Danger Street #12: Fate or Destiny? Order or Chaos?

Danger Street #12 concludes the year-long storytelling adventure that saw the creators behind the recent Rorschach series take on a tale featuring all of the characters within DC’s 1st Issue Special series. Unlike anything any member of this team has worked on before, Danger Street saw a plethora of characters fight against chaos and order as the universe was on the verge of ending. In issue number twelve, the consequences of these characters’ actions come to fruition, ending like most Tom King 12-issue maxi-series, with some questions, some answers, but with enough powerful and inspiring storytelling prowess to leave a smile on reader’s faces.

As a conclusion, Danger Street #12 succeeds in everything that it needs to, while also capturing the elements that have made the series so intriguing thus far. Danger Street, as a concept, was acting on three levels: 1. A face value story about superheroes and their villains, 2. A psychological exploration of a breadth of characters, and 3. A metaphysical commentary on those who choose to embrace fate and those who seek to forge their own destiny. This issue also gives answers to those lingering questions while making sure that things are left ambiguous enough for the discussions to continue past the final page.

The main takeaway from the finale is that King and Fornes are trying to explore people’s perceptions of the world. Everyone has a purpose, big or small, and it’s all the pieces of a story that make the world go round. This really stems from the final segments of the issue where The Lord of Chaos tells Lady Cop that there is meaning in those who play by the rules and look for consistency, referring to them as “unmoving.” This references how annoyed she would get when people would call her stubborn, which can be defined as unmoving. Her purpose in the universe may annoy others and may be viewed as a flaw; however, things would not be the same if she was not this way.

There are also heavy themes of destiny versus freedom. Creeper finds that he is on a cyclical pattern of taking the easy way out, which constantly ends with disastrous consequences. It’s only when he embraces breaking that destiny that he can move on in life. On the flip side, Warlord, Starman, and Metamorpho almost end the universe because they want to cheat their destiny, looking for an easy way to the top. Regardless of the circumstances, whether it’s breaking destiny or embracing it, trying to cheat your way past either will create disastrous consequences.

Another, more obvious theme here is power corrupting. The Green Team are a very obvious example of how quickly coming into power can create chaos and disorder. This is also reflected in the way that Starman, Warlord, and Metamorpho’s plans to seek fame and power corrupts them even before they acquire that power. This is definitely one of the more pressing themes of the book, which is greatly explored and solidified by the end of Danger Street #12.

The art team of Jorge Fornes and Dave Stewart have been absolutely astounding throughout this series, with Danger Street #12 highlighting how many different genres they are able to adapt throughout the twelve-issue run. The cover alone is exemplary of how adaptable Fornes’s style and Stewart’s colors are to any medium they seek to explore. Coupled with King’s script and Clayton Cowles’ letters, this team truly created something special with this series, which hopefully carry over to their next connected project in DC comics.