Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Final Crisis Requiem
DC Comics
Tomasi, Mahnke & Alamy

I picked up this issue a week late because there was such a high buzz surrounding it when it came out. Not interested in Final Crisis and not really a fan of Martian Manhunter I decided to pick it up because of the collective cheer it received upon release. I figured if it truly were a great comic then I shouldn’t need to be following Final Crisis or be a fan of Martian Manhunter. My suspicions were correct: This is an excellent comic.

By now you may know that Martian Manhunter is dead. In this issue his JLA friends give him a funeral. Then we flash back to just how he was killed. The flashback takes you step by step into how the villains killed him and who was involved in which aspect of it. It’s very creative storytelling as you are left thinking that Martian Manhunter is a slug waiting to die until he really fights back in an outstanding way as only Martian Manhunter can.

Eventually Martian Manhunter is killed and the JLA are alerted immediately by Martian Manhunter placing pieces of his memory into a select group of them. This is more outstanding storytelling. We see the heroes doing their own thing in various places and they are awoken speaking about random pieces of Manhunter’s life. This sequence has some funny pieces to it as well from Green Arrow and Alfred. It also provides the horrifying discovery of his body.

The comic then gives a quiet moment as Green Lantern and Green Arrow discuss Martian Manhunter while tending to his body. It’s a nice touch to the story and the dialogue really sounds fitting and sincere.

The comic ends with each of the heroes who have Martian Manhunter’s memories telling what they know about the man and his life. It’s a good anthology of sorts for the character. Finally, the group says their goodbyes to his body and Batman leaves an excellent send off providing a great punctuation to the story.

The comic is a very touching story and you need to have no background on the character or Final Crisis. I enjoyed every page in this comic and I couldn’t care less about the character. That is excellent storytelling.

The artwork provides a little bit of a frustration for me. I had a difficult time telling some of the close-ups of the characters without their masks on. It’s a minor point but it did detract from the story slightly. I also had no idea who Gypsy was (assuming it is her) until I looked it up on wikipedia. Overall, the artwork nailed the somber mood for this comic. I particularly enjoyed the look to his tomb.

I cant say this makes me want to run out and read all of Final Crisis, but this particular piece of the story is well worth it to someone on the sidelines if you like a good requiem comic. I’m not sure I have ever read a better one. I highly recommend this comic if you can still find it.

4.5 out of 5 geek goggles


Final Crisis Requiem #1 (Cover A)

Final Crisis Requiem #1 (Cover B)