New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident #1 – Joseph P. Illidge, Stephanie Williams, Morgan Hampton, Nikolas Draper-Ivey, Writers; Valentine De Landro, Carlo Pagulayan/Stephen Segovia/Jason Paz, Fico Ossio, Edwin Galmon, Artists; Marissa Louise, John Kalisz, Ulises Arreola, Andrew Dalhouse, Colorists
Ray – 9/10
Ray: DC has been trying to find the right place for Milestone over the last few years, with the acclaimed imprint both being relaunched as a truly stand-alone universe and being incorporated into the DCU in multiple ways. We just saw Static return to the main continuity in a DC KO tie-in, which makes this the perfect time for this one-shot which tries to clarify the complex history of Dakota – but may raise more questions than it answers. This twisty oversized comic has a ton going on, and an all-star creative team of Black creators to tell it, but it does have one grounding voice – Amistad, the son of Rocket and adopted nephew of Static, and now the superhero Beacon. But at the end of the last Milestone miniseries, a series of events were set into motion that sent Amistad back in time, and this issue starts with him reliving the history of the Milestone Universe, much like the namesake series retold DC history.
But it turns out, that’s not what this issue is at all.
As Beacon revisits the world he knows, something starts to take a dramatic shift. The events that created Dakota as we know it take a turn when Edwin Alva turns up dead – and that catches the attention of President Luthor. This issue has definitely done its research, bringing in his full cabinet from that era of DC Comics, including Sam Lane and Frank Rock, as they plan an invasion of Dakota to try to clamp down on a pressing metahuman threat. The invasion segment, as the heroes of Dakota make their stand and some figures in the DCU consider switching sides – particularly Suicide Squad mainstay Bronze Tiger – is incredibly well-done. Overall, this issue has to do an incredible amount of heavy lifting to create a new status quo with a ton to explore, and that means it has to rush some segments, but there are some incredible ideas in this. I just wonder when we’re going to see all the implications followed up on.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
