I still say that Final Crisis is easier to read than Crisis on Infinite Earths was when I started buying that series blind with issue #5, then could only find issues #1 and 3, so for YEARS I had only read 1, 3, 5, and 7-12 of Crisis. I had no idea what was going on without the missing pieces of the story but it got me to invest in reading other books.
It is the classic problem. Readers want new and interesting stories that are rigidly based on all the things they know and love about the character.
Give me something new but not too new. (I freely admit to myself that I have this trait in me as well.)