Dark Crisis. Event years in the making. An event that is rich with DC history ranging from decades-old to highly recent. Dark Crisis is said to have major ramifications across the DC Universe for the foreseeable future. With eight main issues, including the one for FCBD 2022, Dark Crisis will be DC’s event of the summer. It will feature various one-shots and tie-ins as well.
Dark Crisis #1 starts with Nightwing giving a eulogy at a funeral held in honor of the Justice League. This first scene in Dark Crisis already shows the impact that the Justice League’s deaths had on their first sidekicks. Not only do we see a rise in the crime rate, but former sidekicks like Wally West and Dick Grayson have to step up to stop the coming crisis. Along with that, the Teen Titans and Young Justice heroes have also been largely affected as we learn how the crossover progresses. I liked this part of the issue because it sets up how the DCU dynamic will change going forward and how lesser-respected and known heroes will have to step up and take charge.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead for Dark Crisis #1
Another main part of this issue is the return of Hal Jordan. In recent years, Hal Jordan has not been a part of the Justice League instead having John Stewart as his replacement. With the death of the Justice League, also came the death of John Stewart. We see Hal return to Earth and Black Adam informs him that the Justice League, along with the Justice League Incarnate( a multiversal version of the Justice League), fall prey to the Great Darkness that is composed of some of DC’s deadliest villains. The only survivor is Black Adam, who escapes warning Earth-Zero about the Dark Army. Hal is skeptical about the information Black Adam is providing, seeing how Black Adam is a re-formed crook but after a quick confirmation with Wally West, Hal reluctantly agrees to hunt down the perp behind it while Wally West along with other members of The Flash family start their hunt for Barry Allen in this months Flash #783. I liked this part of the issue because it is always a pleasure to see Wally and Hal together. Why, you ask? Well, ever since the Modern Age(Post-Crisis), Hal and Wally have had a complicated relationship, and seeing that grow into a friendship has been phenomenal development.
The final superhero development of this issue is the new Justice League roster consisting of Doctor Light(Kimiyo Hoshi), Harley Quinn, Robin(Damian Wayne), Killer Frost(Caitlin Snow), Jackson Hyde, and Blue Beetle(Jaimie Reyes, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Frankenstein, and lastly Jon Kent(Superboy).
In the final pages of this first part of a story sure to become a classic, Dick Grayson can be seen mentoring students at Teen Titans Academy. Suddenly Chupacabra, a Teen Titans Academy student walks in being attacked very badly. A second later the room Dick and a few other Teen Titans mentors were in, explodes. Outside, we see Deathstroke shoot Beast Boy for spying on him just before Deathstroke and many other DCU villains attack the Titans Tower, thus starting The Attack on Titan’s Tower!
While this is happening on Earth, Pariah is shown on the last panel apologizing to someone. In the final panel of the issue, we see Pariah claim that he will use the Deaths of the Justice League to destroy the Multiverse and we also see the Justice League trapped individually in bubbles. If this is reality or not, only the rest of this epic story will tell!
The art for this issue was phenomenal. All of the variant covers were well done. I personally liked the main cover since it showed all the heroes that would step up and I also like Cover J which was the homage cover to the original Crisis on Infinite Earths Maxi-Series that ran from 1985 to 1986. I will look forward to the next parts of this story and hope this crossover can live up to its legacy!
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