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Last month, I had plenty to say about the opening issue of this event. As far as I’m concerned that’s a good thing. But now as we reach the halfway point, with the remaining heroes joining forces to try and find a way to fight back, I’m left with not nearly as much to say… and that isn’t good. Well, let’s get into it.
After rushing through all the setup for this story in issue one, this issue doesn’t seem to cover much ground. I’d say there were two objectives behind this month’s release: Propping up Nightwing and setting up all the upcoming tie-in comics. Oh yeah, all those thematic elements I talked about last month don’t play into this issue at all. Waid has reverted to smashing action figures together, after all.
Outside of all the fighting, the centerpiece of this issue is Nightwing rallying the remaining DC heroes and telling them what to do in their tie-in books. Now I don’t have a problem with Nightwing being a leader for the other heroes in principle but it’s the execution that bothers me. To set this up, the Justice League (sorry, the former Justice League) members have to start arguing amongst each other like children about who should lead. We even get this gem of a line:
I’m so tired of hearing about the Justice League being disbanded. This is meaningless! These characters are still friends. They’re on the same page working together in this book! It doesn’t matter that they stopped selling T-shirts. Please DC, stop trying to convince me it does.
It’s also tiring the way Dick is being pushed so inorganically as an important character. I love Dick but he hasn’t proven he deserves this. His speech in this issue proves my point. He takes charge simply by telling everyone else to be quiet and then gives one of the least inspired hero speeches I’ve read in a while. The speech seems to hinge on the reader observing this comic from a meta level. Still, this comic isn’t particularly meta so that makes no sense either. It doesn’t help that the speech quickly devolves into a boring ad for those tie-ins I keep mentioning.
For more weird character choices see Waller asking her evil friends not to target civilians because she’s “not a sociopath.” Ignore the fact that she’s already targeted civilians in this book, I guess. Maybe she’s just in denial but it’s an odd moment because traditionally Waller was a character who had her own form of a moral code. Recently she’s been portrayed as just plain evil so I’m left wondering how exactly the creative team wants me to think of her.
Outside these annoyances I have to admit, for the first time since Dark Nights: Metal, DC is publishing an event that actually feels big. Still, big and consequential are not the same thing, and this certainly isn’t the latter. It becomes very difficult to take this comic seriously knowing that the big moments aren’t going to matter in three months. It’s also impossible to believe they will matter after the last few years of events. Dark Crisis, in particular, destroyed any chance of me taking that classic line “nothing will ever be the same” seriously again.
Recommended if…
You love Dan Mora
Zealot has a moment to shine so if you’re a Wildstorm fan like me I guess that’s nice
There are far worse comics out there
Overall
This chapter ended up entertaining as a spectacle but whatever promise issue one held for this being something a little more than the average event was lost. The plot feels predictable and I’m mostly reminded of minor events like Bloodlines, Armageddon 2001, Legends, etc. In a few years, this will be one more forgotten event as it joins its siblings Knight Terrors, Beast World, and Lazarus Planet in a dollar box near you. (Dan Mora’s art is still nice though.)
Score: 5.5/10
“}]] Last month, I had plenty to say about the opening issue of this event. As far as I’m concerned that’s a good thing. But… Read More