‘Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #5’ Review (DC Comics)
Written by Joshua Williamson | Art by Daniel Sampere | Published by DC Comics
The Multiverse is, it seems, dying.
DC seem to be ripping up all of the Dan Didio restructuring of the DC Multiverse and returning things to closer to how they were pre-New 52, pre- Final Crisis, Pre- every Crisis. Joshua Williamson was no doubt given a blueprint as what DC Editorial wanted gone, and what they wanted changed, but how he achieved all that was probably mainly up to him and editor Paul Kaminski. So far, it’s been a wild ride. The tone, structure, and heart of all this has been absolutely spot on. It’s almost a shame we are already at issue 5, as we are now clearly approaching the endgame, and we know that this being DC, something big has yet to happen, and when it does it’ll be huge.
Don’t blow it Williamson.
But I digress.
As the Multiverse shatters, Black Adam is left fighting alone against the possessed Dark Army. Powerful as he is, he’s going to lose, until a last-minute rescue gets him out of there, courtesy of Sideways. Nightwing and the others have started to get an idea of what they are facing. Mr. Terrific’s T-Spheres have confirmed that Deathstroke is the key to everything, that he is spreading the darkness that is infecting everyone, and ultimately the Multiverse itself. Nightwing makes a choice. Time to take a stand. A call is put out to every hero left standing. Come to the Hall of Justice and… Heroes Assemble! (apologies to Marvel)
Pariah meanwhile is basking in the glory of the return of the infinite Earths, spread out before him in that classic DNA-strand like chain, beautifully rendered by Sampere. Pariah still thinks he is the hero here, that all this is a regrettable means to an end. Is this really him, or is the Great Darkness manipulating him, or is something manipulating the Darkness to manipulate him? Hal and Barry better hurry up then. They are currently on the newly created yet already disintegrating Earth-Batman, trying to persuade Batman to leave this illusion of a world. They do, but time is running out.
Back to the Hall of Justice and the heroes are gathering. Ironically, the bulk of all this is falling on the very youngest and the very oldest. The Titans and Titans Academy heroes are to take on Deathstroke directly, and the JSA are to try and contain the Darkness as and when it spreads. That’s when Jon Kent arrives, fresh from the events chronicled in ‘Dark Crisis The Deadly Green’ one-shot. I won’t give it all away, but they have recovered Pariah’s original anti-matter chamber, the one that launched the original Crisis. The Darkness isn’t doing all this at all. It’s been corrupted itself.
Superman-World is the final stop on the way for Hal and Barry, as red skies loom over the Kent farm. Clark, though, isn’t a prisoner here, in that he worked out quite quickly this was all an illusion. Now with Barry, he can escape, and it’s time to reform the Justice League. Will they be enough? Possibly not. Pariah leads an army including Darkseid, Doomsday, Eclipso, even The Spectre, and has the madness of a zealot. Sometimes being a hero and wanting to do the right thing just isn’t enough. I suspect Barry Allen will have a big part to play before this is all over. He mentioned before about the huge quantities of crisis energy being released, and how he doubted even Pariah realized just how dangerous this all was.
I’m betting we are going to see soon what that energy can do.
This was another strong issue in terms of the writing and art, but it did feel like it was treading the same ground as the last issue. A few bits of plot advancement, a little talking, but again constant reminders of the overwhelming odds against our heroes. I enjoyed it, but I wanted more, I wanted to see the story push forward more. I guess the pacing has to factor in the one-shots, so I wont blame Williamson too much. Sampere’s art was, as always, perfect for this book. It all looked gorgeous.
Darkness on the edge of the Multiverse is now darkness across the Multiverse. Red skies, Earth’s dying, mass battles for the future.
It’s the 1980’s all over again.
