PAGE 1
This issue open outside a trendy nightspot in Tokyo. A group of superhero fans can be seen queuing up waiting for the bouncers to allow them entry. The man on the left with the Joker shirt features a reproduction of the cover for Batman: The Killing Joke, originally by Brian Bolland. The satchel features the original Robin logo adopted by Tim Drake when he first became the third Robin.

Also seen are two women dressed up as Wonder Woman and Mary Marvel. As easter eggs, a version of Street Fighter's Chun Li and an Imperial Stormtrooper from Star Wars may be seen in background. I do not recognize the other logos and billboards in the background, with the exception of the partially obscured blue neon HMV billboard.

PAGES 2 & 3 - PANEL 1
Rising Sun and the rest of the Big Science Action team are seen taking down a monster named Fushikuraje, who is stomping around Tokyo on its way to the Monster Graveyard beneath Mount Fuji. Rising Sun is the only pre-existing character in these two pages, with the rest being new characters created by Grant Morrison and J.G. Jones just for Final Crisis.

Rising Sun is Japan's very first superhero, and he first appearance was in Super Friends # 8. He was once upon a time a member of the now defunct Global Guardians, which was the first international superteam in the DC Universe before they were replaced first by Justice League International and subsequently the Ultramarine Corps.

The rest of the Big Science Action team seen (from left to right; excluding Rising Sun) are Boss Bosozuko, Junior Waveman, Ultimon, Hammersuit Zero-X, Cosmo Racer, and an unknown character that reminds me of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. This is the first appearances of these characters, and were first shown in Final Crisis Sketchbook # 1. Fushikuraje and the Monster Graveyard are also new concepts introduced by Grant Morrison.

PAGES 2 & 3 - PANEL 5
Seen in this panel, visibly upset about Rising Sun's television interview disparaging the new generation of Japanese superheroes are the members of the Super Young Team. Clockwise from the lower left of the panel are Shiny Happy Aquazon, Shy Crazy Lolita Canary, Most Excellent Superbat, Big Atomic Lantern Boy, and Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash. These crazy names are intentional riffs on manga/animé clichés and as with Big Science Action, these characters are making their debut here after their introduction in Final Crisis Sketchbook # 1.

It should be noted that the Super Young Team (or Most Excellent Superbat at least) was initially supposed to debut in 52, as a sketch for Most Excellent Superbat can be found in page 60 of J.G. Jones' 52: The Covers graphic album.

PAGES 4 - 6
Sonny Sumo makes his first appearance in a comic since 1972's Forever People # 7. He is one of the humans who possesses a piece of the Anti-Life Equation and also owns a Mother Box, which is stashed away in a secret location known only to the Forever People. Of course the Forever People were killed by The Source in Death of the New Gods # 4. New character Megayakuza challenges Sonny Sumo to a fight at the end of page 4, whom Sonny kills by ripping his heart out in page six.

PAGE 7 - PANELS 1 & 2
Shilo Norman drives up to the nightclub, and is accorded VIP status by the club bouncers, which is consistent with his super-celebrity status and the DC Universe's version of Tokyo's preoccupation with American superhero culture.

PAGE 7 - PANELS 3 - 5
Big Atomic Lantern Boy of the Super Young Team fearfully approaches Sonny Sumo for an autograph.

PAGE 8 - PANEL 4
Sonny Sumo - 'The sound. I know that sound. Any my skin...'
Shilo Norman - 'Motherboxxx led me to you. She's about the only thing left after the war, see? There was a cosmic war... and the powers of evil won.'
Based on Shilo Norman's comments here, it looks like all the motherboxes have been destroyed by The Source (probably including the one in Sonny Sumo's possession) and his enhanced Motherboxxx is the only leftover from the Fourth World. The rest of Shilo's comments is an allusion to the events of Death of the New Gods and Countdown to Final Crisis # 12-2.

PAGE 9
It is revealed here that the man that wakes up at the final page of Final Crisis # 1 is Nix Uotan, who has been banished to Earth by the other Monitors for his part in failing to prevent the destruction of Universe 51. He has a job at Big Belly Burger, which is a fictional fast food chain that is headquartered in Metropolis and was first introduced in Adventures of Superman # 441. The Big Belly Burger mascot was designed after then Superman editor Mike Carlin.

He does not fully remember his past life as the monitor Nix Uotan, but feels that all he needs is to say a magic word to have his powers and abilities restored. This is reminiscent of the defeat of Black Adam in 52 # 50 when Captain Marvel used his new mastery of magic to change the magic word Teth-Adam uses to transform the Black Adam.

I am not familiar with the evil Superman-looking figure Nix Uotan is sketching in the fifth panel, but someone that looks eerily like Doctor Manhattan from Watchmen can be seen. I sincerely hope that the characters from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' masterpiece is not revealed to be one of the 51 remaining universes that make up the new DC Multiverse.

PAGE 10
Dan Turpin is seen here beating the snot out of the Mad Hatter. The Mad Hatter is Jarvis Tetch, a criminal from Gotham City who uses mind controlling devices in his hats, and adopted his identity from his obsession with Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. He first appeared in Batman # 49.

PAGE 11 - PANEL 1
The Reverend Goode can be seen in the television broadcast in the background, who is requesting US President Jonathan Horne to place a higher priority on the recovery of the devastated city of Blüdhaven. Then Vice-President Pete Ross was made acting president of the United States after Lex Luthor was impeached from the office following the events of Superman/Batman # 6. After an assassination attempt was made on Ross by the Suicide Squad in Superman Secret Files & Origins 2004, he decides to leave the office and returned to Smallville to raise his son. Jonathan Horne was made President of the United States by Checkmate under the advisement of Maxwell Lord.

PAGE 11 - PANEL 4
Dan Turpin - 'Don't feel too good. Don't look too good.'
Dan Turpin looks at himself through a cracked mirror and sees literal cracks appearing on his face. It was never revealed what happened after his confrontation with Boss Dark Side in the previous issue at the Dark Side Club, and this development may be a side effect from this encounter.

PAGE 12
Superman - 'And pray for a resurrection.'
Has death become such a revolving door in the DC Universe that Superman can eulogize the recently departed J'onn J'onzz and pray for his inevitable resurrection? (Come on, who actually believes that J'onn is gone for good?)

PAGE 13 - PANEL 2
Libra and the Secret Society of Super-Villains are still trying to convince Lex Luthor to join them! Seen from left to right in this panel are Effigy, Lex Luthor, Clayface, Human Flame, Reverse Flash, Vandal Savage, Ocean Master, Shadow Thief, Weather Wizard, Deathstroke, Talia al-Ghul, Doctor Light, Mirror Master, Doctor Sivana, Gorilla Grodd, Captain Cold, and Libra.

PAGE 14 - PANEL 1
Lex Luthor - 'Even that reptile Sivana agrees with me that we have to make an alliance against Libra's ambitions.'
It looks like Lex Luthor is not the only one who is not sold by Libra's sales pitch, despite the execution-style murder of the Martian Manhunter in the last issue. Is Sivana really willing to fall in cahoots with Luthor, or is Sivana feigning on behalf of Libra?

PAGE 14 - PANEL 2
Vandal Savage - 'If he promises me an end to boredom, I'll take it.'
The immortal Vandal Savage has been around for over 50000 years, and is bored of his eternal life. He had briefly lost his immortality in between JSA Classified # 10-13. Libra is not expected to be able to fulfil Vandal's wish here, as he will still be active in the 853rd century.

PAGE 15 - PANEL 1
Wonder Woman - 'The Justice League no longer has access to the instantaneous mind-to-mind contact J'onn's telepathic skills provided...'
Seen in this panel are Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman, each doing their bit to investigate the death of Orion. Wonder Woman's comments harks to a key strategic advantage the Justice League had enjoyed when J'onn was still alive and on active duty in the team, which allowed all Justice Leaguers to enjoy instant telepathic contact with one another in combat and emergency situations. This idea was first introduced by Grant Morrison in JLA # 1.

PAGE 15 - PANEL 2
Batman - 'The Secret Society vowed revenge on J'onn after he impersonated Blockbuster recently.'
J'onn J'onzz surreptitiously adopted the identity of the villain Blockbuster to keep tabs on the villains after they were exiled to the planet Cygnus 4019 (a.k.a. Salvation) in the Salvation Run mini-series. His ruse was discovered and he was killed by Libra in the previous issue not only as punishment for his activities but also as a show of strength to the rest of the Secret Society of Super-Villains.

PAGE 15 - PANEL 3
Green Lantern Hal Jordan shows up with Alpha Lantern Kraken to assist with the investigation of Orion's death. She first appeared in Green Lantern vol.4 # 25, battling alongside Kilowog and Miss Martian against the Sinestro Corp.

PAGE 16 - PANELS 1 - 3
Batman - 'The internal trauma's consistent with a blast pattern of a bullet detonating inside Orion's skull. What kind of bullet remains to be seen, since it left no other trace of its passage.'
Kraken - 'Someone shot a god and left no wound? I think not.'
Batman - 'I maintain he was shot. That's why I instructed one of your officers to reexamine the crime scene for a bullet.'
What Kraken says is true; it makes no sense to believe that Orion was killed with a gunshot but Batman is making his assumption by employing the same deductive reasoning methodology employed by many detectives, including but not limited to Sherlock Holmes.

PAGE 17 - PANELS 2 & 3
John Stewart - 'The ring detected a trace energy signature the it couldn't identify. Whatever it is, it's been buried in the concrete foundation for fifty years or more.'
John Stewart is seen here at the location where Orion was found by Dan Turpin, following up on Batman's hunch. And when he uncovers a glowing purple bullet, it seems perhaps Batman may have been right but how did it get there over 50 years ago, which makes it even more improbable that it was fired from the weapon used to murder Orion. Unless it is a time-traveling bullet?

The ring is unable to identify the theotoxic trace material found on the bullet. Bern @ Splash Page Comics theorized that theotoxic is short for theological toxic, i.e. a toxin of the gods.

PAGE 18
John Stewart is ambushed by what appears to be a member of the Green Lantern Corp. It's obvious John Stewart knows his attacker, but I do not recognize any hooded Green Lantern. And what does it mean by the attacker saying 'Say goodbye to your eyes'? Also, is the attacker's construct of a Guardian of the Universe as a circus chimp with cymbals a clue?

PAGE 19 - PANELS 3 - 5
Kraken - 'I am placing you under arrest for the murder of a New God and the attempted murder of your partner!
Hal Jordan - 'What the hell happened to my ring?
Kraken - 'Your power ring and badge has been suspended for the duration of this inquiry. No lantern escapes the Alpha Lanterns!
Alpha Lanterns show up to arrest Hal Jordan, purportedly for his role in the attack on John Stewart and Orion's murder. The Alpha Lanterns seen in panel three from left to right are Boodikka, Green Man, Kraken, Opto309V, and Chaselon. As the Alpha Lanterns are primarily the internal affairs branch of the Green Lantern, they have the ability to turn off and negate any Green Lantern's ring.

PAGE 20 - PANEL 2
Superman - 'Doctor Mid-Nite and Wonder Woman are with John right now administering Purple Ray treatments.'
The Purple Ray is a healing technology devised and used by the Amazons of Themyscira. It was first mentioned in Wonder Woman's debut in All Star Comics # 8 when it was used to heal a wounded Steve Trevor. A derivative of it known as the Purple Death Ray was seen in Infinite Crisis # 3 when it was used in the defence of Themyscira against invading OMACs.

PAGE 20 - PANEL 5
Kraken to Batman - 'This is not the first time. He was once possessed by Parallax, the fear-thing. Many thousands died as a result.'
Kraken is inferring to Hal Jordan's destruction of the Green Lantern Corps and the deaths of the Guardians of the Universe in Green Lantern vol.3 # 48-50, as well as his attempt to recreate the universe in Zero Hour: Crisis in Time. It was later revealed in Green Lantern: Rebirth that he was infected by Parallax, the embodiment of fear. The Spectre helped Jordan expunge the Parallax infection from his soul and he reclaimed his position as a member of the Green Lantern Corps.

PAGE 21 - PANEL 1
Kraken to Batman - 'Help me! She's eating my mind alive... tell them our weapons don't work...'
Kraken's right hand features an imprint of a Green Lantern ring, which makes me believe that she is John Stewart's attacker in page 18. This would also explain why John's ring suddenly failed, as an Alpha Lantern would be able to remotely disable a Green Lantern power ring. This panel also indicates that Kraken is being mind-controlled, I can't figure out the identity of her puppeteer based on the verbal clues here.

PAGE 22 - PANEL 2
Kraken to Batman - 'Into the Boom Tube with you. A new plaything for Granny.'
Kraken reveals her allegiance to Granny Goodness here. Is she a member of the Female Furies? After all, Kraken was stationed on Apokolips when she was a Green Lantern and had once upon a time been approached to join the Female Furies. She turned them down, or did she? Also, didn't Granny Goodness perish at the hands of Black Alice in Birds of Prey # 118?

PAGE 23 - PANEL 1
Dan Turpin finally makes his way to Blüdhaven, and the Atomic Knights can be seen in the background. This is the first time they are seen riding on giant dogs in New Earth continuity, although this is the standard mode of transport of their Earth-17 counterparts.

The Atomic Knights debuted in Strange Adventures # 117, published in 1960. They are a band of heroes living in a post-apocalyptic future of 1992 (obviously an alternate timeline), which had been devastated in the great Hydrogen War of 1986. This was the Great Disaster that was mentioned in the original Kamandi series by Jack Kirby, but all these were wiped away from continuity following Crisis on Infinite Earths.

The version of the Atomic Knights that debuted in 52 # 52, shown to be inhabiting Earth-17 in the new DC Multiverse are separate from the ones seen here. The Great Disaster has already happened on New Earth (the destruction of Blüdhaven in Infinite Crisis # 4), as well as on Earth-51 (see the war between the Monitors and Monarch's army and Superman Prime in Countdown to Final Crisis # 17-13 and the spread of the Morticoccus virus in Countdown to Final Crisis # 6-5.

PAGE 24 - PANEL 1
The Reverend G. Godfrey Goode leads Dan Turpin into the Command D bunker, which appears to be the staging ground for the Evil Gods of Apokolips to make their final attack on the forces of good. The Command D bunker was first mentioned in Crisis on Infinite Earths # 12 as an homage to Jack Kirby's Kamandi. The New Earth version of the Command D bunker first appeared in Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Blüdhaven # 6 as the Atomic Knights' secret headquarters.

PAGE 24 - PANELS 2 & 3
Reverend Goode - 'But you already met the children, back in New York. Blank, mindless eyes? Little sharp teeth?'
Dan Turpin - 'What are you talking about? What is this place? The air out there's screwing with my head...'
Reverend Goode - 'We, sir, are the Gods of Apokolips, manifesting all our bleak majesty to bring about the final crisis of man. They've even grown a new body for your son, Kalibak the Cruel.'
These panels indicate Dan Turpin has no memory of his incursion into the Dark Side Club in the previous issue, although the Reverend Goode's remarks here indicate that Darkseid's soul is now inhabiting Dan Turpin's body. This makes sense based on Boss Dark Side's remarks in page 22 (Bodies -- they wear out hard in here) of Final Crisis # 1.

Even now, Dan Turpin can be seen bleeding through his ears and the appearance of the cracks on his face in page 11, which is a sign that Boss Dark Side is beginning to manifest within Dan Turpin's body.

PAGE 24 - PANEL 4
Reverend Goode - 'They are destined to become subhuman degenerates, lying, breeding joylessly, and ding in agony to serve the eternal,all-consuming firepits.'
The Blüdhaven survivors are being kept in pens in the Command D bunker, and they will be the precursors of the Hunger Dogs of the Fifth World, much like the denizens of Apokolips that was destroyed in Death of the New Gods # 8. Darkseid is setting the stage to recreate Apokolips on Earth.

The long haired blonde boy in the blue shorts is Kamandi, and this is technically his first chronological appearance in New Earth continuity as his appearances last issue have yet to happen in the current timeline.

PAGE 25 - PANEL 1
Mokkari - 'The Evil Factory is open for business!'
Seen in this panel are the Alpha Lantern Kraken, and Simyan and Mokkari. The latter two first appeared in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen # 153, and were subsequently cloned by mad scientist Dabney Donovan. They, along with most of the Cadmus created clones, died when the clone virus spread amongst the clone population of Metropolis in the Battle for Metropolis arc that ran in the Superman issues cover dated April and May 1994. This is the first appearance of the duo in the New Earth continuity.

The Evil Factory is the dark underbelly of Project Cadmus, engaged in secret and illegal experiments that has resulted in the DNAliens, some of whom have escaped to Metropolis and have come in contact with Jimmy Olsen, Superman, the Newsboy Legion, and the Guardian.

PAGE 26 - PANELS 3 - 5
Lois Lane surrenders a disc containing every scrap of information she has on the missing kids (the same case Dan Turpin is working on) to Jimmy Olsen, the latter of which turns out to be actually Clayface in disguise. Libra is the link between the Secret Society of Super-Villains and the Dark Side Club, as he himself has professed to be Darkseid's herald on Earth (see DC Universe # 0).

As a sidenote, the desktop image on Jimmy Olsen's computer is the cover for Superman vol.2 # 204 by Jim Lee and Scott Williams.

. Also seen in a brochure stuck on his cubicle is a 50¢ off promotion for Hamburger Hegemony. Are they a competitor to Big Belly Burger, or is it simply a new menu item? PAGE 27
The Daily Planet building blows up, and Superman/Clark Kent appears to be the sole survivor. This is not the first time Superman has had to face with losing Lois Lane, as Manchester Black had ran him through the same wringer in Action Comics # 796 and again by Maxwell Lord in Action Comics # 829 and Adventures of Superman # 642.

Banners displaying the Sundollers Coffee logo may be seen prominently in the second panel. This fictional coffee franchise first appeared in 52 # 2, which has been popping up like mushrooms all across the United States in the past year. According to this Daily Planet news report, they appear to be a cosmic hiccup following the universe altering events of Infinite Crisis. However, knowing Grant Morrison's involvement in 52, I bet there is more than meets the eye as far as Sundollers Coffee is concerned.

It should also be noted that Sundollers Coffee is actually the second beverage franchise to magically appear in Metropolis, with Yes! being the first. The highly addictive Yes! debuted in Superman: The 10-Cent Adventure, and was revealed to be a method devised by the Futuresmiths to infect the citizens of Metropolis with the nanites used to bring Brainiac-12 from the far future to the present. Superman, along with his robotic double and versions of Batman and Wonder Woman from this alternate timeline, teamed up with faux Supergirl Cir-El (a clone created by the Futuresmiths from Superman and Lois Lane's genetic material) to defeat Brainiac-12. This resulted in a time warp that sent Superman back to Krypton (see the Godfall arc, which ran across the Superman comics cover dated April 2004), and the changes in the timeline resulted in Superman's origins as seen in Man of Steel # 1-6 replaced by the contradictory version seen in Superman: Birthright # 1-12.

PAGE 28 - PANELS 3 - 4
Jay Garrick - 'It used to be the Central City Community Center. Poor brave Barry - at least he never lives to see it all go to hell.'
Wally West - 'Tracking station recorded a seismic pulse around the time we think J'onn's heart exploded. The epicenter was here. Traces of Martian blood and this phony "Crime Bible" thing. Plastic and wire pretty much, but it looks like the Mobius Chair the New God Metron used to travel around in...'
The significance of the strip club where Libra and the Secret Society of Super-Villains is finally understood since its first appearance on DC Universe # 0, as Jay reveals it to be the regular meeting place for him and Barry Allen, Wally West's predecessor as the Flash. Now that Wally West (and presumably the rest of the Justice League) know where the Secret Society have been meeting, does Libra know that the JLA has found his headquarters?

And what's up with the counterfeit Crime Bible and Mobius Chair? This would explain why Libra has a copy of the Crime Bible since it was established in Crime Bible: Five Lessons of Blood # 5 that the book is now in possession of Renee Montoya a.k.a. The Question.

Jay Garrick is the first man to adopt the superheroic identity of the Flash. He debuted in 1940's Flash Comics # 1. Wally West debuted as Kid Flash in the pages of Flash # 110, and would eventually become the third Flash in Crisis on Infinite Earths # 12 as a manner of paying homage to his uncle-in-law and mentor Barry Allen.

PAGE 28 - PANEL 5 and PAGE 29 - PANEL 2
Wally West - 'Batman came up with a pretty wild idea which I kind of ran with since we're talking about god weapons, right? Imagine a bullet fired backwards through time. What if this is where the god-bullet breaks into time? The shell travels back through time, kills Orion, and passes through him into the past where it finally buries itself in the concrete fifty years ago. And that thing there is the scope of a higher-dimensional gun.'
Wally's remarks here would chime with Batman's theory in page 16 and John Stewart's discovery in page 17 on the murder weapon used to kill Orion. And the so-called Mobius Chair recovered by Doctor Light and Mirror Master in the previous issue isn't actually Metron's chair but is instead a disguised weapon designed to hide in plain sight.

PAGE 30
And here it is, with the triumphant return of Barry Allen amongst the living chasing down the god-bullet that killed Orion. I wonder what would happen if either Barry or Jay or Wally manage to stop the god-bullet? As it has just been fired and has yet to burrow through time to kill Orion some time in between Countdown to Final Crisis # 2 and Final Crisis # 1, would they be able to retroactively prevent his murder?

Hot on Barry Allen's heels is the Black Racer. Is he acting as an ally, or is he chasing Barry down to prevent him from stopping the bullet? The Black Racer is the New Gods' physical embodiment of death, although he had previously shown himself to be an ally of the New Gods in the war against the Evil Gods of Apokolips.

Barry Allen is the second man to adopt the identity of the Flash. He debuted in 1956's Showcase # 4, and first met his predecessor Jay Garrick in the pages of Flash # 123. It was through his adventures that he discovered the original DC Multiverse. He retired in Flash # 350 (his series' final issue) and went to the 30th century for a life of bliss with his wife Iris West but would return to active duty when the original Crisis happened. He sacrificed himself in Crisis on Infinite Earths # 8 to destroy the Anti-Monitor's cannon on Qward, and was most recently seen helping to drag Superboy Prime into the Speed Force in Infinite Crisis # 4.