Final Crisis #4 [Spoilers]

[Equinox]

I was gonna say the same. I remember the Superman/Batman and GL work, and he's cleaner and tighter on those inks compared to JG.

For me, Pacheco's finest work was on "Avengers Forever"; a series like that was proof enough for me that he shoulda been given the artistic keys to Final Crisis from the beginning...

[AZN_FIST]

For me, Pacheco's finest work was on "Avengers Forever"; a series like that was proof enough for me that he shoulda been given the artistic keys to Final Crisis from the beginning...

I never saw those, but agreed. I think it's been overdue for Carlos to get an event gig, I also wish that a guy of a similar caliber and yet a better time with deadline would've done the interiors.

[David]

I liked it.

It's a sad day when the fishie doesn't take the bait... 

Thread title states [Spoilers], so I ain't venturin' without readin'.

[Dave Faust]

I wrote this yesterday and posted it on the Raging Bullets forum, but it sums up pretty well how I felt.

I read a lot of comics, but I don't write that many reviews. The reason is, I tend to obsess over what I want to say and writing even a couple of paragraphs takes much longer than it really should. After my third read-through of Final Crisis #4, I started composing in my head a couple things I wanted to say, and one word kept popping up again and again: "watch" (or "watched" or "was watching"). This of course was in the place of "read". At first I thought I might me having a little test fatigue, it's midterm exam time and I've been giving speaking tests to all of my classes for the past two weeks. But the more I thought about this issue, the more I realized that "watch" was exactly how I felt about this issue. Final Crisis #4 is by far the most cinematic of all of the issues released so far, including all of the peripheral minis and one-shots. I don't mean cinematic in that often (over)-quoted term "wide screen", I mean that from the first page to the last we immediately get pulled into the story, as if no time has passed between issues 3 and 4, and we're pulled along so quickly that it's hard to keep up with the dazzling surroundings (courtesy of JG Jones and Carlos Pacheco) and the frantic, desperate tones of Grant Morrison's script. More than anything, this issue reminded me of Alfonso Cuarón's excellent 2006 film Children of Men with Emmanuel Lubezki's amazing cinematography, in addition to, of course, George Romero's zombie films.

The issue moves along so quickly that it's easy to miss all of the great character moments scattered throughout: The Ray being used incredibly well, The bickering between Mokkari and Godfrey over who will receive more praise from Darkseid once he's resurrected, Alan Scott's speech used to both inspire the remaining heroes and catch us (the readers) up on the current status of the world, Black Adam ready to join the battle (that was a "hell yeah" moment), Barry and Wally taking just a few seconds to catch up regardless of the fact that Barry has been dead for years (gotta love comics), Barry's reunion with Iris, and Oliver Queen's last stand and sacrifice. I really hated to see Shilo Norman get shot, but after all, his name is Mr. Miracle so I'm sure he's not finished (good thing his name isn't Mr. Not-My-Day or Mr. Unlucky). Last but certainly not least, Dan Turpin's heroic, but ultimately futile fight against the essence of Darkseid. His struggle and final transformation are truly horrific and when I re-read the issue I thought to myself: "Now this is how Anakin Skywalker's transformation to Darth Vader should have felt".

All-in-all, another home run for the Final Crisis team. Three more issues to go and I can't wait.

[malpractice]

I read this issue in the afternoon yesterday and wasn't crazy about it, but I re-read this issue last night at about 3 a.m, and now I think it is my favorite issue of the series so far. Wow, the difference a few hours can make. Some of the scenes in this issue brought back memories from the Angel series finale, certain panels of Watchmen, and some scenes in the movie Children Of Men. All of the moments in the issue that were supposed to effect me did on this read when i just let everything soak in. The panel featuring Blue Beetle hugging a child really got to me for some reason. The heroes are going to have to do a "Ghostbusters in the Statue Of Liberty" type thing to save everybody this time lol

[Papercut]

Last but certainly not least, Dan Turpin's heroic, but ultimately futile fight against the essence of Darkseid. His struggle and final transformation are truly horrific and when I re-read the issue I thought to myself: "Now this is how Anakin Skywalker's transformation to Darth Vader should have felt".

I'm hoping I'm right when I say that Turpin's not done yet -- I think he's still got a large role to play as the story continues...

[evaD]

I read this week's issues of Final Crisis and Secret Invasion back to back and was left with this impression:
Final Crisis is, hands down, the better of the two series. At the very, least Final Crisis main series contains more punch then Secret Invasion's main series.

[Fredpool]

Did any one else find it unnecessary for FC:Submit to be a #1 rather than being in the FC proper?
Rather than skipping a month, they could have made Submit be FC 4 last month.

I was kind of disappointed with Submit (I had foolishly already read FC 4, they should have suggested a reading order), but I would have been REALLY disappointed if that had been labelled as FC 4.  Not a heck of a lot happened, and what did was pretty well explained in the main title.  That said, I'm loving this series!

[AZN_FIST]

I'm soooo glad I didn't buy SUBMIT, tee-hee.

[deadcowaroma]

I kinda liked Submit. It wasn't up to snuff with Grant Morrison's normal quality, but if you erased his name and put someone else's name on it, it would be a fairly good book.

[Derek Coward]

Unlike Turpin, I give this issue a thumbs up!!!   

This issue was great.  I almost screamed out "HOLY SHIT!" when Shilo got shot after announcing that there was a way to win.  It was a great way to put the final nail in the hope coffin.

I laughed OUT LOUD when I read that.  Not a slight chuckle, but a eyewatering guffaw.  No matter how low my opinion is of this "event", that was some good Countdown right there.

[AZN_FIST]

I'm hoping I'm right when I say that Turpin's not done yet -- I think he's still got a large role to play as the story continues...

I got a gut feeling from the narrative that Turpin might do something crazy at the end. As for Shilo, that's not Shilo (if anyone still assumes he is), it's one of the Japanese heroes dressed as him. There's a reason he's known to be an Escapist.