NYCC '08: DAN DIDIO ON THE FINAL CRISIS TIE-INS (with video)
It’s become the second, expected part to any given publisher’s “event” – the tie ins. A main miniseries or central storyline is now always accompanied by one-shots, other minis, and issues of ongoing series that touch upon the larger storyline.
DC’s Final Crisis is no different as fans have been learning, with news of Legion of 3 Worlds, Rogue’s Revenge and Revelation being officially named as tie-in miniseries.
What else is to come? DC’s Dan DiDio has explained a little in a video interview, and now, we’ve got him laying it out in black and white.
Newsarama: Okay Dan – you’ve maintained for a while now that Final Crisis will be limited in scope in terms of the number of books it will touch, along the lines of the Sinestro Corps War storyline. So what have you got so far in terms of tie-ins?
Dan DiDio: Right now, we’re looking at Final Crisis starting in May, and in July, the three-part Final Crisis: Rogue’s Revenge begins, which is Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins; and then, come August, we launch the other two five-part miniseries, which are Final Crisis: Revelations by Greg Rucka and Philip Tan, and Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds, which is by Geoff and George Perez. Also in August, you have one of our first one-shots appear, Final Crisis: Superman Beyond, which is by Grant Morrison and Aaron Lopresti, and will be in 3-D to increase the story experience which Grant is bringing.
NRAMA: What is Grant bringing, story-wise?
DD: It’s Superman working his way through the multiverse. Because of Grant’s interpretation of the multiverse and how we wanted to represent it, we wanted to have some fun with this, and thought the 3-D effect would really help accentuate it and set it apart from stories that have taken place in the multiverse in the past.
NRAMA: That’s certainly one way to do it. One thing that you skipped in your list of tie-ins so far – July’s Final Crisis: Requiem by Peter Tomasi and Doug Mahnke.
DD: Oh right – what happens in that issue build directly out of the events of Final Crisis #1, and helps really bring home the tragic events of that first issue.
The thing with Final Crisis is that there is so much going on and so much happening that we wanted to use the one shots to really accent key moments in the story that I feel might not get their due, because there will be so much happening within the Final Crisis story itself.
The interview with Dan DiDio continues after this short video break. We recently had the chance to speak with - guesw who?! Dan DiDio about these very same Crisis tie-ins. Click on the video to check it out.
NRAMA: Okay – moving onward. What about after the skip month?
DD: There will be three additional one shots coming: Final Crisis: Submit is in September, Final Crisis: Resist is in October, and Final Crisis: Red Lanterns is in November. Each of those will play out through the DC Universe.
NRAMA: Looking at the one shots – where did they come in, in view of the larger Final Crisis plan? When were they added in?
DD: These were always part of the plan. Again, so much is happening in Final Crisis, and following the events of issue #3 and what happens with the Flash, that will lead us into our skip month, there are major changes that occur to the DC Universe between issues #3 and #4. Submit and Resist really do explore how those changes affect both the micro and macro level of the DC Universe.
NRAMA: And Red Lanterns?
DD: It’s a tie to what Geoff’s been doing in Green Lantern of course, but the Alpha Lanterns and the Red Lanterns are integral to the early stages of Final Crisis. The Lanterns of a couple of colors appear prominently within the first three issues and then Red Lanterns expands on that story.
NRAMA: Bigger picture here – originally you said that Final Crisis was to be modeled after what Geoff did with Sinestro Corps War in that that story had a tight core, with a few spin-offs. It seems that the miniseries and one shots are starting to ramp up here…
DD: There’s a balancing act that you do with any of these things. The size and the scope of the story that we’re telling makes it very difficult to tell just in a seven part miniseries. I also think that it does a disservice to the story and to the fans, because in some ways, it might feel just like a traditional story, and there’s an expectation that comes with a story that we’re calling “Final Crisis.” My goal is to make sure that we build and strengthen that core story and don’t tell superfluous crossovers, or put out material with a “Final Crisis” logo on it just because we’re looking for a bump on other, lower-selling books.
NRAMA: No “Red Sky” stories?
DD: [laughs] Exactly. As fans will notice, there are noFinal Crisis crossovers taking place in any of the ongoing series. Each one of the titles and each one of the miniseries all serve a very specific purpose in regards to building the whole story of Final Crisis.
So again, I think, if anything, we’re being as judicious as possible, and working to make the stories as important as possible, and we’re not putting the Final Crisis name to drive sales. We use the Final Crisis name on projects that help to enhance the story of Final Crisis itself.
NRAMA: But how committed are you to that moving forward? That is, if you start to see gangbusters numbers on Final Crisis, will that send you back to the drawing board to look at possibilities for more?
DD: The ones that we’ve thought through already are in direct response to the things that we know are taking place within the story and to where the stories are moving. There are things that are peripherally involved to Final Crisis, but that will not be carrying the Final Crisis banner. We have a storyline that will be unfolding within Teen Titans called “The Dark Side Club.” That’s something that will run side by side with Final Crisis, but you don’t need to read it in order to know what’s happening in Final Crisis, therefore, we’re not branding it as a Final Crisis crossover.
We’re also doing a sub-brand on a series of books called “Sightings,” which are key moments within the DC Universe which are essential to know what’s happening with key characters, and also things that might lead you to stories following Final Crisis. We’re setting up signposts throughout the DC Universe, but again, if something has the words “Final Crisis” on it, it has to be pretty damn important to the Final Crisis story, or else it doesn’t happen. So in that way, we are managing that storyline as tightly as possible.
The bottom line, of course, is to create as many exciting and entertaining comics as possible. We’re not here to make the entire line of DCU comics tie in with Final Crisis. Realistically, the number of crossovers since day one hasn’t changed, with the exception of moving Rogue’s Revenge to being tie-in status. In all of this planning, that’s the only change we’ve made.
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