Is it necessary to read Final Crisis after RIP?

[BadBoy House]

I've just finished reading the last issue of RIP and have also just read Final Crisis 1 and 2.

I was fairly confused after reading the two issues - I'm only really interested in what happens to Batman in Final Crisis in terms of how he "dies".

Is it necessary to read the whole thing in order to understand what happens to Batman? If not i think I'll probably skip it. I'm just not really getting what I've read so far.

[Mr. Holmes]

You don't need to read Final Crisis. The two epilogue issues of Batman RIP, Last Rites, tie in to give you FC in Batman's perspective, #682-683.

Then you have Batman #701-702, which is the "missing chapter" of RIP.

That's all you need.

[BadBoy House]

Cheers. I really wasn't going to get into FC

[tylenoljones]

If you're looking for trades, the Last Rites issues are included in the R.I.P. trade, and the "missing chapter" of R.I.P. is collected in the Time and the Batman trade.

[jgiannantoni05]

The Time and the Batman trade is enough. It shows what happened in FC with Batman.

But no reader should think they can escape Morrison's Batman stories without being forced to think. One way or other, if you're gonna "get it", you're gonna have to patiently think stuff out. And perhaps re-read.

[batman23]

The Time and the Batman trade is enough. It shows what happened in FC with Batman.

But no reader should think they can escape Morrison's Batman stories without being forced to think. One way or other, if you're gonna "get it", you're gonna have to patiently think stuff out. And perhaps re-read.

Not to generalize too much, but I think that's what turns off most reader's to his stories- thinking about the story/the many layers he lies the ground work for. I think many expect or prefer just strictly "action" type of comics.

[jgiannantoni05]

but I think that's what turns off most reader's to his stories

Oh, I know it is. No doubt. Our politicians and employers all love that aspect of most of us.

[T Hedge Coke]

No one panic.

The comics won't force you to suddenly have all sorts of intricate philosophical debates and continuity-correction wars in your head. It's possible to read most of Morrison's Bat-output as straight stories without engaging philosophic, metaphoric, or metatextual levels at all... and still walk away with a kickass experience. Sometimes the giggly eater of faces on his pink motorcycle sent by the mob to kick a new Batman's butt is just a giggly eater of faces on a pink motorcycle. At least, sometimes, you don't have to read any deeper into it.

Morrison knows how to let spectacle speak and the punches fly.

Not to generalize too much, but I think that's what turns off most reader's to his stories- thinking about the story/the many layers he lies the ground work for. I think many expect or prefer just strictly "action" type of comics.

"Most readers"?

He's one the top sellers in American comics. Most readers, apparently, are just fine enjoying Morrison's comics.

[batman23]

"Most readers"?

He's one the top sellers in American comics. Most readers, apparently, are just fine enjoying Morrison's comics.

And I'm one of them.

I was just explaining that not only on this forum, but there are readers out there who just don't like Morrison's comics.

[T Hedge Coke]

And I'm one of them.

I was just explaining that not only on this forum, but there are readers out there who just don't like Morrison's comics.

I wasn't judging you (or anyone in particular), just clarifying that while it may seem, sometimes like "most" readers are somehow not interested, sales show that it's very much the minority of readers who find Morrison's work too cerebral or artsy or whatever. Sorry if that didn't come off clearly.

[tylenoljones]

Well, to be fair Batman sells well regardless of whether it's artsy and cerebral or it's Finch's Dark Knight.

That being said, Morrison's enduring popularity outside of mainstream superheroes does support your claim.

[Mr. Holmes]

Oh, I know it is. No doubt. Our politicians and employers all love that aspect of most of us.

Not to mention the knee jerk reaction against this statement, the "You think I'm stupid because I don't like it??"

[batman23]

I wasn't judging you (or anyone in particular), just clarifying that while it may seem, sometimes like "most" readers are somehow not interested, sales show that it's very much the minority of readers who find Morrison's work too cerebral or artsy or whatever. Sorry if that didn't come off clearly.

Understood. I didn't mean to come off as judgmental towards whole comic book reading populous. I love Morrison's work and I wish everybody would, but the world doesn't work that way.

[stk]

Some people like to buy a book and read a story. Not buy a book with most of a story and then be forced to go on a scavenger hunt to figure out where the remaining fragments of story are hidden and what order they need to be read in.

I don't mind ambiguity, and I don't mind being asked to think by a narrative. But when I, say, buy a dvd of a David Lynch movie, Lynch doesn't take an integral few chapters of the dvd and hide them in the middle of one of his other movie dvd releases.

[B. Kuwanger]

Not so much that the stories are layered as it's the fact that they're often layered in incredibly obscure references. I'm half his age and half a world away, just not gonna get everything he throws out there, or always be compelled to try. That 3D Superman comic was about as close to RIP as those allusions got, and I still don't even know what the hell, four years later.

Not to mention the knee jerk reaction against this statement, the "You think I'm stupid because I don't like it??"

There are definitely posters that feel insecure about such a thing, but I'm just as certain that there are posters that feel smart for "liking it."