Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #7
Dustin Gebel
Recap
The Great Darkness is defeated, but the final war has only just begun between the remaining heroes and Deathstroke’s Dark Army! Who will be left standing? The Justice League and the infinite Earths have returned, but at what cost? Do not miss the shocking conclusion that launches the DCU into 2023!
Review
Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 – written by Joshua Williamson, with art by Daniel Sampere, Jack Herbert, Giuseppe Camuncoli & Cam Smith, and Rafa Sandoval, colors by Alejandro Sánchez, Alex Guimarães, Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Matt Herms, and letters by Tom Napolitano – reaches its conclusion while jumping starting the ‘Dawn of the DCU’ a new publishing initiative for the company. The story sees Dick Grayson aka Nightwing and Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke battling in a dark void/mindscape, while the rest of the heroes battle the various villains aligned with the mercenary.
The newly empowered Dr. Light and the extended Flash families return to help push the darkness back from across the multiverse, while Black Adam shares his power with heroes from across the universe, giving them a boost to hold back the Dark Army. Meanwhile, Black Adam fights Deathstroke on the material plane, giving time for Nightwing to push back the darkness one last time, winning the fight. The remainder of the issue surveys the fallout of the battle, including a decision not to establish a new Justice League for now along with the status of the new multiverse.
Williamson’s script is messy in this last outing, digging into an interesting dynamic between Dick and Slade, which could have been a great foundation for a line-wide event but in its execution is so rushed that it can’t help but fall flat. The problem with Dark Crisis is it feels like two events mashed into one, without a clear focus for most of the seven-issue run. It’s reflective of DC as a whole right now, which feels like it’s pulling itself in too many directions without a firm throughline or path forward. For a majority of this event, which encompasses the entire line of characters and teams, there have been two parallel events, Flashpoint Beyond and Batman vs. Robin (which kicked off another event, Lazarus Planet, this week) which undercuts the importance of any one of these stories in the larger universe.
This issue makes clear that Nightwing and Deathstroke were the core characters that should have been leading this Crisis, and the use of the displaced Justice League, Black Adam, and Pariah were unnecessary bloat that muddied the ethos of the story. Is this a book celebrating legacy characters, or is it a celebration of the Justice League, and their pivotal role in the universe line events? Is it a triumphant return for the JSA, which was teased and seeded in the first couple of issues of the event, before its full title was revealed? Is it a love letter and direct sequel to the original Crisis on Infinite Earths, which has no less than three or four direct sequels from across DC’s publishing history?
The problem is it’s all of these things without committing to any single one, ensuring that it becomes a scattershot of loose scenes that on a technical level make up a story, but lacks any thematic or emotional cohesion. Sampere’s art does its best to bring that resonance, working with Sánchez’s colors to highlight the grandiose scale of the battle, mixed with the stripped-down, primordial battle between Dick and Slade. The use of classic costuming for the two while inside the darkness matched with the inky black backgrounds and golden hues from Dick makes the battle for the soul of the DC Universe clear in these moments. The fact that this art and conflict, illustrated masterfully by Sampere and colored with perfection by Sánchez speaks to the hollow nature of this event.
Sampere’s art also delivers in the action sequences outside the darkness, even as the story around it breaks down. The sharing of Black Adam’s powers is rendered spectacularly, showcasing Sampere’s incredible skill at constructing stunning splashes. The amount of detail and craft in each one of these moments is overwhelming at first glance, but paneling makes sure to guide the eye to the right character or moments, not letting the reader be swallowed by the sequence. It’s the comic equivalent of watching an IMAX movie, letting the screen open and sharing a higher level of detail while not losing the audience.
The use of the multiverse map also is a helpful tool for contextualizing what is happening graphically, but here it becomes to feel like a crutch after multiple issues. Sampere’s illustration of the map is just as engrossing as ever, but it becomes a perfect symbol for this series. It’s a moment of pure spectacle that seems to chart forward a new path for the line but is two-dimensional and coasts on the goodwill of readers instead of building a story out of character and theme.
The art for the back end of the issue from Camuncoli, Herbet, and Sandoval is fine, but a glaring shift from the Sampere art. It gives the back end of the issue the feeling of being an afterthought or postscript to the main event, retroactively trying to catch up with all the other stories unfolding across the DC Universe. The exchange between Batman and Nightwing, speaking to the need for a new Justice League, is especially jarring for its art. It jumps between the present day and a flashback to the early days of Dick Grayson’s Robin. The costuming of Robin is a clash between what Sampere illustrates earlier in the book, and the art falls flat. In an era of countless returns to Batman and Nightwing’s past, this styling brings nothing new or interesting to the book.
Final Thoughts
Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 brings the series to a fizzling close just as it finds a more interesting angle to explore. Williamson’s script makes clear that the antagonist relationship between Nightwing and Deathstroke was the richest vein to tap, but is so distracted by a multitude of other elements that it fails to strike gold. Sampere’s art and Sánchez’s colors work in perfect tandem to bring an emotional edge and epic scale to both the universe, shattering battles with the fight between the past and future of the universe.
The back third of the issue shifts artists as it jumps around the DC Universe, setting up stories that are already in process or on the horizon, feeling like a tacked-on postscript. It’s hard to recommend picking up this issue for anything past Sampere’s art, and DC has made clear that it’s not willing to put itself behind this series, or the other concurrently running events.
Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #7: Too Much/Too Little to Say
- Writing - 3/103/10
- Storyline - 3/103/10
- Art - 8/108/10
- Color - 8/108/10
- Cover Art - 7/107/10
Dark Crisis on INFINITE earths 7
Thank You for not shilling out “A 4.5 out of 5? review” like so many others. Smh.
But 5.8? You are still being far to respectful. An skipping over actually detailing the stupid sloppy – screaming for an editor – muddled mess of A script, that is Dark Crisis.
The story, riddled w/ plot holes & forgotten angles is beyond compare. We’re talking A DC CRISIS here! Historically A cross-over [Crisis event] title that used to come w/ A lot of weight. I can’t belive any DC higher ups (now A days more worried about constant virtue signaling obviously) signed off on this!? From the first ish, there’s problem after problem- after Why do & have them say that ??
Originally DARK CRISIS was “A Crisis absent the Justice League.” Which is inherently A cool idea. Yet right from jump street scribe Josh Williamson let’s us readers know via Nightwing & Jon; “The JLA being absent, is only A Temporary thing.” A dialogue that left A bad taste in any established comic book readers mouth. Sure we know it’s true, but don’t start off your CRISIS by reminding everyone of it. WtF!?
&
Never the less, Willaimson couldn’t even hold off the JLA’s return till after The TITANS, JSA, Hal & Black Adam had won the day. Showed growth minus the League & reduced the red backgrounds to A vanilla sky. Nope !!
Barry’s back in A FLASH! & As for the JLA in their entirety, they return as the penultimate chapter begans. Smh. So much for letting Dick & the TITANS save the day & have their own Crisis moment for once. But it gets worse! Just when the JSA via Mr.Terrific is about to construct *A Pariah Killing cannon* (A dumb idea that comes out of nowhere, having no build up and thus no reward anyway) the limelight is stolen away from Mr.Terrific- as Jace (the Batman nobody wanted or likes) shows up out of nowhere on A Motorcycle in the middle of the penultimate chapter. Pushing our JSA heroes off the stage “to save the day”. It’s almost laughable! Almost as if Jace’s Heavy handed SJW creator, sent A 12th hour twitter DM directly into Williamson’s ear after reading the first 4 issues; “Dont forget to stay Woke Josh.”
As for plot holes, look no further than ‘Deathstroke’ (Slad Wilson). Who’s arguably the number one defacto Dark Crisis antagonist. While having his historic “Bad Ass” brawler / DC Comics resident Bruce Lee continuity completely stripped away from him. All thanks too scribe Williamson, Who just recently (pre-this-Crisis) had Talia, Ra’s AL Ghul’s daughter- beat Slade down at the conclusion to ‘Shadow War’. Well things our no different here in Dark Crisis. Slade gets beat down in the initial 40pgs by first Nightwing (A fight Slade would have & should have won for Crisis streamlining purposes if nothing else), than later Luthor beats Slade down. While constantly being trolled by Pariah. Who can’t make up his mind; “Don’t kill them Slade, I need A Crisis.” Than 3 comics later; “What are you doing Slade- Kill them! I need A Crisis.” Meanwhile we’re supposed to believe- A major plot point because the JLA is missing; [that] “The Capes our scared, cause this time Slade is playing for keeps.” Yet Slade keeps getting his ass handed to him every other issue. WHERE IS EDITORIAL ON THIS!?
The problems persist throughout the entirety of the story. Like in the start of Dark Crisis 6, the revenge battle between Slade & Beast Boy begans. Turn the page and the story focus switches. Than some 18pgs later we finally see Slade again, yet now he’s Holding Nightwing by the neck & surprise it’s the last page! The Slade vs. Gar battle & it’s outcome are never referred to again. Like Williamson & his art team forgot that they ever introduced it to began with. THAT’S HOW WE ALL NEED TO REMEMBER DARK CRISIS. LIKE IT NEVER EVEN HAPPENED. Disregard it altogether, like you would any other ambiguous, sloppy, myopic focused, unrewarding piece of 21st century; messy melodramatic media. Something we see far to often in the tech age of immediate gratification.