DCeased: Dead Planet #6 Review

 

Too Late to Die

Written By: Tom Taylor

Art By: Trevor Hairsine, Gigi Baldassini, Tom Derenick, Rain Beredo, Saida Temofonte

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: December 1, 2020

It's the penultimate issue of Dead Planet, and Tom Taylor sure has many plates spinning going into this issue.  I mean, number one is our heroes finding a cure for the anti-life infection, but besides that, there is the Australian Amazo Crew to deal with, Trigon showing up, and Constantine's plan that may or may not screw over everyone if it doesn't save them.  So, what does Taylor give us as we head to the big finale next month?  A whole lot is what...

We start in Australia and find out that the Amazo army may not be on schedule, according to Penguin, but I'm sure the infected of the world may differ in opinion.  Before the issue is over, they are up and running, and that's bad news to any infected.

In the meantime, the heroes gather together to formulate a cure from the life equation inside Cyborg.  I wanted to go with the "the cure was inside him all along" trope, but we're way past that, and he doesn't know what to do with it himself.  Tom Taylor uses that to have everyone (from Swamp Thing to Harley Quinn) come together to figure out how to save the planet.  They do figure it out and even get the production line going to mass-produce a vaccine.  Man, if only real life could mirror the comics, am I right?

Now, I jumped ahead a bit because we need to find out if the cure works first and while I thought we'd get back Oliver Queen right away, we don't.  I think I like the choice of guinea pig better, but the longer Oliver remains infected, the more I wonder if we will ever see him cured.

The issue continues with Constantine trying to convince Zatanna that he is doing the right thing, while also fending off Phantom Stranger and then Doctor Fate.  Zatanna is right in not trusting Constantine (who does), but every heavy hitter that does end up seeing the future and his plan seem to be down with it.

While the Amazo Army starts ripping through the infected around the world, Trigon hits the Earth running, and it looks like the cure might be one of those a little too late deals.  That's the cool thing about this issue.  We waited all this time for the treatment, and now it may be a moot point if someone doesn't stop the destruction going on around the world.  Of course, that's where Constantine must fit in.  All of the pieces are coming together to set up a cool finale!

I liked this issue even if it is mostly set up for next month's final issue.   I don't mind that sort of thing if the setup is natural and not forced to get where we need to be.  Tom Taylor has been setting up things from the beginning, and everything makes sense.  I continue to like Trevor Hairsine's art more and more, and I am looking forward to seeing how this all ends.

Bits and Pieces:

DCeased: Dead Planet #6 sets up next month's big finale, and I enjoyed it a whole lot.  Tom Taylor gives fans some big moments and still keeps some surprises up his sleeve for later.  I have grown to like Trevor Hairsine's art more with each issue and have gone from not caring too much about Dead Planet when DC announced it to looking forward to next month's finale.  I should have known Tom Taylor would win me over.  He always does!

8.0/10