The Flash #784
Written by: Jeremy Adams
Art by: Amancay Nahuelpan
The search for Barry Allen! Wally and Wallace have arrived on the planet Pariah has trapped Barry on—but it’s not quite a happy reunion among the Flashes. The Dark Crisis tie-in storyline continues!
Dark Crisis: Young Justice #2
Written by: Meghan Fitzmartin
Art by: Laura Braga
Impulse, Superboy, and Tim Drake were just saved by Cassie Sandsmark, Wonder Girl in the strange fantasy word they’re trapped in. And she’s here to help them navigate their retro surroundings. But…Cassie Sandsmark is back on our Earth searching for her friends alongside Red Tornado and the superhero formerly known as Arrowette. Which Cassie is lying and who’s about to get burned?!
Dark Crisis: Worlds Without a Justice League – Superman #1
(W) Brandon Thomas, Tom King (A) Fico Ossio, Chris Burnham
In Shops: Jul 12, 2022
SRP: $4.99
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!
You could make a game out of Dark Crisis #2. Count how many times the word “crisis” is said and take a shot. You might not make it through the issue. While in reality it’s only about 3 times, the issue feels like the moment in the film where a character says the title in some speech. “Dark” and “crisis” are thrown around a lot to a point it feels a little eyerolling and definitely borderline cheese.
The debut issue ended with Slade and his new Secret Society attacking the Titans Tower. This issue picks up on that as they spread terror throughout the facility and students do their best to survive. Writer Joshua Williamson gives us an interesting issue as Slade and Nightwing clash, a rivalry that goes back years.
Much like the first issue, this feels like more setup as we see Slade and the Society’s role into the “crisis to come” as well as decisions by two other legacy heroes in standing up to face the challenges. There’s action and some interesting moments but overall it feels like a fancy actions sequence that’s there more for the flash than the depth.
That “flash” is provided by Daniel Sampere whose art is very nice. The battle between Slade and Nightwing looks fantastic in a two-page spread that’ll leave you lingering on the page. Sampere teams with Alejandro Sánchez on colors and letterer Tom Napolitano. The destruction looks great but there’s a sense of fear that’s missing. Wide shots are used a lot instead of closer ones on faces to really drive home the panic. “Holy shit” moments don’t quite deliver the punch they should but the characters and detail of each scene does look really good.
Dark Crisis #2 is an interesting comic much like the debut. There’s a lot I like and a lot I don’t At times there’s some really interesting moments and others where it feels like it’s going through the motions. The comic feels like it’s trying to be its own thing but also is waist deep in continuity. The event as a whole fits in this weird spot. It feels like one that’ll have to be judged but the whole instead of each individual part.
Story: Joshua Williamson Art: Daniel Sampere
Color: Alejandro Sánchez Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Story: 7.5 Art: 8.15 Overall: 7.5 Recommendation: Read
DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics – comiXology/Kindle
Dark Crisis #2
(W) Joshua Williamson (A/CA) Daniel Sampere
In Shops: Jul 05, 2022
SRP: $4.99
THE HOUSE OF NIGHTWING BURNS! 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!
I don’t know a ton about Young Justice. There’s some small runs or stories I’ve read. I never watched the cartoon. I generally don’t know the history. So, when a comic has a lot to do with all of the ups and downs of a team in the past, you’d think it’d be hard to get into. Dark Crisis: Young Justice #1 isn’t really that case.
Meghan Fitzmartin keeps Dark Crisis: Young Justice #1 pretty simple. With the heroes gone, Young Justice is back together to mourn the “loss” of their mentors and friends. The team hasn’t been one for quite a while and Fitzmartin does a good job of delivering the basics as to what has happened to them through the years. For those new to the team and coming into it as an event tie-in, you’ll get what you need to know.
Where the comic does really well is where it goes from the drama. The men of the team, Connor, Bart, and Tim, are whisked away into what seems like the past. How? Why? Who knows!? That’s the gist of the comic as Cassie takes it upon herself to find her missing friends who everyone else thinks have gone off to mourn on their own. It’s a simple mystery and one that left me scratching my head enough to want to know what’s going on.
The art by Laura Braga is good. With color by Luis Guerrero and Pat Brosseau the characters look like themselves and there’s a lot of characters packed in at times. When the eventually battle happens, there’s some rather humorous placement and visual jokes as well. But, Braga’s style isn’t one I totally go for. It’s good and works but also not one that gets me really excited. There’s times, but this is one where it’s perfectly fine visually.
Dark Crisis: Young Justice #1 is a perfectly fine offshoot of the event that has some interesting moments. The reaction of the older heroes has a lot of potential and says so much about how this group is seen. There’s definitely something here but overall this might be for folks who are fans of the characters.
Story: Meghan Fitzmartin Art: Laura Braga
Color: Luis Guerrero Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Story: 7.5 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7.35 Recommendation: Read
DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: comiXology/Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW
The Flash #783
(W) Jeremy Adams (A) Amancay Nahuelpan
In Shops: Jun 21, 2022
SRP: $3.99
A Dark Crisis tie-in: the search for Barry Allen! With the Justice League gone, Wally gathers the entire Flash Family in a desperate attempt to search the Speed Force and finally locate the missing Barry Allen. But does Barry want to be found? This three-issue story ties directly into this summer’s event. Dark Crisis continues here!
Dark Crisis: Young Justice #1
(W) Meghan Fitzmartin (A) Laura Braga (CA) Max Dunbar
In Shops: Jun 21, 2022
SRP: $3.99
Crises have always had devastating impacts on the generation of heroes that make up Young Justice, and Dark Crisis will hit them even harder. Tim Drake, Impulse, and Superboy go missing during the Justice League’s funeral. The only person concerned enough to find them? Cassie Sandsmark, a.k.a Wonder Girl. But…the three boys of Young Justice aren’t on this Earth anymore…they’re on the world of their dreams, one they may never want to leave!
Dark Crisis #1
(W) Joshua Williamson (A/CA) Daniel Sampere
In Shops: Jun 07, 2022
SRP: $5.99
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!
When it comes to DC events with the word “Crisis” in the title, the results can be very hit and miss. Overall, they tend to go deep into DC history and continuity and at times it feels like unless you have a degree in that, you’re missing a lot. They also tend to be over the top in events and threats which all makes Dark Crisis #1 so interesting. While the lead ups to the event have either dipped a bit too much in DC history or were just outright boring, Dark Crisis #1 is a bit surprising. It’s rather grounded and dialed back.
Written by Joshua Williamson, the classic heroes of the DC universe have been “killed”. Left behind are the next generation, and Hal Jordan and Black Adam, who must pick up the pieces and also figure out what happened. Black Adam is the only remaining witness to events describing a great darkness that’s coming. But, there’s no evidence leaving many skeptical as to what’s really going on.
And what would happen in a world where the “heroes are gone”?
Williamson uses this debut issue to explore that concept teasing of the larger battle to come. Death cults have risen up mostly, many of them focused on a darkness that’s coming. But, the major villains are relatively out of sight, the quiet before the storm. And that storm comes towards the end of the issue. It’s a nice build up and interesting overall, delivering a bit of a different spin on the idea of heroes not being around.
There’s also the difficulty of what the previous heroes did. Jon Kent is now the world’s only Superman and he sees the need for a new Justice League. Except, it doesn’t go quite as planned with Black Adam delivering a speech a viewpoint that’s rather interesting. It shows that all of the Justice Leagues and team-ups were something special. It wasn’t an easy thing to do and we might see it as through the lens of nostalgia.
The art is handled by Daniel Sampere. With color by Alejandro Sánchez and lettering by Tom Napolitano, it all looks really good. There’s a lot of characters in this issue and there’s a style that’s very “DC” about it all. The comic so far generally lacks those visual moments that give pause, but overall it’s a really solid looking comic. Like the story itself, it just lacks a bit of excitement and punch, possibly also the quiet before the storm.
While Dark Crisis #1 didn’t quite excite me, the debut has all the makings of a solid story. The overall package by the time things are done may be far better than this opening issue. Still, it has more than enough to entertain and reminds readers that what DC’s classic heroes have done over and over was never as easy as it looked.
Story: Joshua Williamson Art: Daniel Sampere
Color: Alejandro Sánchez Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Story: 7.75 Art: 8.0 Overall: 7.9 Recommendation: Read
DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: comiXology/Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW
