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The cover for Dance.

Final Crisis Aftermath was a DC Comics series of four miniseries spinning off from the events of Final Crisis. Each one deals with a different aspect of the fallout from that crisis.

In Run!, Michael Miller, the Human Flame, wakes up in a hospital to discover that his former boss Libra has fallen and he is now one of the most hated people in the multiverse. He thus goes on the run, desperately searching for an edge to protect himself.

In Dance, Japan's Super Young Team tries to capitalize on their role in saving the multiverse. Problem is, nobody really noticed them, so they hire a PR team to try and market them. Meanwhile, a sinister conspiracy is at work in their native Japan.

In Escape, Thomas Tresser, better known as Nemesis, is kidnapped and reprogrammed by the Global Peace Agency, who seek to use him to gather dangerous technology in the hopes of preventing another crisis.

And in Ink, Mark Richards, the Tattooed Man, tries to parlay his newfound status as an honorary JLA member to become a local hero in Liberty Hill.


This series contains examples of:

    Run! 
  • Analogy Backfire: When Firestorm, Red Tornado and John Stewart confront Mike after his transformation, Firestorm compares him to King Midas, ruining everything he touched. Mike tells him that Midas turned everything to gold and to get his history right. In this case, Firestorm is in the right.
  • Brainless Beauty: Seductress follows General Imortus as he promised she would inherit everything he has upon his death. The Human Flame has to explain to her what exactly "immortal" means (i.e., that it means she would NEVER inherit) for her to leave.
  • Comedic Sociopath: The miniseries runs on it. The first issue alone has Mike causing a shoot-out in a children's restaurant and setting some poor schmuck in a sheep costume on fire.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Mike has a wife and daughter. Subverted as he doesn't especially love them.
  • Evil Is Petty: The main reason why Human Flame has been a small-time villain for most of his career is because he just can't stop himself from being a dick to everyone else. At heart, he's just an asshole with fancy equipment.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: How Mike is ultimately defeated. Lost in his Villainous Breakdown, he keeps making himself grow bigger and bigger so he can destroy everything. However, he suddenly stops moving. As John Stewart discovers, Square-Cube Law bit him in the ass as his mass is so huge, he just couldn't move.
  • I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: In the first issue, Mike and Joey's plan to rob the Kyrgyzstani mob goes south after Joey accidentally shoots the mob boss.
  • Kick the Dog: In the opening of the first issue, Mike wakes up from a coma and punches an attending nurse in the face. Later, he returns to his family, makes a big show of how he's going to do right by them this time... and then steals his wife's car with his daughter's bike still attached.
  • Never My Fault: Mike refuses to take any responsibility for his actions during Final Crisis, insisting that he was under mind control for most of it. It gets worse when he gets his power boost.
  • Robbing the Mob Bank: In the first episode, Mike and his erstwhile partner Joey try to rob the Kyrgyzstani mafia at gunpoint. Unfortunately, Joey accidentally shoots the boss in the throat, leading to the rest of the mob chasing them.
  • Seeking Ultimate Strength: The Human Flame wakes up from a coma to discover that nearly every superhero on the planet wants his head for murdering Martian Manhunter. Consequently, he spends the entire miniseries seeking increasingly drastic measures to make himself more powerful so that he can fight all the heroes who are sure to be coming for him.
  • Smug Snake: Mike thinks that the fact that he killed Martian Manhunter makes him a major player. Nobody else seems to be impressed with him.
  • That Man Is Dead: Combined with No One Could Survive That!. Firestorm thinks that Mike's massive power boost meant that he wouldn't have survived that. Turns out he did and he declares that Mike is dead and he's just the Human Flame now.
  • Undignified Death: Polka-Dot Man is killed when a manhole cover falls from above and, to quote Seductress, his head "got squished."
  • Villainous Breakdown: Upon realizing that his new powerup isn't making him strong enough to defeat three heroes and he can't escape normally because he's destroying everything, the Human Flame flips out and makes a Last Stand.
    Human Flame: No! Son of a— They can't do that to me! I'm still not strong enough? No friggin' way! See you suckers later— (melts a car he was trying to grab) Aw, come on! No! No! No! No! No. I'm not running anymore. You hear me? I'm not going anywhere! All my life, the whole world tried to knock me down—Now It's My Turn. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go knock down this city. Just because I can.

    Dance 
  • The Alcoholic:
    • Shy Crazy Lolita Canary is constantly drunk.
    • Rising Sun, Japan's former big hero, has been hitting the bottle a lot ever since SYT displaced him.
  • Arbitrarily Large Bank Account: Most Excellent Superbat is so rich that he was able to literally buy the entire country of Japan.
  • Crime Fighting With Cash: Most Excellent Superbat's only real power is that he is stupid rich. In the finale, he stops Japan's oncoming problems by simply buying the entire country and micromanaging it back into normalcy.
  • The Evils of Free Will: The Brain Drain promises to unite all of mankind and make all our lives easier by invading our minds for its sinister purposes.
  • Super-Scream: Shy Crazy Lolita Canary has an ear-shattering cry.
  • Ultraman Copy: Ultimon, the leader of Japan's old superhero team, is a notable Ultraman expy, complete with a funky helmet and a jewel on the chest of his costume.

    Escape 

    Ink 

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