Dark Knight III: The Master Race #7 Review and **SPOILERS**

Do the Lazarus

Story By: Frank Miller & Brian Azzarello

Pencils By: Andy Kubert

Inks By: Klaus Janson

Colors By: Brad Anderson

Letters By: Clem Robins

Cover By: Andy Kubert, Frank Miller & Brad Anderson

Cover Price: $5.99

On Sale Date: December 28, 2016

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Wow…didn’t I read issue #6 like two months ago? The schedule is getting better! Good job, Dark Knight III team! Let’s catch up with our old friends, while we can still faintly remember what happened before. Read on!

Explain It!

Superman is flying with the broken body of Batman in search of a remedy…for death. Across Gotham, people deal in the aftermath of the Kandoorian invasion of super-powered Kryptons, which basically involves business as usual since Gotham is nearly razed to the ground about every other weekend. While Supes flies along, we check in on his daughter Kara and her fascist boyfriend Baal, who was made ugly in the fight against Batman last issue. Now, the order of the day from his dad Quar and their crew of Kandoorians, is revenge—against Superman, against Batman, against everyone that wouldn’t just let themselves be overrun by shitty Kryptonians. It looks to us like Kara’s got a bad feeling about this.

Back in Gotham, Carrie has become more resolute since finding out about her mentor’s death moments ago, and makes arrangements with Commssioner Yindel to assume Batman duty for the city. I hope that includes a color change for her ludicrous costume. But it might not be necessary, because Superman is next seen dipping Bruce Wayne’s limp form into a Lazarus Pit! Yes, the very soup that keeps Ra’s Al Ghul alive indefinitely, at the expense of his mental faculties. I guess one little swim won’t hurt though, and Superman is able to calm Bruce down when he thrashes around in psychotic rage. It pays to have an invulnerable best friend. Meanwhile, on Themyscira, Kara has come to retrieve her half-brother, even as Wonder Woman threatens her life. But Kara has not come alone! She came with the evil Kryptonians she fell in with, if my cliffhanger wasn’t clear enough.

This was a little too quick of a read for the cover price, but I have to reiterate that this series is a lot better than I gave it credit for when it was announced back in 1933. The art looks more correct and akin to Dark Knight Returns, the story is reasonably engaging and full of Silver Age quirk, and none of it is hyper-politicized, at least in an obvious way, that might annoy the crap out of me. I mean, I guess there’s some politics in thwarting a fascist coup by super-powered aliens, but it’s not like I feel anything is forced into the story. I’ll just say what I always tell people when they ask me about this series: wait for the trade collection. It will read much better in one sitting than in eight issues stretched out over the length of several Chinese Dynasties.

Bits and Pieces:

Some interesting developments with Batman, Gotham City, and Kara make for a reasonably interesting, if all too fast read. This is the direct sequel we should have gotten from Dark Knight Returns, and it will probably read a lot better in a trade collection. So if you can wait until 2024 when that comes out, then it might be for the best.

6/10