'Final Crisis' comics abound with villains

"Worlds will live and heroes will die in this epic tale spanning the beginning and end of the DC Universe!"

That's an official description of "Final Crisis" No. 1 ($3.99) , set to start May 28 in DC Comics.

The current "Countdown to Final Crisis," a weekly, yearlong series, is winding down and will end at issue No. 0 (50-cent cost) on April 30. After that it will be a month's wait to actually begin the "Final Crisis" saga.

DC is touting that the "Great Disaster" has already occurred in the final month of "Countdown," but what that is isn't clear. Also, the "emergence of the greatest evil in the universe" and "the stunning return of a force for good" will all be included.

There will be two new mysterious villains, too — "Libra" and the "Human Flame," who figure prominently into "Final Crisis. "Libra is assembling his own army of super villains

Will "Final Crisis" measure up to expectations, considering loyal fans will have spent nearly $170 on "Countdown" issues alone the past year to get to the climax story?

Time will tell, though there have been some awfully boring segments in the "Countdown" issues the past 10 months. But at least new villains offer new possibilities for the story.

Already, the villains Monarch and Prime have apparently been destroyed, though it appeared they were at one time to be the central villains headed for the "Final Crisis."

The villainous Darkseid and the lesser characters of Jimmy Olsen and Marvel Marvel also figure strongly into the climax of this, DC Comics' longest ever single series. Darkseid is seen battling Superman in "Countdown to Final Crisis" No. 2, on sale April 16.

The Man of Steel also has his own problems in "Superman/Batman" No. 48, on sale May 21, when he battles a "supersoldier with Doomsday's DNA that's infused with Kryptonite."

Biggest wild card in "Final Crisis" is that DC has inserted its "52 universe" theme into the crisis story. Thus, DC has multiple versions of most heroes to throw around and even to die. Thus, "Superman" may not always be the mainstream Man of Steel — it could be a similar Kryptonian from a parallel earth.

Also perplexing is that though there are multiple Monitors and heroes and villains, there appears to be only one Darkseid and one set of New Gods. No multiple doppelgangers for them.