So, with me picking up so many events, I’d resolved to try and not get suckered into buying all the tie ins. However, I cracked this week with Final Crisis and picked up Rogues Revenge and Requiem.

Rogues Revenge sees Geoff Johns return to the Flash characters, as we get a series based around the Rogues. The Rogues have had some really meaty stuff over the last year or so, since they crossed the line by killing Bart, and this first issue throws open some interesting twists. There’s a few retcons along the way, as the Rogues beating Bart to death is replaced by the Rogues more accidental killing of Bart. They were so used to Flashes being able to outrun their weapons, they hadn’t counted on Inertia stealing Bart’s speed from him, leaving him vulnerable. Of course, they could actually be in denial as to what really happened. We also find out that The Trickster and Pied Piper were actually undercover in the Rogues, working to gather information to take them down, to help rebuild trust lost during the Rogue War.

James Jesse’s death in Countdown has also paved the way for the second Trickster to reclaim the mantel, which I thought was a nice touch.

Finally, Zoom’s appearance and his reasons behind freeing Inertia were great. I really love the reinvented Zoom with his warped morality.

I enjoyed this title a lot, although the Final Crisis tie in aspect seems a bit lacking at this point, with it being a side plot with the Rogues turning down Libra’s offer to join the Society. Instead this seems more focused on tying up loose ends from the last couple of years in the Flash franchise (leaving a clean slate for Barry?).

Requiem was actually a title I hadn’t bothered picking up last week. Martian Manhunter’s not a big draw for me, so it seemed missable. Then I found out it was written by Peter Tomasi and it got glowing reviews online.

And true enough, this is a great companion piece to Final Crisis #1. We see the J’onn’s demise wasn’t nearly as easy as Final Crisis #1 made it appear, and Tomasi gives us a really touching funeral issue for the character.

There’s not a huge amount I can really say about this issue, but while its by no means necessary to enjoy Final Crisis, its definitely worth a read. I’m not even a big fan of J’onn, but this issue did a great job of making me care that he’d died (well, at least until he gets better - which we know will happen sooner or later).

This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 23:25 and is filed under Comics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.