[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Scott Godlewski

Colours: Ryan Cody

Letters: Dave Sharpe

Reviewed By: Matthew Lloyd, Derek McNeil

Summary

Justice League Vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #6: The blockbuster shocking conclusion to the Gold Lantern Saga. Which legendary DC Villain is behind this great darkness that is about to destroy all the ages of heroes all at once? Find out right here all this AND the future of the Legion of Super-Heroes is revealed!

Positives

Derek: If you can think of any positives, Matt

Matt: LOL!

Actually, the smaller moments aren’t bad.  Vandal Savage explaining his plan to “Bruce” thinking he’s won, and then the surprise…that’s actually quite good.  It’s like finding the one unspoiled apple in the bunch.  The inclusion of Jonah Hex is a nice touch and, and then there’s uh…well…yeah, that’s about it.  Godlewski does an admirable job of doing what he’s there to do, but he doesn’t have a lot to work with.

Derek: That was a neat bit of foreshadowing. It was clear that there was something up with “Bruce”.  Godlewski cleverly drew the cowl as if it were empty. At first, it had me guessing that Batman had escaped and left a stuffed Batsuit to trick Savage. And I agree that it was great to include Hex. There were a number of great cameos in this series, such as Kamandi and Alan Scott. It’s just too bad that Bendis didn’t really do anything with them. They just served as window dressing.

Positives Cont.

Matt: And, of course, the biggest positive is that this abominable series is over, and with it, hopefully, Bendis’s time at DC.  One would hope that the powers that be see the horrific impact he had on the entire DC Comics Universe and that it’s a mistake that has to be actively undone.  If only Vandal Savage was attempting to wipe out Bendis’s tenure at DC instead of the Age of Heroes.  The entire time Bendis has been at DC, the entire line has suffered.  One would think it would simply be on the characters he was trying to ruin, Superman, the Legion and the Justice League, but somehow DC found a way to create a synergy with the entire line.

I’ve seen online in more than one place that Bendis gets $1000/page.  I hope DC considers suing him on some grounds, because at his best at DC, he was never worth more than a couple hundred.  It’s a long road ahead for DC, but with books like Nightwing, The Flash, Batgirls and Wonder Woman readers can find some good comics in hopes the rest of the line rights itself.  We are a far cry from “Rebirth” when it seemed almost every DC Comic was very good to great.

Derek: I take your point about the ending being a positive, but it would have been better if it had come earlier. It was evident fairly early into this series that it wasn’t going anywhere, and I honestly don’t think most readers would have noticed or complained if DC had just quietly cancelled the series halfway through. I am guessing the only reason to let him finish was so they could complete a trade collection.

While I agree that Bendis’ work for DC has been overall lacking, I doubt that DC will take drastic action to right the damage he’s done. It’s unclear whether or not this is Bendis’ final work for DC, but I’m hoping it is, at least in any capacity where he is empowered to change the status quo of any characters he’s writing. I hope that the next continuity adjustment will undo some of his more egregious changes to the DCU and the Superman mythos.

Negatives

Matt:  It’s pretty obvious that the biggest negative here is that the most critical and exciting part of the story happened off panel.  That’s right, the united League and Legion defeat the Great Darkness (haha!) entirely off panel.  The writing is so bad that it genuinely feels like we’ve missed an issue.  This issue is all denouement.  This should’ve been the last half of a final issue.  It’s like a blockbuster film that skips the third act and goes right to the wrap up before the credits.

The really sad thing is that this is not new for Bendis in his DC work.  Supposedly, Bendis was a really good writer over at Marvel a while ago.  I wouldn’t know, but judging from his work at DC, and in particular, this series, he shouldn’t even be employed as a comic book writer.  It’s arguable whether or not Bendis’s dialogue is bad, or his decompression of story is effective, but skipping the resolution because you ran out of pages is just bad writing.

Derek: That pretty much fits with how he wrote last issue. He was arsing about for the first 4 issues, flitting from one “cool” idea to the next, losing sight of the core story. Then he had to rush to tell that story with a tidal wave of exposition. And he probably figured he was capitalizing on that “success” by doing the exact same thing again this issue. A commonly accepted rule of writing is “show, don’t tell”. Bendis seems to think that doesn’t apply to star writers like himself. His believes that he writes so engagingly that his exposition is superior to actually including any action in the story.

I feel sorry for Godlewski. DC tapped him to draw a major team-up of DC’s tentpole teams. But does he get to draw much action? No, he’s stuck drawing them standing around talking to each other for the bulk of the series. And lettering all that inane dialogue must have been a laborious task for Dave Sharpe.

Negatives Cont.

Matt: This leans into editorial at this point.  DC gave Bendis carte blanche to ruin their comics.  This is utterly senseless.  Any editor with any skill should’ve realized that this story is terribly plotted and scripted.  They wouldn’t let a new writer be this bad.  There’s a lot more going on than we are privy to, but it doesn’t mean that Bendis or DC get a pass.

Derek: The general assumption is that it was Dan DiDio that gave Bendis this carte blanche. I do have to wonder why DC didn’t show Bends the door immediately after DiDio departed. I suspect that there was some sort of contractual obligation to keep him on.

Matt: Just in case you were thinking his dialogue got better somehow, the League and Legion remain uncharacteristically quippy and speak when they don’t need to.  Does Dinah really need to say she might stay in the 31st century?  No.  And, not only that, she’s not going to.  It’s just an example of the inane things Bendis has characters say.

Derek: Generally, nearly everything that happens in this story seems rather pointless. There are no real consequences, despite the cosmic scale of the story. Everything just reverts back to the same status quo. Nominally, this is a tie-in to Dark Crisis, but the only effect it seems to have on that story is a single reference in Justice League #75 where Green Arrow saying that they’ve already faced the Great Darkness and beaten it. I suspect that this miniseries was make-work to keep Bendis too busy to stick his fingers into the main Dark Crisis event.

Matt: Finally, there is a ring Savage uses to generate the Darkness, a ring not unlike a Green Lantern ring.  It’s a mystery to everyone, the League, the Legion, the Elders of Oa…and, we never find out anything about it.  I’m guessing that this and the creation of the Gold Lantern Corps was originally intended for further issues of Bendis’s Legion of Super-Heroes.  We are all probably glad to be spared of this, but leaving this dangling plot element is yet another example of the poor writing in the series.

Derek: You might be right that he was trying to cram every idea he had for the Legion into this last story. Much like Geoff Johns tried to shove about 5 years of storylines into a single year of his Shazam series. Or perhaps Bendis is still assuming that he’s going to get another Legion series to flesh out these ideas in full. All things considered, I would rather see these threads left dangling than for Bendis to attempt to weave them into further stories.

Verdict

Matt:  This is a flat out awful comic.  It’s one of the worst endings to a mini-series/ story arc I’ve ever read.  Vigilante: Southland was probably better had it been published.   It seems clear that Bendis just isn’t capable of executing big ideas.  He can do Batman and Vandal Savage in a room, but the larger scope escapes him, and we all suffer for it.  His underwhelming Superman work and abysmal Leviathan mini-series also show this.   I’d like to say that Godlewski’s art elevates it on the whole, but that only works if you look at the pictures.  You might have a more enjoyable overall experience if you do that for the whole series.

Derek: This series may be Bendis’ swansong for his DC work. And it’s somehow appropriate, as it exemplifies the main problem with Bendis’ work for DC. Bendis is good at coming up with ideas. But he has no filter to tell the good ideas apart from the bad ones. And he seems to have lost the ability to do anything with these ideas. So, he falls back onto his supposed strength: “witty” dialogue. I’ve enjoyed some of Bendis’ pre-DC work, so I know he can do better than this. I will give Justice League Vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #6 two stars, but they are entirely for the lovely art.

Matt’s Score:

Derek’s Score:

Average Score:

The post Review: Justice League Vs The Legion Of Super-Heroes #6 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Scott Godlewski

Colours: Ryan Cody

Letters: Dave Sharpe

Reviewed By: Matthew Lloyd, Derek McNeil

Summary

Justice League Vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #5: With the reveal of who is behind the great darkness that is tearing the galaxy apart, the Justice League and the Legion of Super-Heroes are at odds over how to handle the incomprehensible evil that has brought them together.

This time-spanning epic stars all your favorite superheroes from two different time periods! Batman! Saturn Girl! Superman! Brainiac 5! Naomi!, and dozens more race into battle to save the galaxy from being pulled apart… but at what cost? Will everyone survive this?

Positives

Matt: The fact that something actually happens in this issue is a positive.  It’s not well placed or paced, for the overall story, but something indeed does happen.  How it happens is another matter entirely, but we’ll get to that.  I’m not usually one to spoil big stuff in a review, but it’s about the only positive that we can discuss- the JLA and LSH figure out who’s behind this “Great Darkness.”  Turns out it’s none other than Vandal Savage!  This could’ve been really interesting if the story had been put together better.

Derek: Having Vandal Savage turn out to the villain is actually a brilliant idea. As an immortal, Savage would presumably still be around in the 31st Century. So it’s actually surprising that he hasn’t been a major presence in the Legion’s history before this. Unfortunately, as is typical with Bendis, this great idea is let down by a lacklustre execution. Bendis didn’t give the slight hint to foreshadow this ending. Savage’s appearance should have engendered a reaction of “oh, it all makes sense now”. But instead, it seemed more like random happenstance.

Positives Cont.

Matt: Despite Bendis’s time at DC Comics being not only completely forgettable and an unmitigated mistake of Biblical proportions (dozens of people should be fired for it), it is interesting that Bendis has managed to tie in all his DC work into this story.  You may, or may not recall that early in his tenure at DC Bendis wrote a Batman story called, Batman Universe which was serialized in the Walmart exclusive Batman Giant 100-Page Super Spectacular.  Ironically, this Batman story is probably Bendis’s best DC work.  Bringing all of this together somehow gives a connectivity to the stories like they should matter, even if they aren’t really that interesting or well executed.

Derek: Bendis is not a bad writer, per se. But I agree that his work for DC has not been his best work. I loved his Ultimate Spider-Man for Marvel. That Batman story you mentioned was pretty good as well. And although his general direction for the Superman books was disastrous, he still did occasionally produce a decent story. Overall, his work for DC has been pretty hit-or-miss. And while I wish it were otherwise, this series is not one of the hits.

Negatives

Matt: Like I’ve said in previous reviews of this series, Bendis just can’t seem to execute the interesting ideas he does have.  This should have been issue #2 or #3 of this series, not #5.  If the two teams had been through a bunch, figured out the clues and uncovered the identity of the villain with three issues remaining for the capture of Savage and resolution of the trouble he’d caused it would’ve been a lot more enjoyable and well-executed a story.  Instead, it’s all got to wrap up in a single issue.

Derek: It seems to me that Bendis was flitting around from one “cool” story idea to the next for the last four issues and suddenly realized that he hasn’t progressed the story very much. So, to catch the story up to where it should be, Bendis relies on what he believes is his strength: dialogue. And so, Justice League Vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #5 is pretty much a special all-exposition issue. There isn’t a whole lot of action here, but the characters standing around, reasoning out the plot.

And saying “reasoning out” is being generous. The dialogue is presented as if that’s what they are doing. But the dialogue is more like a random stream of consciousness that eventually stumbles onto the truth.

Negatives Cont.

Matt: A well-written story would’ve revealed clues along the way instead of relying on a large information dump in a single issue.  The use of Thorn in Bendis’s stories seems to have been leading up to this one moment as a MacGuffin that allows her to solve the mystery of the temporal perpetrator.   She played almost no role in his Legion of Super-Heroes series.   It’s all too quick and pat to be interesting.  Batman couldn’t figure it out.  Brainiac 5 couldn’t figure it out, but Rose Forrest could?  Yawn.  She didn’t even figure it out in an exciting way.  It’s all off panel, in her own mind.  “Hey, look what I’m thinking!”  Bendis’s script didn’t even give Godlewski something interesting to draw in this sequence.

Derek: Bendis clearly intended Thorn to be a major part of his Legion story originally, but he seems to have forgotten about her. Thus he hasn’t prepared a proper role in this story for her, and now he’s struggling to cram her into the story anyway. And it’s actually not surprising that neither Batman nor Brainiac 5 never figured out what was going on. They are logical thinkers, and Bendis’ plot doesn’t really make a whole lot of logical sense.

Verdict

Matt: This may be one of the weakest comics I’ve read in a long time.  Bendis almost is able to cover a few interesting ideas with Triplicate Girl and Jo Nah’s personality, but it’s very minimal and nearly forgettable as the overall story is deeply flawed and ultimately uninteresting because of Bendis’s inability to put a decent story together.  Even if you’re still reading this series, I can’t imagine that anything in this issue is going to bring you back for a finale that is already obsolete.  We already know what happens next, and Bendis hasn’t put the work in to make the journey engaging.

Derek: Despite Bendis’ attempt to get the story back on track, it seems like a lost cause at this point. I strongly doubt there’s any way Bendis can turn this all around in the one issue left to him. And that’s a shame. There’s a great story here struggling to get out. If DC had assigned a more capable writer to take Bendis’ basic plot, weeding out the distracting diversions and pointless dialogue, this could have been a great story.

Matt’s Score:

Derek’s Score:

Average Score:

The post Review: Justice League Vs The Legion Of Super-Heroes #5 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Tom King

Artist: Chris Burnham

Colours: Adriano Lucas

Letters: Tory Peteri

Reviewed By: Derek McNeil

Summary

Dark Crisis: Worlds Without A Justice League – Superman #1: When Pariah and his forces of the Great Darkness laid waste to the most powerful superheroes of all time, all hope was lost…with the Man of Steel suffering the same fate as that of his comrades, join us for a look at a world of dreams he would never have thought possible while alive. Where there’s life there’s hope, and with that hope comes a deeper unraveling of the tapestry of DCU’s biggest event of 2022!

Positives

It appears that the reports of Superman’s death in Justice League #75 have been greatly exaggerated, as he seems to be alive and in good health in this Worlds Without a Justice League – Superman one-shot. But there are a lot of strange things going on in the world around him. The same is true for Aquaman, who stars in a backup story.

I doubt anyone truly believed that the League really died in the story that kicked off Dark Crisis. It’s common knowledge at this point that Pariah has captured the members of the League in worlds that fulfill their deepest desires. Presumably, it’s that wish-fulfillment element that keeps them from attempting to escape the worlds that Pariah has built for them.

The main story featuring Superman is written by Tom King, who has written a rather similar story in his Mister Miracle series. In that story, Scott Free appears to also be living in a simulated reality that keeps him similarly trapped. And Superman has also gone through a similar story in Alan Moore’s classic story “For the Man Who Has Everything”.

Positives Cont.

I find that the granted wish that keeps Superman trapped is quite believable as something that would tempt someone as strong-willed as the Man of Steel. In 2019, DC made the major misstep of allowing Brian Michael Bendis to instantly age up Clark’s son Jon from 10 years old to 17. This essentially robbed Superman and Lois of seeing their son grow from a child into the man he currently is.

But in this reality, Clark gets those years that Bendis stole from him. As Jon sets off to lead his own life, he tells Lois:

And I wouldn’t trade any of it. Not a single second. For… I was there, Lois. I was here. I saw him. I got to see him grow into the man he had to be. I didn’t miss it this time. No, no, no, not for anything. I wouldn’t trade this… for anything.

This shows how badly and deeply Superman wants this life in which he got to see his son grow up. But it’s also somewhat troubling. There’s a clear implication that Superman knows this life isn’t real. But he emphatically states his refusal to give this false world up.

However, we know that at his core, Superman knows he is needed outside this dream world. And he knows that this Jon nd Lois are not his real family, no matter how much he wants them to be. He will eventually return to his true family.

There are some other interesting differences in this world Pariah created for Clark. And the costumes Chris Burnham has beautifully depicted offer some interesting insights into these difference. Clark’s costume is clearly patterned after the Golden-Age Superman costume. Combining this with the white hair on Clark’s temples, this makes him look like the Earth-Two Superman in his Silver and Bronze Age appearances.

Could this be hinting at Superman’s desire for  simpler life by showing him in a costume from a simpler time? The story tells us that past events have kept Clark within the bounds of Earth’s solar system. And there is no indication of other heroes on Earth. On the whole, Superman’s dream world leaves him with less to do, and consequently more time to spend with his family.

Positives Cont.

And Jon’s uniform is quite intriguing. It’s essentially a Robin costume with an S-shield in place of Robin’s R-symbol. Could it be that Clark on some level is jealous of Bruce’s father-son relationship with the various Robins? I think that might be so, especially Bruce’s relationship with Dick Grayson. Bruce got to see Dick mature and grow into one of the DCU’s foremost heroes, while Clark missed that with Jon.

There is a darker side to this idyllic world. Darkseid and his forces are running rampant on the universe outside the solar system, which Clark has retreated to. Clark knows the wider universe needs him, but he is afraid to defy Darkseid. But Jon sets off to do exactly that. He dons his father’s costume and sets out to fight Darkseid.

And that’s another thing that Clark deeply longs for. He’s not just content to see his son grown into a man, but he wants to see Jon surpass him. He doesn’t want to be the conquering hero. He wants to be the proud father of that hero.

The Aquaman story is similar, but the wish-fulfilment element seems rather less nuanced than in the main story. Basically, Aquaman’s ideal life involves him surrounded by friends and family. We them all gathered at a vow-renewal ceremony for Arthur’s parents.

This appears to be set a good few years in the future, as his daughter is now grown up and calling herself Aquawoman. And Arthur appears to be on friendly terms with Black Manta. I suspect this reveals Aquaman’s desire that his recent truce with Manta will eventually develop into a true alliance and friendship between them.

Positives Cont.

I also have to say that I quite liked how the title “Aquaman Has Everything” gives a nod to Alan Moore’s classic Superman story “For the Man Who Has Everything”. That was a nice touch.

Perhaps the less nuanced wish-fulfillment fantasy explains why Arthur is aware that this world isn’t real. He states this clearly, as well as his desire to escape this false reality. He addresses Pariah directly:

And maybe one day it’ll all be real… like it was meant to be. But it’s not real. Not yet. I don’t have everything yet. I don’t yet have my hands around your throat. You think you’ve beaten us–but better than you have tried, and in the end, you all learn…Not even death will hold us. I’ve been dead before, and I’ve come back. Soon…we’ll see if you can say the same.

This bit is truly chilling. Brandon Thomas clearly understands what a menacing badass Aquaman can be. I would love to see Thomas get a chance to tackle an Aquaman project in the future, or perhaps the main Aquaman title. He really seems to get the character.

Negatives

I have absolutely no complaints about Dark Crisis: Worlds Without A Justice League – Superman #1. Dark Crisis and the overarching new Great Darkness Saga has been handled superbly (except for a certain miniseries starring the League and the Legion of Super-Heroes), and this one-shot story is no exception.

Verdict

If this issue is any indication, the upcoming Worlds Without a Justice League one-shots are going to be something really special. I can’t wait to see what worlds Pariah has created for the other members of the League. And the Superman story is like Tom King’s best stories usually are – heartbreaking but also somehow uplifting at the same time.

The post Review: Dark Crisis: Worlds Without A Justice League – Superman #1 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Scott Godlewski

Colors: Ryan Cody

Letters: Dave Sharpe

Reviewed By: Matthew Lloyd, Derek McNeil

Summary

Justice League Vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #4: Now it’s the Legion of Super-Heroes’ turn to get stuck in a time they don’t belong in, the 21st century. Time for the greatest heroes of the future to see the reality of their heroes of the past. All this is happening because the Great Darkness is coming, and even as the truth behind it is about to be revealed, it may be too late to stop all from becoming nothing. It’s the heroes of two eras in ways you’ve never seen them before!

Positives

Matthew: Let’s be honest, there aren’t a lot of Positives as we hit issue 4 of this series.  Scott Godlewski continues to keep things interesting in the art department, but he’s not given a lot of interesting material to work with in Bendis’ script.  There are a couple of interesting lines from Bendis that are worth mentioning.

Positives Cont.

When Brainiac 5 walks into the bunker he automatically attempted to connect to the computer with his voice only.  Cleverly, Bendis has Brainy admit he’s only ever been in a world that has computers that are voice recognition enabled.  This feels like a genuine experience that someone from the future would have.

Derek: Yeah, Godlewski is basically carrying the book. Unfortunately, while a great story can sometimes save poor art, the reverse isn’t true. This series is great to look at, but it has little else to offer.

Matthew: In another part of the issue, the Gold Lantern who’s been thrown further into the past meets Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern.  It’s a neat moment, but way too short.  Well the idea is cool, but it’s not executed very well.

Derek: That pretty much wraps Bendis’ writing in a nutshell. He comes up with some really good ideas, but rarely goes anywhere with them. When I saw Alan Scott, I thought this could lead to something interesting. But Alan does nothing to contribute to the story during his brief appearance.

Negatives

Matthew: I don’t think it’s a stretch to ask if anyone even cares about this series at this point.  It doesn’t help that the series has gone bi-monthly.  However, it seems to be the overall pacing of the series that’s the biggest issue.  Everything is taking so long to develop that it’s hard to feel any sort of tension or drama with the events.  The first issue had a decent set up, but not much has happened since.  It feels mostly like a set up for something else.

Derek: I know I’m finding it difficult to stay interested in this story. The story ends with the caption “To Be Continued…?” as if the series might not carry on past this point. And I thought to myself “Why bother continuing it?”. It doesn’t really seem to be adding anything to the overall Great Darkness story being told in the Dark Crisis event.

Matthew:  All the talk of the “great darkness” isn’t really paying off.  For those readers who know what the Great Darkness really is this story feels aimless.  Even within the confines of the story itself, there’s no real development of the darkness for a reveal with some sort of payoff.

Negatives Cont.

Derek: And what’s worse, is that we already know how this story ends, thanks to the delays this series has encountered. In Justice League #75, Green Arrow states that the League has recently encountered the Great Darkness and defeated it – evidently referring to this series. We already know that the League will be back in their own time and at their proper ages by the end of this series. By the story’s end, the status quo will have come full circle. You could cut this piece of the overall Great Darkness story and it wouldn’t make a lick of difference.

Matthew: It’s hard to believe, but the dialogue seems to be getting worse.  There are moments that the dialogue is confusing from a storytelling standpoint as well as dialogue that is just there because Bendis thinks he’s being clever.  I don’t think he has any clue as to how Black Adam should speak.  It’s more of a distraction than anything effective in any capacity.

Derek: Bendis has always been a little too impressed with how clever his dialogue is. Yes, occasionally he will come up with witty things for his characters to say. But more often than not, it’s just something inane. And you’re absolutely right about him not having a good grasp on how the characters should talk. There were multiple instances in the main Justice League title where he put words in Batman’s mouth that the Dark Knight would never utter.

Verdict

Matthew: It’s not worth following this series.  There’s literally nothing of interest going on and there’s almost no chance anything of significance will happen.  Coupled with the fact Bendis’ Legion is uninspired, it’s best to just put this away and hope we get a classic Legion reboot and let Bendis leave the DC Universe well enough alone.

Derek: I suspect that Joshua Williamson and the other plotters of Dark Crisis and Flashpoint Beyond arranged it so that this story would be ultimately separable and irrelevant to the overall Great Darkness story. It’s likely just meant to keep Bendis occupied so that he doesn’t mess up the overarching Dark Crisis storyline. While I’ve been enjoying their new Great Darkness Saga very much, readers could very easily skip it. In fact, they probably should.

Matthew’s Score:

Derek’s Score:

Average Score:

The post Review: Justice League Vs The Legion Of Super-Heroes #4 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Joshua Williamson

Artist: Daniel Sampere

Colours: Alejandro Sanchez

Letters: Tom Napolitano

Reviewed By: Derek McNeil

Summary

Dark Crisis #2: As the good people of the world mourn the loss of the Justice League, the forces of evil have seized the opportunity to wreak havoc in a world without its heroes! Leading the charge is a super-powered Slade Wilson…but this time there’s something dark fueling his rage. With a massive army laying siege to Titans Tower, only Nightwing will have what it takes to stand in the way of Deathstroke’s forces-but is this a fight Dick Grayson can win? Look, up in the sky-reinforcements are on the way! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…uh-oh…it’s Cyborg Superman. The world burns as Pariah and the Great Darkness make their play for planet Earth in this jaw-dropping second issue!

Positives

Dark Crisis #2 begins with a brief recap of Pariah’s origin, reminding us that the character arose out of the original Crisis On Infinite Earths. Through this retelling. Pariah explains that his motivation for his recent villainous actions is to reverse that Crisis and bring back DC’s original Infinite Earths.

This means that Pariah has bought into the idea that the end justifies the means. And this allows him to see himself as the hero, despite unleashing massive death and destruction. This reminds me very much of Hal Jordan as Parallax in Zero Hour, one of DC’s more successful crossover events. Hal was willing to destroy everything to recreate a better universe, but Pariah wants to recreate an entire Multiverse.

It also raises the question of how killing the Justice League is supposed to accomplish this. To me, this seems a pretty clear indicator that he did more than simply end their lives. He’s somehow using them as part of his plan to restore the original DC Multiverse.

And I’m certain that his alliance with the Great Darkness will prove to be his downfall. The Darkness wouldn’t want to recreate the Multiverse. That would go directly against its nature. It wouldn’t want to destroy the current Multiverse just to replace it with a bigger and brighter one. The Darkness is playing its own game – a game in which Pariah is just a pawn.

Positives Cont.

We also see the conclusion of Deathstroke and his Secret Society of Super-Villains on Titans Tower. The fight goes poorly for the Titans, eventually coming down to a one-on-one fight between Nightwing and Deathstroke. I really like this idea, as Deathstroke is, at his core, a Titans villain. And there is a special enmity between him and Nightwing. I really think DC should concentrate on building Slade up as Dick’s arch nemesis rather than as an antihero. And it looks like they actually might be taking the character in that direction.

The fight ends rather abruptly, as Superman shows up at the last moment to prevent Slade from killing Nightwing. Slade wants to press his victory and finish off the Titans, but Pariah pulls on his leash, commanding “Do not kill the superheroes. I need them. Remember your mission. Sow chaos, create a Crisis… Bring my Dark Army to you”.

This reveals another interesting part of Pariah’s plan. Apparently, a Crisis is necessary for it to succeed. I wonder if this is connected to the “Crisis Energy” that figures in Dark Nights: Death Metal.

Deathstroke’s motivations are interesting as well. His particular beef seems to be against the idea of legacy. This fits with the character’s history. After all, his son Grant was attempting to follow Slade’s legacy when he was killed during an encounter with the Teen Titans, a group consisting mainly of sidekicks continuing the legacy of DC’s greatest heroes.

The thing is, his motivations clash with Pariah’s. Deathstroke just wants to put an end to legacy superheroes, not destroy the world. It seems obvious that Pariah will betray Deathstroke. Is Deathstroke planning to betray him first, or will the Great Darkness betray them both? The DCU’s villains allied against the world’s heroes. It’s clear, though, that this alliance is built on very shaky ground.

Positives Cont.

We also see Black Adam put in an appearance during the battle’s aftermath. He expresses his contempt for Jon’s attempt to lead a new Justice League as well as disappointment in Dick’s leadership of the Titans. He then declares his intention to take over leadership of the new League: “It is my burden to lead this team”. Black Adam is another villain that’s been cast as something of an antihero in recent years. His recent appearances in Justice League have even had him going through a redemption arc. But is he the right leader for the team? Is leadership of the League even right for him?

Daniel Sampere’s artwork in this series is nothing short of fantastic. It seems that a new Justice League title will inevitably arise out of this event, and I would love to see DC tap Sampere for that job. This series has a huge cast of DC characters and he absolutely nails the look of each one. And he does a masterful job of depicting this issue’s explosive fight sequences.

Negatives

With two masters like Joshua Williamson and Daniel Sampere on the job, there’s little to complain about as long as they keep up the level of quality they’ve already established, then I’m happy.

Verdict

DC’s had mixed luck with their major event series over the years, but it looks like Dark Crisis is shaping up to be one of the better ones. Williamson and the other DC writers have put a lot of care into planning this story and it shows. I can hardly contain my anticipation to see how Williamson’s story will play out.

The post Review: Dark Crisis #2 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Joshua Williamson

Artist: Daniel Sampere

Colours: Alejandro Sanchez

Letters: Tom Napolitano

Reviewed By: Derek McNeil

Summary

Dark Crisis #1: Crisis on Infinite Earths. Infinite Crisis. Final Crisis. And now…Dark Crisis! The epic event years in the making is finally here! Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the rest of the Justice League are dead. The remaining heroes are left to protect the world from an onslaught of violent attacks by DC’s greatest villains! Can the legacy heroes step out of the shadows of the classic heroes to form a new Justice League? And will that be enough to stop a darkness greater than anything they’ve ever faced from destroying everything? Don’t miss out on the first issue of the blockbuster event of the summer!

Positives

With Dark Crisis #1, Joshua Williamson’s major summer event has now officially begun. However, DC has actually been building up to Dark Crisis for months now. Infinite Crisis, Justice League Incarnate, and Justice League #75 have been paving the way for this story.

From the first page, we get introduced to one of this series’ central themes: legagcy. We see a re-enactment of Dick Grayson swearing the oath that began his career as Robin, making him the first sidekick in comics and the first of DC’s second generation of characters. This is immediately followed by a two-page spread that summarizes the legacy from Batman and Robin up to the newest generation heroes.

And while this may seem like a celebration of DC history to fans, this is actually a rather sombre occasion, as Dick’s narration is revealed to be a eulogy for the Justice League who are presumed dead following the events of Justice League #75. However, Dick’s words exhort the gathered heroes to fight on and continue the League’s legacy.

And the question of how to follow the League’s legacy is an important question that falls upon the shoulder’s of Jon Kent. And he does so by assembling his own League. His first impulse is to form a new Trinity at the core by enlisting a new Batman and Wonder Woman. Unfortunately, neither Jace Fox nor Yara Flor are inclined to take him up on his offer. Thus, we see Jon talking to a succession of candidates. some of which turn him down, while others accept.

Positives Cont.

The team Jon puts together are a rather ragtag selection of heroes. Some make perfect sense, while others seem to be rather odd choices, as Jon was getting desperate to fill the roster. I suspect that this team will not serve as the permanent roster, but that some of them will stick around. I like that the reformed Killer Frost has joined the team, and Frankenstein makes a very intriguing addition. However, there seem to be some redundant selections. Black Adam raises the question “Do you really need two Blue Beetles?”. But he could also have asked if they needed a Superman and a Supergirl.

I think we will see some shakeups in the team’s roster as this series progresses. It’s unclear whether or not the original League will reform when Dark Crisis is over, but I suspect some of these characters will remain on whatever incarnation of the League arises out of this event.

I find the role of Hal Jordan in this story rather interesting. As the only original member of the Justice League remaining, Hal now represents his generation of heroes. He has been thrust into the position of the elder statesman, whom even Dick Grayson defers to. This seems a bit at odds with Hal’s personality, but I believe he can rise to the occasion and provide an example for the younger heroes to emulate.

And Hal gets right to work and doles out the assignments. He directs Wally to search for Barry, while he sets off to “find the perp” responsible for the League’s disappearance. This leaves Jon to deal with the rise in supervillain activity around the world.

Positives Cont.

Speaking of which, the issue ends with Deathstroke and his Secret Society of Super Villains launching an all-out attack on Titans Tower. Deathstroke states his intention to “Kill legacy once and for all”. Deathstroke has settled firmly into the role of a villain and has declared himself the enemy of the Titans and the very idea they represent. This gives the upcoming conflict an interesting edge. It’s not just a typical fight between heroes and villains, but a war of ideologies.

We also see what looks to be the first casualty in that war, as Deathstroke appears to execute Beaxt Boy with a bullet to the head. However, I suspect this isn’t the end of Gar. Readers of Teen Titans Academy will remember that he and Cyborg currently share a merged body. They appear to be separate, but this is an illusion generated by Raven. And Cyborg is is elsewhere when this happens. I suspect Deathstroke merely killed an illusory duplicate controlled by Gar’s mind.

Daniel Sampere’s visuals for this issue are astounding. Many of DC’s greatest characters are represented here, and they all look absolutely iconic. I loved every image: young Dick Grayson swearing his oath before Batman, the throng of heroes gathered to mourn the Justice League, and Deathstroke’s attack on Titans Tower. Sampere’s art really sells the idea that this story as a major event.

Negatives

Some of Jon’s selections for the new League seem rather odd. For example, Harley Quinn seems an outright bizarre choice. However, I understand that Jon was likely getting desperate to find enough heroes. And, as I said above, I suspect this lineup will change as the story progresses.

And actually, I think that Harley’s presence could prove interesting. She has been going through a redemption arc in her own title. Also, Harley is actually very intelligent and an expert in criminal psychology. She could be a disruptive influence, or she might actually turn out to be a valuable addition to the team – or quite possibly both. While her being on the team may or may not be a good idea, it will almost certainly prove entertaining.

Verdict

Dark Crisis #1 serves as a fantastic opening chapter for Williamson’s story. It has me hooked and I am eager to see what twists and turns this story will take over the next few months. Strap in, folks, as it looks like we’re in for a hell of a ride.

The post Review: Dark Crisis #1 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writers: Joshua Williamson, Jeremy Adams, Chuck Brown, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Stephanie Phillips

Artists: Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, Rosi Kampe, Fico Ossio, Leila Del Duca, Clayton Henry

Colours: Hi-Fi, Matt Herms, Sebastian Cheng, Jordie Bellaire, Marcelo Maiolo

Letters: Josh Reed

Reviewed By: Derek McNeil

Summary

Justice League: Road to Dark Crisis #1: The Justice League has tragically fallen in battle, and now we see the aftermath. How does the world react to the Justice League being gone? Which heroes rise up…and which villains try to take advantage? And what dark forces are lying in wait to attack? An all-star roster of DC talent showcases a world without a Justice League and sets the stage for next month’s Dark Crisis event!

Positives

In preparation for the imminent Dark Crisis event, DC brings us an anthology of stories leading into Dark Crisis #0. Despite the title, the Justice League does not actually appear in these stories, but their presence, or rather their absence, hangs over the book. This is because the stories are set shortly after the events of Justice League #75, in which the League apparently died. This sets the scene for this collection of stories that offer some teases about Dark Crisis.

The first story features a Nightwing and the newly minted Superman, Jon Kent. Jon seeks out Dick to ask him to eulogize the fallen Leaguers at a memorial, which leads into a conversation. Dick seems rather unfazed by the apparent deaths of the Leaguers. Dick tells Jon of the times when both Batman and the original Superman had previously died, but later returned.

This reflects what many readers will be thinking. Nearly all of the heroes who died in Justice League #75 have done so before. As the joke goes, “No one stays dead in comics except Barry Allen, Jason Todd, and Bucky”. So why should we care this time? Williamson has the span of this event to sell us on caring, but Jon manages to get through to Dick in this story. And Dick comes to realize that whether or not the League returns, it’s incumbent on the younger heroes to step up during their absence.

Dick mentions one thing that I find intriguing. He says, “I remember how much Barry’s death impacted Wally. But sometimes I think Barry coming back hurt him more…”. The hurt of losing Barry was a major part of Wally’s coming of age story arc. But how has his return hurt Wally? I wonder if this is something that Jeremy Adams will be picking up on in The Flash, which is slated to tie into Dark Crisis.

Positives Cont.

Speaking of which, Jeremy Adams writes the second story which features the Flash and Kid Flash. It begins with Iris West coming to her nephews, worried about Barry’s disappearance. Barry wasn’t with the fallen Leaguers, but readers of Infinite Frontier and Justice League Incarnate will know that Barry’s disappearance is connected to the overall Dark Crisis story. DC’s solicits indicate that the search for Barry will be taking place in the pages of The Flash.

Like Dick in the first story, Wally seems unfazed by the League’s apparent death or Barry’s disappearance. We see him keeping Wallace’s spirits up as they deal with a rash of villains taking advantage of the League’s absence. Wally reminds us, “That’s why I joke. I smile. I’ the ‘hope’ guy…”. However, when he’s alone, he takes a sombre moment to reflect in front of a statue of Barry. And he adds, “It doesn’t mean it hurts less. When one of us dies… disappears… It just means their sacrifice… my heroes’ sacrifice… is more than just a moment in time”.

This makes an important point about this story. We as readers know that the League will inevitably return. But while many of the DCU characters strongly suspect it, they can’t know it for sure. As far as they know, they will each face a final death from which there is no return. And they don’t know for sure that this isn’t the case this time.

The next story features Green Lantern Hal Jordan and former Aqualad, Jackson Hyde. Hal is returning from space and teams up with Jackson to confront an alien threat. It’s from Jackson that Hal learns about the fall of the Justice League. Hal doesn’t have much time to process the news while dealing with the alien, but he does state afterward, “I’m going to find out about what happened to the League”.

Hal is in a somewhat unique position in the overall story. With the League apparently dead and Barry missing, Hal is the only core member of the team remaining. I wonder if this will give him some survivor’s guilt for not being with them when they fell. I suspect that he will become something as a mentor figure to the younger heroes that step up to fill the void the League has left. We already see a hint of that when he tells Jackson, “Listen, you and other young heroes will need to step up. The world needs all of you right now”. I really like the idea of Hal in such a role and I think it could add some dimension to the character.

Positives Cont.

Next, we get a story relating to how Pariah got seduced by the Great Darkness. This does fill in a bit of backstory but doesn’t seem to give too much concrete information. However, I am struck by Pariah stating “this multiverse may be a false one”.  I wonder what exactly he means by this. Is he implying that the current DCU Multiverse is not the original? Infinite Frontier and Justice League #75 did show us a dead Multiverse. Was that the original Multiverse? I expect we will be learning more as Dark Crisis progresses.

The final series focuses on the villainess Nocturna. Following her recent stint in the Suicide Squad, she attempts to return to a life of crime by robbing a museum. However, she is stopped by Batgirl Stephanie Brown. During their talk, it seems as if Nocturna’s heart isn’t really in the robbery, but she does seem to be seeking some sort of challenge or meaning.

After Stephanie departs, Firefly appears with an offer to join a new incarnation of the Secret Society of Super Villains. He tells her, “We have a plan, Nocturna… and it’s much bigger than Gotham”. Clearly the Society and their plan will feature large in Dark Crisis. But will Nocturna join them? I suspect we will be seeing the Society from Nocturna’s viewpoint, and that she will play a pivotal role in the story. But will it be as a hero or a villain?

These stories are written by some of DC’s hottest writers, but it also features some of DC’s hottest artists and some up-and-coming talents. We see a wide variety of artistic styles, which nicely reflects the similar variety in the wider DC line of titles. I especially liked Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund’s splash page featuring Jon and Dick leaping into action with the images of Superman and Batman pictured above them. And I really dig Fico Ossio’s rendition of Hal Jordan.

Negatives

One could complain that we don’t learn much concrete information in this anthology. However, the purpose of this book is to tease the Dark Crisis event rather than to serve as the opening chapter. Its primary purpose is to lure us in with hints about Dark Crisis. But it also delivers some entertaining stories while doing so. So, it does have some value in its own right besides being a trailer for a bigger story.

Verdict

I don’t know yet if reading Justice League: Road to Dark Crisis #1 is crucial to understanding the main event. But it’s evident that reading this special will give added depth to the overall story. If this special is any indication of what’s to come, Dark Crisis will prove to be a phenomenal story. I look forward to seeing how it all plays out.

The post Justice League: Road To Dark Crisis #1 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Scott Godlewski

Colors: Ryan Cody

Letters: Dave Sharpe

Reviewed By: Matthew Lloyd, Derek McNeil

Summary

Justice League Vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes #3: The Justice League is trapped in the 31st century with the Legion of Super-Heroes, while the looming terror of the Great Darkness hovers over both time period simultaneously. Even as the great heroes of the 21st century get to experience the fantastic far-flung future, the mysteries behind the Gold Lantern and the Great Darkness threaten all of existence. What is the secret behind the Great Darkness? And will the greatest heroes of two ages be able to stop it before it’s too late?

Positives

Matthew: Much like the previous two issues, there are some interesting ideas in Justice League vs. the Legion of Super-Heroes #3.  Pulling pairs of characters to different time periods is neat concept with a lot of potential.  We don’t get more than an introduction to it, but it certainly seems like it could be interesting.  The inclusion of Kamandi is a great choice in particular.

Derek: I totally agree. There are some great ideas in that story that just beg to be explored further. I loved the idea of the smaller groups lost in different eras. And the guest appearance the Batman of the future, Terry McGinnis was also a great idea. I wonder if there will be more guest-stars from other eras next issue.

Matthew: Out of the pairings we get, there’s a moment with Aquaman and Jo Nah that is quite nice in the beginning.  It doesn’t last long as Aquaman’s characterization hasn’t been stable since the beginning of “Rebirth.”  We’ve all of a sudden got angry  mid ’90’s Aquaman again.  Maybe he got time travelled in as well.  There are moments where I really want to like this Legion of Super-Heroes, I’ve been a fan for a long time.  There are moments that almost shine, but it never really coalesces.   Brainy’s characterization seems right on for the most point, but few of the other Legionnaires feel right.

Derek: I actually liked the angry 90s Aquaman, but I have to agree that DC needs to establish a solid characterization for Arthur – and then stick to it. However, Bendis has a general problem with writing characters that actually stay in character. So, even if Aquaman was clearly defined, Bendis still might have had Arthur acting strangely.

Positives Cont.

Matthew: Scott Godlewski does his best to keep the issue looking interesting.  The scenes inside the Darkness when they are forcibly time travelled look cool and he’s able to provide a lot of dynamic poses despite a lack of action during a lot of the issue.

Derek: I have to agree with this. Scott Godlewski’s art is honestly the best part of this book. But great art can only do so much. It can’t really save a flawed story. This series has a lot of potential. It features two of DC’s premier teams with fantastic art. And Bendis has some great ideas with lot of potential – but Bendis isn’t using that potential.

Negatives

Matthew: After another two-month gap and a storyline that should’ve wrapped up before the death of the Justice League in Justice League #75, one has to wonder if anyone even cares about this series anymore outside of Bendis.  It always felt like this “darkness” had some sort of tie in to the upcoming Dark Crisis.  But, one fears that series will be half over when this one finally wraps up.  One can only wonder if Dark Crisis will manage to spoil the end of Justice League vs. the Legion of Super-Heroes.  It wouldn’t be the first time Bendis has given away an ending in advance.

Derek: Justice League #75 did vaguely spoil the ending. Black Adam states, “We already fought the Great Darkness and defeated it”, referring to this story. It’s debatable how much of a spoiler that is, as their victory would have been inevitable anyway. But the book’s  lateness does upset the flow of the overarching story leading up to Dark Crisis. The buildup to that event has been carefully planned. But I don’t think it will effect that story very much, if at all.

Negatives Cont.

Matthew: It shouldn’t be a surprise that Bendis’s dialogue is again a detriment to the issue.  Everyone just seems too quippy.  Not everyone talks like Spider-Man.  Bendis makes Green Arrow sound like an idiot, and not in a good , endearing way.  At least two times I found myself skipping ahead because the dialogue was just cumbersome and uninteresting.  The further along this goes with references to this event as “the great darkness,” the less significant it seems.  It’s certainly not anything like the original “Great Darkness Saga,” and to continue using that phrasing feels more and more misplaced in this series.

Derek: Bendis is too overly impressed with his ability to write clever dialogue. He doesn’t realize that it works better when used sparingly, rather than cramming as much as possible into every single character interaction in the story. And it only sounds right if coming out of mouths of certain characters. If it were more judiciously applied, his dialogue could be an asset to the story, but he overdoes it.

Matthew: Bendis also manages to spoil a reveal  in the issue.  We are told that Epoch warned the League about a Gold Lantern and then we get to see the flashback.  Besides being redundant and wasting page space, it’s done in a way that spoils the more dramatic second time it’s revealed.   It’s very awkward, and if you remember this happening, it’s got to feel even more wasteful.

Negatives Cont.

Derek: I get the feeling that Bendis couldn’t decide whether to reveal this in the flashback or when Batman dramatically realizes one of the Legionnaires is a Gold Lantern. I’m guessing that he thought either was a good way to make the reveal. And then he leapt to the conclusion that using both would be even better. This is really a rookie writing mistake that a professional writer should be able to avoid making.

Matthew: The Justice League roster itself is a concern in Justice League Vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #3 as well.  Black Adam and Naomi were always head scratchers, and it becomes more clear this issue.  Crossovers like this are usually exciting because a Leaguer meets a Legionnaire and it’s interesting.  Brainiac and Batman fit that bill mostly, but Black Adam is completely out of place here.  He’s not League material and hold no cache for a meetup with the Legion.  Even Brainiac can see he’s useless when he tells him to not shoot any ore lighting bolts into the darkness.  Of course Black Adam can only come back with a meaningless quip.  Quip, quip, quip.

Derek: Actually, I think Black Adam’s presence on the Justice League has a lot of potential. And I think Bendis may have not been given a choice about his being on the team. With a Black Adam movie imminent, DC is trying to force a redemption arc for the character, so that Adam lines up with his movie counterpart. The problem is that Bendis doesn’t really seem to know what to do with the character beyond having him be brash and arrogant. We really need to see some character growth for Adam, but Bendis has yet to show any.

Negatives Cont.

Matthew: Naomi wanders around like “little girl lost” in the issue.  Not only is she not a bona fide legend from the Age of Heroes, creating zero excitement when she encounters a Legionnaire, she repeats whatever Brainy and Mon-El say to her.  Even Bendis’s nepotism can’t save her from an embarrassing appearance.   Bendis even throws in an appearance of the forgettable Leviathan.  No cared about it then, no one cares about it now.  It’s laughable that this is supposed to make the characters quake in their boots when the Leviathan sigil is displayed on a door in Kamandi’s era.

Derek: Naomi… sigh! Honestly, I have no idea why she’s even in the League, other than Bendis trying like crazy to make her a huge breakout star. She’s a good enough character to merit her own miniseries or two, but she’s not as special as Bendis wants us to think.  She might make for a good member on another team. But the League is DC’s premier team and usually features their biggest stars. She has a long way to go before she’s Justice League material.

Matthew: Lastly, from a storytelling perspective, we are half way through this series and we don’t understand what the stakes are yet.  we don’t know what the darkness is, why it needs to be stopped or anything really.  We can infer of course that it will destroy reality with these temporal events, but it just doesn’t come across as dangerous and exciting as it should for a crossover between these two teams.

Derek: I don’t think we even really care what the stakes are. Thanks to the delays in the title, we already know that the League and Legion will overcome the Great Darkness in this series. And we know that the Great Darkness returns almost immediately and is not the least bit diminished as a threat. That knowledge seems to indicate that the stakes in this encounter are irrelevant. The Justice League avoided being killed along with the Legion, just to die with the Justice League Incarnate instead.

Verdict

Matthew: If you’re buying this series, ask yourself why.  Based on this issue, it’s not going to get any better and like Event Leviathan before it, it’s impact will be obsolete before it’s completed.  At the current rate, that’s November.

Derek: It’s impact is already obsolete thanks to the events told in Justice League #75. I doubt anyone’s buying this for the writing. Perhaps for the art. Or perhaps in the belief that this series is required for fully understanding Dark Crisis. However, I suspect it could be easily skipped without impacting their enjoyment of that event.

Matthew’s Score:

Derek’s Score:

Average Score:

The post Review: Justice League Vs The Legion Of Super-Heroes #3 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writers: Joshua Williamson, Dennis Culver

Artists: Daniel Sampere, Jim Cheung, Chris Burnham, Rafa Sandoval

Colors: Alejandro Sanchez, Jay David Ramos, Hi-Fi,  Matt Herms

Letters: Tom Napolitano, Jodi Tong

Reviewed By: Derek McNeil

Summary

Dark Crisis #0 FCBD Special Edition: Witness the rise and fall of the Justice League! The event years in the making is here with Dark Crisis! The Justice League is comics’ greatest super-team – made up of DC’s legendary heroes, they have saved the world countless times. No crisis was too much for them to handle… until now! The Justice League has been defeated by the Great Darkness and its army of DC’s most dangerous enemies, now a new generation of heroes must rise to protect not only the Multiverse… but also the legacy of the DCU! A prelude to DC Comics’ biggest story of 2022!

Positives

As part of the 2022 Free Comic Book Day celebration, DC has released the Dark Crisis #0 FCBD Special Edition. The stories presented here are intended to stoke reader interest in DC’s summer event, Dark Crisis and each of the book’s three main features are designed to do so in a different way.

The first tale is set in the DCU after the death of several major DC heroes in Justice League #75 and features the Flash (Wally West) fighting Clayface in the Hall of Justice. There are a couple of interesting hints about upcoming plotlines. For example, Clayface mentions that:

With Batman and the Justice League dead, other people are making big moves, and they offered me a new deal.

It stands to reason that this tragedy would provide an opportunity for the villains of the DCU, but which of them is the mastermind pulling Clayface’s strings? Lex Luthor? Deathstroke? How many other villains are part of this plan? I’m betting this unknown villain’s plot will be central to the Dark Crisis story.

However, the most important part of this chapter is the emphasis it places on this being a world without a Justice League. At one point in the fight between the Flash and Clayface, Clayface taunts Wally with, “So is this where your new Justice League shows up to save the day?” Wally’s retort is simply, “There is no Justice League, but to honor them I’m going to teach you a lesson”.

Positives Cont.

The first sentence declares the stark tragedy that the Justice League is no more, but more importantly, Wally continues with an affirmation that he will continue on in their honour. It will likely be the case that other heroes will echo this same commitment to honour the memory of the League.

Also, one of the children present asks Wally a question that will be on the minds of many readers, “Do you think there will ever be a Justice League again?”. Wally replies in the affirmative, stating that the Justice League is always growing and changing. Embracing the new. This assures the kids in the story and the readers that a new Justice League will arise.

However, Wally continues by stating, “It’s not really a question of if there will be a new Justice League… or when…the real question is who?” We’re then shown a glimpse of several heroes who are successors or former sidekicks to the former Justice League. This implies that we are likely to see a Justice League composed of legacy heroes arise during Dark Crisis. However, this does leave the the question of what happens to this League, when the originals return, and let’s face it, their return is inevitable.

Positives Cont.

The second story isn’t really an entire story, but the first few pages from next month’s Dark Crisis #1. The main theme in these pages is legacy in the DC Universe. It starts with Batman inducting Robin as DC’s first kid sidekick. It relates the continuing heroic legacy from DC’s earliest heroes to its most recent.

These images are shown as Nightwing eulogizes the fallen members of the Justice League at a memorial event at the Hall of Justice. By the size of the crowd, it appears that most of DC’s living superheroes are in attendance to pay their respects. Oddly enough, Deathstroke’s present as well. Is he also paying honour to the League, or doing reconnaissance for an as yet unrevealed plot?

We also see a short  glimpse of a number of heroes fighting the hordes of Kobra in Washington DC. It’s unclear whether these heroes are a new incarnation of the Justice League, or whether this is part of the story leading up to the formation of a new team. It does raise some interesting possibilities of who might be on the roster. Wally West and Jon Kent seem obvious choices, but seeing other heroes, like Frankenstein and Doctor Light, presents intriguing possibilities.

During the memorial scene, we see that several statues of the fallen heroes have been erected in front of the Hall of Justice. However, not all of the apparently fallen heroes have gotten statues. There are no statues for Black Canary, Green Arrow, or Zatanna. Was this an oversight in the artwork, or is this hinting at something else? In Justice League #75, neither Black Canary nor Green Arrow were seen dying in the same manner as the rest. So, they might be still alive, but how would anyone back on Earth know of their survival? Zatanna did die like the others though, so doesn’t she merit a statue like the rest of the fallen legends?

Positives Cont.

The third story is not entirely new. Justice League Incarnate #4 began with a short history of DC’s various Crises from the original Crisis On Infinite Earths up to the present. In my review of that issue, I stated that DC should consider using those pages as a primer to bring new readers up to speed on that history, which they have done here. Well… sort of. This is a shortened version of those pages with the addition of a glimpse at the Army of Darkness gathered by Pariah for the Great Darkness.

There’s also a short section titled “DC Essential Graphic Novels” (i.e. trade paperback collections). The focus on Justice League collections from the New 52 to the present, plus a selection of DC’s various Crises, and “DC Universe Rebirth: The Deluxe Edition”. While many readers will already be familiar these stories, this still could be invaluable to new readers. It gives them a good idea of what to read if they want to catch up on the current state of the DCU in preparation for Dark Crisis.

Finally, we get a checklist for the Dark Crisis event. Looking at it, I was glad to see that most of the story is told in the Dark Crisis miniseries, one tie-in miniseries, and a handful of specials. Only one regular ongoing series (The Flash) is listed as being being part of the event. DC is thankfully not making forcing readers to buy their entire line of titles to get the full story.

From the sample pages included, it appears that we’re in for a visual treat with Dark Crisis. The few pages we see of Daniel Sampere’s handiwork are breathtaking. What we’re shown features some of DC’s most iconic heroes and character and Sampere’s artwork beautifully conveys the significance of those images. I’m eagerly anticipating seeing the rest of his work on this story.

Negatives

There’s little room for complaint when talking about a free comic. Even a mediocre effort would be worth the purchase price. The only problem I might have is if there was anything that raised concerns about the quality of the upcoming Dark Crisis event. However, I was unable to find anything in this preview that rings any warning bells about this event. If this preview is any indication, this should be one of DC’s better crossovers.

Verdict

The Dark Crisis #0 FCBD Special Edition gives every indication that DC’s summer event will be phenomenal. This small taste makes it clear that Williamson and Sampere are capable of giving us a truly memorable story. It’s free, so there’s little excuse not to check it out. You won’t be sorry.

The post Review: Dark Crisis #0 FCBD Special Edition appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Joshua Williamson

Artists: Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona

Colours: Matt Herms

Letters: Josh Reed

Reviewed By: Derek McNeil

Summary

Justice League #75: Oversize special issue! Superstar writer Joshua Williamson pens the beginning of the next big DCU event! It all starts here!

A new Dark Army made up of the DCU’s greatest villains has formed on the edges of the Multiverse! The DCU’s best and most powerful heroes are pulled together in an epic war to push the darkness back! But in the end, they are no match for it! That’s right, you heard it here first: the Justice League are killed by the Dark Army, with only one survivor to warn the remaining heroes of Earth about what is coming for them!

FINAL ISSUE!

Positives

In their hype leading up to this story, DC has insisted that the story’s title, “Death of the Justice League” would be literal. So, it’s not really much of a spoiler to say that they did indeed kill off most of the current Justice League lineup. We do indeed see most of the eleven Leaguers present die in the pages of this final issue of the series. Like DC’s advance hype says, only one survivor returns to tell the tale. However, there is one (or perhaps two) hero who appears to survive, but isn’t returned to Earth.

The immediate reaction of many readers will be to state that this is only a stunt and that the heroes either will be back before long. As for this story being a stunt, that’s a given. It’s the kickoff to DC’s latest major crossover event. These events are stunts by their very nature. The question is not whether this is a stunt. The question is how well the stunt is pulled off. Will this be a well-written, interesting story. DC is a business, so they can be forgiven doing what is necessary to stay profitable, as long as they provide a worthy story in the process.

As to whether they will come back or not. Ultimately, I am certain they will. Most of the Leaguers who die here have died and returned before. Hell, Wonder Woman has just returned to the land of the living a few months ago. But DC might draw their deaths out a little. In recent months, a number of the Leaguers have been sharing their heroic identities with legacy characters. And removing the original Justice League would be a big step towards a Future like the one shown in the Future State event. However, as entertaining a story as Future State was, I don’t think that DC could sustain its sales without the classic heroes.

Positives Cont.

And there are some subtler hints. There are clear allusions to the “Death of Superman” in Superman #75. This appears to be an unlucky number for the Man of Steel. And the depiction of the actual deaths is a clear call-back to Barry Allen’s death in Crisis on Infinite Earths #8. In both cases, those heroes were resurrected. But where Superman returned after seven months, Barry’s return took 23 years. How long will it take the League to return?

Following the “Death of Superman” storyline, DC put the Superman titles on hiatus just long enough that there was no solicitations for the next issues, giving the appearance that the titles had indeed been ended permanently. I believe DC may reuse this trick, and in a few months, we’ll see a solicitation for either Justice League #76 or a new #1.

I do think it’s significant that while DC has insisted that the deaths are real, they haven’t said much to imply that the characters will remain dead long term. So, overall I’m certain that the classic League members will return, but we will just have to wait and see.

Much like Superman #75. There isn’t a whole lot of story in this issue. Infinite Frontier and Justice League Incarnate did the work of telling the build up to this story. This allows the Justice League to jump right into the action with only a small amount of setup at the issue’s start. Thus, most of the issue is taken up with the actual battle against Pariah and his Army of Darkness. This isn’t  bad thing, as concentrating on this major battle allows this Dark Crisis prelude to start with an explosive encounter that will set off a chain of events driving the main story.

Positives Cont.

The story ends with the sole survivor’s literally explosive return to the Hall of Justice. The final page shows three heroes arriving in time to hear the survivor state, “The Justice League are dead”. I have a feeling that this particular quartet is not random and that these four heroes will. These four represent a significant portion of DC history, from the Golden Age up to the present. Also, two of them are legacy characters. And one of them is a Flash. And Flashes frequently play a central role in DC’s various Crises.

The artwork by Rafa Sandoval and Jordi Tarragona, aided by Matt Herms’ colours is absolutely gorgeous. For a monumental story like this, everything needs to look its absolute best, and the artistic team has admirably achieved that goal. The action is brilliantly depicted. And the Justice League members look their iconic best for their apparently final battle.

Negatives

One thing DC didn’t mention in their hype leading up to Justice League #75 is that there is more than one Justice League that meets their end in this issue. The members of Justice League Incarnate die alongside their allies as well. I am more hesitant to declare that they will eventually return. While they are all interesting characters, the Multiverse would be mostly unaffected by their deaths. However, it doesn’t strike me as likely that DC would leave the original Mary Marvel and President Superman dead. But it’s not impossible.

But I will never forgive Joshua Williamson if this is the end of Captain Carrot’s story. I have a special place in my heart for this character. When I first started collecting comics, Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew was the first title I was able to collect from its first issue. I am always happy when he makes an appearance in a DC title, so I’ve been happy to see him involved in the build-up to Dark Crisis. But I didn’t realize it was leading to this. Please DC, don’t let this be the end of Captain Carrot’s story.

Verdict

Well, Justice League #75 certainly started off Joshua Williamson’s Dark Crisis with a bang. I can’t think of a more effective way to catch the attention of readers than killing off the DCU’s biggest legends in one fell swoop. And by taking them off the board, it provides an opportunity for other characters to come to forefront. And by starting his story with such a bold move, Williamson is showing readers that he’s not messing around. This is going to be a story of true import.

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