DCeased #4 Review

Writer: Tom Taylor
Art Team: Trevor Hairsine, Stefano Gaudiano, Rain Beredo
DC Comics
Release Date: August 7, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

The Top of the Planet ... Again.

DCeased has been a fun enough break from regular DC continuity, but the concept has begun to show some of it's flaws as well, especially in the last couple issues beyond our initial setup.  While there is plenty of zombie action involving super heroes to go around the story in general, along with the characters in it, have been stuck atop the Daily Planet for much too long, not doing much of anything. So lets discuss issue four and see if things kick into gear. 




The issue begins with the focus on Captain Atom and Ray Palmer the Atom, trying to breakdown the virus, in an attempt to bring a solution to the world from this disaster once and for all. The story from there follows Captain Atom in his attempts to fight back incoming hoards, however we quickly see Atom being taken apart from the inside, and infected by Ray Palmer.  This is setup established and referenced back to later in the issue, actually becoming the strongest part of the story this month to me, because a large majority of the rest of the issue STILL centers around the group just refusing to move from atop the Daily Planet building until the absolute last minute.

Back in Metropolis, Superman brings Martha back to the building with the rest of the crew, and Lois and company finally get the signal message out they've been constantly referencing for four issues. From there its a strengthening of forces from around the globe as many of the unaffected so far including Alfred, Wonder Woman, Mera, and Hawkwoman among others begin to receive the message and report back to the crew.

There isn't much else that goes on in this issue, other than a brief interlude with Harley and Ivy again, and that to me is the main problem within the series itself. By the end we do finally get a reason for the characters to leave the rooftop of Metropolis but at this point with two issues left it feels like a case of a little to late to have the impact its going for. While I enjoy much of Tom Taylor's  writing and other works, this series feels so this that it cant quite fill the six issue allotment its been given, while also feeling a bit like his Injustice work at the same time.

The art had me coming around a bit last issue as I stated I started becoming accustomed to.  However some of the character faces this issue in a way take me back to my previous take in a way in that I understand the stylistic choice behind the artistic pairing here, but I just don't enjoy it much as a whole, especially when its supposed to be a way to tell a story with emotion.  A few of Tom Taylor's emotional punches this issue come up flat due to the failure of art in my opinion.

Overall, DCeased is a pretty average story overall that continues to trudge along without making much headway again, until the last few pages of this issue. Some of the stories emotional punches, while handled in typical Tom Taylor fashion, feel lacking the impact they should due to an artistic mismatch, leaving those moments overall feeling just hallow. DCeased is good, but after four issues its far from great, and even echo's Taylor's Injustice story a little too closely for my liking.

6.5/10