Saturday, January 31, 2009
FINAL CRISIS is Grant Morrison's masterpiece.
Regardless of how you feel about what happened to Batman in the last issue, the true intent and meaning of what the purpose was from the outset has been revealed, and for a story that started off so hopeless, we got a tale that's inspired by the human condition of taking a nearly impossible situation and making it work. Aspirations, convictions, desires, and willpower are all important and present parts of the story.
In the end, this story is not only a tribute to the DC Universe, it's a tribute to the best parts of humanity, and what it means to be human -- even if you're Kryptonian. It's a story that had evil win at a point, but then our heroes (with Superman at the lead) give us a happy ending because they're strong enough, they're good enough, and they had something that villains rarely have: unending hope.
In regards to the big three, the story is also a testimony to the strength of Superman as a character. This will sound strange to those who haven't read it, but the simple beauty of the moment touched me: Superman stared down a tenet of the DC Universe's creation, and was asked by him, what do you wish? At the very end, when everything was done and the Monitors discuss the events, one asked another, "What did Superman wish for?" The Monitor responded, "He's Superman. He wished only the best for us…He wished for a happy ending."
Call me a sap, but that IS Superman. He is the DC's messiah, and Morrison made damn sure that that tenet of his character was maintained. The DCU went to hell when he's gone, and he returns to save us from Darkseid and ourselves. And, he wins.
But of course, as the Bat-Fans we are, we want to know what happened with our Caped Crusader in this issue.
If you read my recent opinion piece, laying out the evidence for Batman still being very much alive, then you wouldn't be too surprised at a portion of the issue's end, but you might be slightly touched at Morrison's unending elegance to inspire.
Anthro is a DC character who was created by Howard Post as the first boy in existence. At the beginning of FINAL CRISIS, we saw New God Metron show Anthro fire for the first time. The first achievement in human existence was revealed to be bestowed on us by the New Gods.
At the very end of FINAL CRISIS, a much older Anthro is in a cave carving the symbols that were on Metron's body into his cave wall. He quietly lays down, a half smile on his face looking up at someone, and passes on peacefully. Laying a very modern belt down on his chest, we see another man in the cave at the near-beginning of time. Carving a black symbol into the cave, he is wearing dark blue all-terrain boots, grey tights and dark blue briefs.
The symbol was a bat.
The man was a bearded Bruce Wayne. Very much alive, and lost in time, right next to the last words of the series. I believe Morrison wants to tell us, with the series' last words, exactly how he feels not only about the DCU but Batman himself…
"The fire burns forever."
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