Dark Knights of Steel #10 – Tom Taylor, Writer; Yasmine Purti, Artist; Arif Prianto, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Tom Taylor continues to be a master of subverting expectations, but maybe never more than in the last issue—where it was revealed that everything we knew about this series was wrong. Over the course of the series, it was set up as a Game of Thrones for the DCU, with characters committing horrific out-of-character acts as a war between the three kingdoms began. The biggest culprits were the Els—with new character Zala Jor-El murdering an innocent boy, Queen Lara violating a cease-fire and murdering the Amazon Queen, and even Kal-El attempting to kill his own half-brother. Except here’s the thing—none of these things were true. All of them were committed by White Martian infiltrators on Earth to try to provoke a war between the most powerful people on Earth. And the only person who knows is the one Green Martian infiltrator on Earth—Alfred Pennyworth, aka J’onn J’onnz.
Needless to say, this is one of the wildest twists I’ve ever seen in any DC comic, and it also introduces us to the main villain of the series—the genocidal Protex, leader of the White Martians. A brutal flashback told through J’onn’s eyes shows the last days of the martian civilization and how the fascist Protex rose to power. The character is only on page for a few panels, but makes a huge impact when he appears. With only two issues to go, there is a lot of story to unfold, but this issue is heavily based around the three kingdoms slowly making their way to a place of mutual trust—or should I say four kingdoms? A surprise player enters the fray, and potentially events the power odds just a little bit. But while this is a wildly ambitious story, it’s impressive just how invested I am in the individual stories. Even knowing that much of what we saw of the characters wasn’t real, it’s just a fascinating world I could see explored for years.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
