DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #3: Master of Puppets

DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #3 – written by Tom Taylor, with pencils by Trevor Hairsine, inks by Andy Lanning, colors from Rain Beredo, and letters by Saida Temofonte – pivots from last issue’s carnage of the infected Darkseid and Supergirl, and reveals just how far the anti-life has spread across the galaxy. It’s revealed that Adam Strange returned to Earth two months before the cure was given to the heroes, and Wonder Woman infects him, creating a time bomb that hits the warring worlds of Rann and Thanagar. It reaches otherworlds until the infected come across Lobo, one of the few unaffected. The issue then shifts back to Earth, as Diana is put to rest and Ares, god of war, imparts knowledge of the plague spreading across the cosmos, and more about its progenitor. 

This issue reads slightly disjointed, making a sharp turn from the events of the last two issues to expand the scale of the series once again. Taylor drops even more DC characters and alien races into the tapestry that is DCeased, and while it does illustrate what’s occurred in the five years that the various entries have covered, it gives the sequence a rush pace. The Adam Strange reveal falls flat since there’s little time to develop his pathos, the horror being used as a setting stone to establish the conflict at the core of this issue, right after that scope had been established by the previous issue. Taylor has already made clear that the infected spread across the universe, but this sequence repeats the fact. If the Rann/Thanagar plot had been given a one-shot like DCeased: A Good Day to Die from the original run, it could have given the attention needed and functioned as a strong set-up to the current series. 

The back half of the issue, once the script returns to the established heroes and Earth, is more engaging even as it functions as a second exposition drop. Taylor gives a touching moment to lay Diana to rest, giving her a warrior funeral where Oliver and Artemis launch flaming arrows for a pyrrhic end. It’s a powerful reminder of all the lives Diana touched, both for good and ill, and reminds us that no one is safe in this series. Afterward, Taylor reveals that the plot of DCeased has happened before, and Ares holds the records of the coming war.

Taylor also makes an interesting (and possibly unintended) parallel to Dark Crisis, revealing that Darkseid serves an older, primordial being. In Dark Crisis, it’s the aptly named Great Darkness, while here, it’s Erebos, a being in Greek mythology that belongs in the same category as Gaia and Nyx. These beings are living embodiments of primordial forces of the universe, with Erebos functioning as the personification of darkness. As this is revealed, the Green Lanterns are summoned to Oa from across the universe, and the darkness begins to move its attack on the uninfected. 

It’s entirely possible that keeping up with Dark Crisis is a factor at play, but the reveal feels cheap, weakening an already lackluster threat of Darkseid by making him the agent of someone/something else. While DCeased is the earlier title, its release after the bulk of Joshua Williamson’s expansive story across the DC cosmology takes the wind of the plot. Even the idea of infected characters fighting a contingent of heroes scattered after losing key members of the Justice League feels in line with what Dark Crisis has predicated itself on, and the comparisons make this entry in the DCeased narrative fall flat. 

A year ago, the Erebos reveal would have been a fun and clever twist, but for now, it will live in the shadow of Dark Crisis. Just as the story feels disjointed in this issue, the art too has a sense of urgency and scattershot quality. Some pages feature great moments of horror or carnage, while others fall flat. The best sequence in this issue is Diana’s funeral, and Hairsine gets to imbue a strong emotional spectrum from those in attendance. It’s a good moment to show the artist’s range beyond the bloody carnage of infected heroes and villains attacking. 

The major characters each get a panel to show the sadness and grief, before a determination to honor the Amazonian sets in, and Hairsaine’s linework is aided by Lanning’s excellent inking to establish that emotion. Elsewhere in the issue, those emotional moments are swallowed by the violence and bloodshed, in instances like Adam Strange’s return to his family. It doesn’t have the same raw, harrowing feel as Supergirl’s attacks from the previous issue, and without adequate time in the script to build up the family dynamic, the moment falls flat.