- Writer: Grant Morrison
- Pencillers: Carlos Pacheco & J.G. Jones
- Inkers: Jesus Merino & Marco Rudy
- Colorist: Alex Sinclair
- Letterer: Travis Lanham
- Cover Artist: J.G. Jones
- Editors: Eddie Berganza & Adam Schlagman
Page 1 – Panel 1: The trial of Hal Jordan for the murder of Orion finally gets underway on the planet Oa, home of the Guardians of The Universe who are in turn the creators and leaders of the Green Lantern Corps. The floating blue dwarfs are seven of the Guardians; below them is Alpha Lantern Boodikka; in chains in the centre is Jordan himself; and the tentacled prosecutor is Malet Dasim. Off to the side are, presumably, the jury of Lanterns. Top row left to right are Veniz; Apros; G’Hu. Bottom row we have someone who might be Ion (Sodam Yat); Tomy-Fai; Torquemada; Rees-Van; and Skirl.
Page 1 – Panel 2: Dasim introduces Alpha Lantern Kraken who, as we know by now, hasn’t been herself for some time.
Page 1 – Panel 4: Kraken refers to the gone again-there again scar that has (or has not) been shown on Jordan’s forehead. I dare say it’ll be put in when the series is collected.
Page 2 – Panel 2: Arriving in a flash of green are the two Honor Lanterns, Guy Gardner (with the wide, white belt) and Kyle Rayner. Both have served as regular Lanterns but were promoted some time ago.
Page 2 – Panels 4 and 5: Gardner accuses Kraken of hosting one of the Apokoliptian gods which she denies.
Page 3 – Panels 2 and 3: And which she then admits seconds later as she attempts to attack the Central Power Battery as Gardner uses his ring to stop her.
Page 4 – Panels 3 and 4: Kraken uses her ring constructs to attack the Guardians, severely wounding one of them. The Guardians start the Krona Protocol to protect the Battery – this is named after a Maltusian (the Guardians’ original race) who tried to pierce the origin of the universe and was banished for doing so. It’s a convoluted but important piece of Green Lantern/DC Universe history as it was Krona’s act that inadvertently created the original Multiverse.
Page 4 – Panel 5: Kraken mentions Metron giving “them” – humans, presumably – an “ultimate technology“. This refers to issue: #1 where Metron gave fire to Anthro.
Page 4 – Panel 6: Jordan escapes his bonds as Kraken’s ring weakens.
Page 5 – Panel 3: As Jordan knocks out Kraken, the other Alpha Lanterns appear. From left to right they are Varix, Boodikka, Green Man and Chaselon.
Page 5 – Panel 4: As the Guardian injured by Kraken falls, the jury looks on. Left to right are someone that might be Cimfet Tau; Torquemada; Tomar Tu; and Turytt.
Page 5 – Panel 6: Salaak arrives and Jordan tells him that the New God Granny Goodness is inhabiting Kraken’s mind.
Page 6 – Panel 1: Rayner says that spacetime has crumpled, “weeks smashed into days.” That either explains away any continuity glitches FINAL CRISIS and its tie-ins have suffered or the delay in the shipping times!
Page 6 – Panel 3: Alpha Lantern Green Man confirms the reports of Rayner and Gardner.
Page 6 – Panel 6: I’m not entirely certain why the Guardian states Jordan has 24 hours to save the universe; it probably refers to the Lanterns’ ring’s 24 hour charge. Once he gets to Earth, he may not be able to recharge.
Page 7 – Panel 1: In Checkmate castle, The Question (at the top of the stairs), Amanda Waller (next one down) and Taleb Beni Khalid discuss the arrival of Überfraulein or Overgirl, the Supergirl analogue from another universe who arrived in the early pages of issue #3. Off to one side there appears to be an autopsy of one of the Justifiers taking place.
Page 7 – Panel 4: The “kit super-soldiers” are clearly based on the original OMAC, another Kirby creation like the New Gods themselves.
Page 7 – Panel 5: Waller wants The Question to help with Checkmate’s plan. This obviously takes place sometime after REVELATIONS where, at the time of writing, The Question is still facing off against Vandal Savage.
Page 8 – Panel 1: Cats on dogs – it really is the end of the world. This is the entrance to the Bludhaven stronghold of the Apokoliptian New Gods.
Page 8 – Panel 2: Transformed into the new Female Furies, this is Wonder Woman, Batwoman and (sitting down) Catwoman.
Page 8 – Panel 3: Left to right are Simyan, Reverend G. Godfrey Goode/Glorious Godfrey and Mokkari. As all of Darkseid’s sycophantic followers do, they vie for the affection – or at least the attention – of their master.
Page 8 – Panel 4: They kneel before Darkseid who was once Dan Turpin.
Page 9 – Panel 2: Darkseid refers to a “rabid angel” and his “plague goddess” – this is likely to be Wonder Woman who, in issue #3 was infected with something by Mary Marvel.
Page 9 – Panel 3: The new Furies are joined by a somewhat cramped looking Giganta.
Page 10 – Panel 1: The Checkmate castle in Switzerland is still under siege as show in the previous issue. On the left is Tempest and, wings aflame, is Hawkgirl.
Page 10 – Panel 3: On the left the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott, is captured by the Justifiers as, from the right, Donna Troy – already under the influence of Anti-Life – flies in with a Justifier helmet for him. There’s a whirlwind in the background which we’ll deal with in the very next panel!
Page 10 – Panel 4: The cavalry arrive in time to save him. Hawkman in the centre and clockwise from him are Cyclone (in the midst of the whirlwind); Stargirl (in the top right); Starman (below Cyclone); what looks to be Argent (below Hawkman); Bulleteer; Black Condor; and Blue Beetle. Bulleteer, by the way, was created by Grant Morrison as part of the SEVEN SOLDIERS story and, in interviews given since, he’s stated that she cannot fly. She seems to be doing okay with the whole flight thing at the moment, though.
Page 11 – Panel 1: Following on from last issue, the Super Young Team have arrived at the castle with Mr. Miracle only to have him shot by an over-enthusiastic guard. In front of the car is Most Excellent Super Bat with the diminutive Shy Crazy Lolita Canary flying ahead of him. On the car itself is Mr, Miracle and left to right behind him are Shiny Happy Aquazon, Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash, Big Atomic Lantern Boy and Sonny Sumo. In front of the car is Mr. Terrific.
Page 11 – Panels 2-3: Shy Crazy Lolita Canary seems to have a sonic canary cry similar to Black Canary.
Page 11 – Panel 4: As with the previous issue, Mr. Miracle’s skin tone seems too light here; it’ll probably be altered in the collection.
Page 11 – Panel 6: Sonny Sumo holds a Motherboxxx, the latest version of the New Gods’ living technology.
Page 12 – Panels 1 and 2: And Mr. Miracle pulls off another miraculous escape thanks to his impact-proof vest.
Page 12 – Panel 4: The “cosmic war” Miracle mentions has been waged off panel between the New Gods of New Genesis and Apokolips and which has resulted in Darkseid coming to Earth. New Genesis and Apokolips were part of the Fourth World created by Jack Kirby and have been washed away by the war – the Fifth is apparently coming to stay.
Page 13 – Panel 1: Mr. Terrific mentions an attack on Bludhaven which we will see in a moment. However, the sacrifice for that attack was to make the castle a target.
Page 13 – Panel 4: All of the Super Young Team have a Metron style circuit painted on their faces; Mr. Miracle recommends everyone else doing the same.
Pages 14 and 15 – Panel 1: Kalibak, in his new body, leads his tiger-clan out to meet the attack on Bludhaven.
Pages 16 and 17: The attack on Bludhaven that Mr. Terrific referred to is underway. From left to right, those flying are Captain Marvel; STRIPE; Black Adam; Green Lantern John Stewart; Supergirl; and Iman. The vehicles the heroes are riding are actually the Metal Men; Vixen, Blue Devil and Bronze Tiger are riding Iron; Liberty Belle and Hourman are riding Lead; beside them is J.A.K.E. 2 of the Creature Commandos; Frankenstein is riding Tin; both Wildcats are riding Mercury; Mr. America and (possibly) Major Disaster are riding Gold; and finally Red Arrow on Platinum. Thanks to Wayne Sallee for informing me about the Metal Men.
Page 18 – Panels 1 and 2: Iman falls and says, translated from the Spanish, “What hit me? Ah, $&#*! My armor’s useless. Weighs a ton… what would Superman do…?” Translation wholly stolen from Douglas Wolk’s excellent Final Crisis Annotations Blog.
Page 18 – Panel 3: Frankenstein rides in quoting Milton’s Paradise Lost.
Page 18 – Panel 5: Kalibak waits for “the lightning” – this is a reference to Mary Marvel, Darkseid’s own Marvel-family slave.
Page 19 – Panels 1 to 5: Mary Marvel swoops down after Supergirl, unaware that Black Adam waits for her until he attacks, sending her to the ground.
Page 20 – Panel 1: As Captain Marvel flies in, Black Adam beats Mary who seems to enjoy it.
Page 20 – Panel 2: Adam says he saw “a leering old man” in Mary’s eyes; it’s likely that Mary is possessed in the same way Alpha Lantern Kraken was by another of the Apokoliptian New Gods, probably Desaad.
Page 21 – Panel 1: Having despatched Black Adam, Mary attacks Captain Marvel. She calls him Freddie as his alter ego is Freddie Freeman and until the TRIALS OF SHAZAM mini-series he used to be Captain Marvel, Jr.
Page 21 – Panel 3: Mr. Tawky Tawny, an ally of the Marvel family, arrives using the jet pack he mentioned in issue #3. He says he has a Quantum Blunderbuss taken from Professor Sivana’s son – this would presumably be Thaddeus Sivana Jr.
Page 21 – Panel 5: Kalibak arrives, preparing to attack Tawny.
Page 22 – Panel 1: Nix Uotan, the banished Monitor, is thrown into a cell where a wheelchair bound man and a hooded figure sit. The man in the wheelchair is likely the version of Metron seen in MISTER MIRACLE.
Page 22 – Panel 2: The speech bubble should show that it’s the hooded figure speaking and not the wheelchair guy but either way it explains why they are there – they’re “the ones wired up different” that are immune or at least resistant to Anti-Life.
Page 22 – Panel 3: The hooded figure says that a Rubik’s Cube cannot be solved in under 18 moves, calling it the Number of God.
Page 22 – Panel 5: The hooded figure hands Nix one of the pieces of paper that were thrown in with him which shows the same symbol Anthro was drawing on the rock at the end of issue #1. Note also the furred thumb of the hooded figure and his mention of Nix’s kind – he seems aware of the Monitors or at least that Nix is something different.
Page 23 – Panel 4: The hooded figure unwraps one of the pages and finds a picture of Weeja Dell, the Monitor that Nix Uotan loved and who was last seen in issue #1. The furred hands are definitely not human.
Page 23 – Panel 5: Nix Uotan remembers the name of his love.
Page 24 – Panel 3: As Justifiers arrive to take Nix Uotan elsewhere, the wheelchair bound man solves the Rubik’s Cube in 17 moves. The “Ping” obviously refers to a Motherbox.
Page 25 – Panel 1: Libra oversees the judgement on the Calculator who is being dragged up the steps to the hangman’s noose. Behind Libra are Dr Sivana and, in the green and purple armour, Lex Luthor. The Calculator has been found guilty of betraying the Society when it seems likely that it was Luthor.
Page 25 – Panel 3: Libra’s glance at Luthor seems to indicate he suspects Luthor of betraying the Society.
Page 26 – Panel 1: Supergirl and John Stewart attempt to break through the barrier around Command-D. Supergirl’s “big cousin” is, of course, Superman who is absent due to SUPERMAN BEYOND 3D.
Page 26 – Panel 2: Another speech bubble mistake – it should be Glorious Godfrey speaking these words as Darkseid kills his servants for their failure in trying to merge Batman’s mind with the clone army.
Page 26 – Panel 5: Darkseid rises, the last vestiges of Dan Turpin having been subsumed.
Page 27 – Panels 1 and 2: Supergirl flies above Bludhaven, detecting Darkseid’s energy surge, unaware that behind her Mary Marvel approaches.
Page 27 – Panel 3: Witnessing Mary’s attack are Hourman and Frankenstein. Behind Hourman is Citizen Steel.
Page 27 – Panel 4: Despite Mary’s attack, Supergirl’s still willing to talk with her.
Page 28 – Panels 1 to 3: As John Stewart realises the world is going to hell – or at least Darkseid – the Green Lantern Corps arrive in Earth orbit.
Page 28 – Panel 4: The Lanterns spin down into the singularity. In the centre is Hal Jordan; directly above him is Guy Gardner; clockwise from Gardner are Arisia; Kyle Rayner; Kilowog (in the top right); Isamot Kol; probably Vath Sarn; probably Soranik Natu; and Brik.
Page 29 – Panel 1: President Horne who appears to have escaped the Anti-Life Equation for the time being.
Page 29 – Panel 2: John Stewart’s ring loses just about all of its power.
Pages 30-31 – Panels 1-6: Darkseid takes control of three billion humans, all of whom are under the control of the Anti-Life Equation.
Pages 30-31 – Panel 7: In the cell with Nix Uotan, the wheelchair bound man and the hooded figure, something else is happening.
Page 32: Nix Uotan is transformed into something else, bonding with the Rubik’s Cube Motherbox and being able to view events that are happening around him . . . kinda like a Monitor.
Crisis on Earth-Prime 