Justice League: Road to Dark Crisis #1 – Joshua Williamson, Jeremy Adams, Chuck Brown, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Stephanie Phillips, Writers; Dan Jurgens/Norm Rapmund, Rosi Kampe, Fico Ossio, Leila Del Duca, Clayton Henry, Artists; Hi-Fi, Matt Herms, Sebastian Cheng, Jordie Bellaire, Marcelo Maiolo, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: With Dark Crisis only one week away, this oversized special with five creative teams sets things by showing the stories of those left behind. How does it shake up?
First up is Josh Williamson and Dan Jurgens on “Team-Up”, which reunites Nightwing and Jon Kent immediately after the death of the League was announced. It’s a great look at the way death is viewed among superheroes by now, with Dick wanting to take a business-as-usual approach and wait for their return, while Jon – who wasn’t around for most of the past deaths – struggles with his grief and fear. It’s packed with references to past events – including Jurgens recreating one of his most famous panels – and is an excellent look at maybe the two most important heroes in the new status quo.
Jeremy Adams and Rosi Kampe take the lead on “Life of Purpose”, which focuses on Wally and Wallace as they deal with the League’s death and Barry’s disappearance. While Wallace worries about his friend Avery, Wally tries to keep his mind off it and focus them on the burst of supervillains looking to take advantage of the chaos. It’s a funny, chaotic story with some great callbacks to the first time Wally took over as Flash, but like the first story it’s got a solid emotional core and an intriguing look at what death means to the heroes.
Chuck Brown and Fico Ossio are the team on “Survivors”, which takes the story to space. As Hal Jordan pursues a ruthless alien parasite through space, his calls for backup to the League and his fellow Green Lantern go unanswered. A crash landing on Earth brings him into contact with Jackson Hyde, who briefs him on what’s been lost and helps to bring the conflict to a non-violent end. This one is more action, less emotion, but the art is brilliant and it sets up both players well for their role in Dark Crisis.
Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Leila Del Duca give us something very different in “The Pariah”, which puts our focus on the main villain. Before the events of Justice League #75, Pariah wanders the Multiverse alone, convinced that the only way to save the universe is not to interact with it. But as his sanity slips further and further away, he’s haunted by visions of his lost family – visions that become increasingly aggressive until he’s confronted by reality – or maybe, his mind finally snapping. It’s a creepy, ambiguous tale that sets him up well as a tragic but incredibly dangerous enemy.
Finally, Stephanie Phillips and Clayton Henry close us out with “Because the Night”, which focuses on the unlikely duo of Nocturna and Spoiler. Nocturna has taken advantage of the chaos to rob a museum, and Spoiler is looking for a villain to take her grief out on. But both of them have complex feelings about Batman, and what comes out of it is very different than I expected. However, the end of the issue ends the therapy session with a major cliffhanger that makes me think Nocturna might be a key player in what’s to come.
Overall, this is a top-tier issue that provides a great spotlight for just about every character it focuses on.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
