Dark Crisis #1 Review

World's Greatest Superheroes?

Written By: Joshua Williamson

Art By: Daniel Sampere, Alejandro Sanchez, Tom Napolitano

Cover Price: $5.99

Release Date: June 7, 2022

We had a short road to it, but the Dark Crisis is here and now we'll see how the DC Universe plans on taking on the Great Darkness and its body of the worst of the worst villains our heroes have ever encountered now that our Justice League is dead. It doesn't look good for our heroes but maybe they'll find an ace in the hole and figure out a way to not only win the day...... but survive it. Let's jump into this year's event and see what the Dark Crisis has in store for us. Let's check it out.

Even though we've seen the Justice League taken down by Pariah and the Great Darkness we don't see anyone at the beginning of this event take the loss of the characters or the looming threat all that seriously and the lack of interest given by anyone in this comic is one of its biggest flaws for what it's trying to achieve because how am I supposed to take this event seriously when no one it actually affects will? Beyond the emotions of the DC Universe, we do see Jon trying to make his father proud by not only continuing to be Superman but by putting together a new Justice League... it's just too bad that what we get out of this element of the book comes off feeling like a joke and out of place in that it feels like something that would happen before the event starts....... or after it concluded and with the team of rag-tag losers that Jon has put together (don't @ me, some of these heroes are my favorites), it seems pretty safe to say that either they won't last long or the Universe itself won't last long. 

Check out our Video Review of Dark Crisis #1

Don't get me wrong though, as much as the pacing of this book feels weird in that it doesn't feel like the beginning of an event, there is some fun to this bit of the story, even if it feels out of place for what's going on. Don't worry though because if you wanted some gloom and doom and something that feels like it will shake the pillars of the DC Universe then Deathstroke and his Secret Society are here for you because their actions in this book left me shook and is the single reason that this first issue came off smelling as good as it did and made me leave this book thinking that maybe this is an event after all... Also, Pariah is spitting some doom in a way that would definitely get your attention if you were in earshot.

All in all, I love the art and colors in this book. Everything is clean and comes off looking as dynamic and amazing as an event book should so no complaints there. The tone of the book is another thing though because while the majority of our heroes have a "been there, done that" attitude that you'd come to expect from readers and the characters who have witnessed resurrection, again and again, it doesn't lead to any real urgency or people discussing the coming threat that decimated their heroes which is a problem for me and Jon putting together a team that is certainly not the World's Greatest Superheroes just feels like a weird place to be at the beginning of a story. That being said though, there's some fun to be had with that section and thankfully the escalation of Deathstroke makes things come across like Joshua Williamson means business with this event so that was greatly appreciated and actually left me shook after reading....... so I definitely can't wait to read the next issue.

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Bits and Pieces:

While this event has a strange tone and didn't exactly blow me away with what it's initially doing, there is something here that grabs my attention and a situation that actually shook me as a reader and fan of DC Comics. Hopefully the Justice League building elements of this book sort themselves out in an interesting way, but there is enough to this story so far to keep me reading and art that leaves me amazed.  

8/10