anything to save any human lives. For the most part, he was absolutely right. Maybe it was their criticism that changed their attitude; maybe it was their experience during the Final Crisis with Checkmate that found them surrounded by real heroes. Now, the Super Young Team is out to make a name for themselves as actual heroes and not just attention-seekers. All the while, someone in Japan is trying to keep them surrounded with parties and press and away from a devious plot that threatens millions of Japanese lives.

Ink, The Tattooed Man: Mark Richards began his fictional life in the DCU on a helicopter as a US Marine. When his helicopter went down in a warzone, Richards was supposedly dead, but returned later as the villain known as the Tattooed Man. Richards was never ranked among the top villains of DCU; but, unlike the Human Flame, it seems as though he had no ambition to be such. With a wife and two kids, he appears to be one of those villains who are criminals by perceived necessity rather than demented psychosis. During Final Crisis, Richards and his family’s life were saved from Darkseid amry of Justifiers by Black Lightning. Black Lightning himself was captured by the Justifiers by the end of the rescue, but not before he was able to imprint a circuit on Richards’ skin. Fulfilling his vow to Black Lightning, the Tattooed Man was able to get the circuit to the Justice League and play a vital role in ending Darkseid’s reign on Earth. Now, Mark Richards is an honorary member of the Justice League , but still faces troubles including his son’s initiation into a deadly gang and a string of murders whose evidence points to none other than the Tattooed Man.

So there it is. I hope this helps those of you who were trying get into these exciting titles, but were turned off by their reliance on past readings. For those of you who have been DC fans for longer than I have (or if you just noticed some errors in my information), please leave comments or forum posts to clear the haze. To all, enjoy the rest of Final Crisis Aftermath! More reviews to come!

Sam

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So this website has been up for about a month now, and so far I am getting some great feedback from all of you! Thanks for that. But one portion of the website doesn’t seem to be getting the attention that I hoped it would, the forum.
So without further ado, I am posting this to let all of you know that a contest is officially under way! Here’s what you do:

1. Click “Forum” on the menu above.
2. Register for the forum (make sure to include your correct email address)
3. Click on any one of the three forums listed under “Contests”
4. Post your opinions on the topics that I posted

Me and three other anonymous posters will choose one post out of the three forums (one winner, not three) that we considered to put forth the best argument. The winning post can be a long reply to the original question, a long reply to another poster, or even a short and pithy reply to either. You do not have to agree with the judges to win, but you do need to be on-topic to be considered. You may post as many times as you would like, but do not double post or spam as that would be grounds for disqualification. So what are you doing this for?

The Prize

A Comic Book Review and Monkey Lightning are going to be working together to ship a 6” collectible Flash action figure directly to the address of the winner! Because the figure is going to be shipped from Kentucky, I must stipulate that contestants must have an address in the US or Canada. My apologies to those of you have been visiting the website from other countries, but I just don’t have the money for the figure AND international shipping. Make sure you visit Monkey Lightning and see what they have available (including a copy of the scrapped Justice League tv show pilot!) and thank them for their generous support. Good luck to all of you who plan to enter the contest!

The Contest will end on Sunday, July 26th at 11:59pm. The winner will be notified via email (once again make sure your registration email address is accurate) by the following weekend.

Please email any questions or concerns to sam@acomicbookreview.com

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The time has come for me to eat my words. Just last week, I was writing reviews and slipping in complaints about the much-delayed Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds. Alas, I made a call to Comic Madness in Chino not long ago and found out that Legion of Three Worlds 4 was waiting for me. That being said, I am at a stand-still. What do I do with this issue and its upcoming conclusion?

Should I write a review for just 4 and 5? Should I do what I did with Cacophony and wait for 5 to come out and then do a cumulative review? Should I bother at all? What about Final Crisis, should I post reviews on all of those? Should I conclude this paragraph even though it is composed of all questions? Yes and no.

I want your opinions. I know a lot of bad press is out there on FC, but not much else. After all of the hard work DC writers and artists have put into it, I feel like they deserve something better, but I am not sure I can give them that. Final Crisis had its high points and low points. I enjoyed Rogue’s Revenge, Requiem, and Resist especially; while Superman Beyond 3D and the bulk of FC 7 disappointed the crap out of me. But most of all, I feel like I owe something to Final Crisis for what it did in broadening my comic book horizons.

Event comics have this way with including the maximum amount of characters that enriches and replenishes the comic community. I went into Final Crisis caring only about its effect on Batman, and I came out interests in the Flash, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, and so many other new things. That isn’t to mention all of the other things that I now have knowledge of like: what is going on in Oracle: The Cure, Blackest Night (and its possible new avenue for a Bruce Wayne return), my adored Secret Six, etc. Heck I wouldn’t even be writing on this site if it weren’t for Final Crisis.

So sure, Final Crisis was inadequate on a few levels, but it served its function to us comic book enthusiasts who love to argue with each other and talk about our favorite issues with our friends. If it got me into more comics, then it probably made you a few ne comic friends as well. This goes for event comics in general. Infinite Crisis and Identity Crisis were both mind-blowing AND immersive; Final Crisis just missed the mark.

While I am on the topic, I’m pretty bummed to see people giving Morrison crap about Final Crisis, and calling the event a bald-faced money-making scheme. Aren’t most things –good or bad –originally done for fortune and glory? Did you call it a money-making scheme when Francis Ford Coppola made the God Father, or when George Lucas made A New Hope or Raiders of the Lost Ark? Coppola made Jack, a story of a boy played by Robin Williams who aged to fast and had a hard time making friends; and Lucas mad Howard the Duck, a little person in a duck costume saving the world from alien invaders. How come they’re allowed to miss the mark and Grant Morrison isn’t? Final Crisis is a lot better than Jack, I’ll tell you that. Just don’t forget to give Morrison credit for his works like All Star Superman and Arkham Asylum.

Anyways, the point of this blog is to get some input on what I should do with Final Crisis. Cumulative reviews of each mini? Reviews of Legion of Three Worlds 4 and 5? Maybe reviews of just my favorites? Nothing at all? Let me know! As of now I haven’t read Legion of Three Worlds 4, but I will soon. The dude at Comic Madness said it is dope and the cover looks pretty cool. That’s all I know. More to come, thanks for reading.

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