So, contrary to my original argument that Wally West would be taken down in the opening issue of Final Crisis, Martian Manhunter, just like Grant Morrison said in the panel at NYCC, has fallen instead. Wait, let me get this straight. The writer of the biggest DC story of the year actually spilled the beans on the big death in the series that he was writing over one month in advance to the comic’s actual release? You betcha!

Regardless of how little sense that makes, I digress. So this whole comic prediction thing isn’t an exact science. Sue me. I made a crazy prediction a couple weeks back that suggested, or rather insisted, that the current Flash would die in the opening shot of DC’s new epic Final Crisis. Well, as readers of the comic now know, that’s not exactly the case. Actually, it’s not even close.

In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The Flash characters seem to be somewhat stronger than ever now with the reintroduction of Barry Allen, who’s been dead since Crisis on Infinite Earths from 22 years ago, apparently taking place in the next couple issues of Final Crisis. My reasoning, in my own opinion, was pretty sound. Wally’s been almost completely unused since he returned to the JLA several months ago while Martian Manhunter, the actual casualty of the issue, has been involved very heavily in the Salvation Run story by posing as Blockbuster. Regardless of what I say now, I was wrong. What can I say? It happens…quite a bit actually.

If, for whatever reason, you seem to be taking the death of Manhunter a little bit harder than most people, be sure to check out the Manhunter Memorial blog. Otherwise, for the full scoop on Final Crisis, be sure to check out the full Panels of Awesome review of issue #1 later tonight.