Some thoughts about Dark Crisis #1

Can the new generation of heroes face a new crisis?

The Justice League is apparently dead and Jon Kent is willing to continue the legacy of the fallen heroes no matter if people don't believe in them. However, the threats might be bigger than they anticipated.

Here we go again, another big crossover event that is promising to change the whole DCU to its core and to be honest, it hasn't gotten the best start right from the many prologues. First of all, the full set-up has been overly-long to the point that many of the previous miniseries leading to this event were basically pointless. Second, the whole "The Justice League is dead" plot-point is creatively-bankrupt and reeks of editorial mandate because the higher heads at DC want to push the new generation of heroes a bit too much. Third and finally, this actual opening chapter doesn't really reveal much of the plot itself and what it does reveal is rather predictable.

That being said, I still consider it a decent read based on a few interesting aspects.

Joshua Williamson is the one handling this and if there's something that you can expect from Williamson at the very least are references to the whole DC continuity and universe and he certainly delivers that right from the beginning. From Wally West mentioning how he fought Kobra in the past and had to find his own way to shine (expected since Williamson is a big Wally fan), to Captain Cold reacting to Wally's questions in a different manner from how he would react to Barry which I believe is a reference to Geoff Johns' Flash run, to the "second chance" that Killer Frost gets after the failed Steve Orlando's JLA, to Booster Gold and Blue Beetle joining together to the new League after the disaster of Heroes in Crisis and their own attempts in their last miniseries, all of this attention to detail is very appreciated and something that I always enjoy from a big crossover (Hell, this was one of the reasons why I initially like Scott Snyder's Metal events despite that they devolved into big, dull messes).

However, there are also problems because as I said before, this yet another set-up for what's about to come and at this point I was expecting actual huge revelations to happen here. The biggest issue here is that nobody takes the dead of the Justice League seriously in story (which I think is reflection of what Williamson actually thinks about the whole mandate) and the characters being dubious about the whole things is justified at the end with the true fate of the team being shown at the end. Is just too predictable to even bother.

Daniel Sampere's artwork is pretty solid though, he has gotten a lot better in recent years with a more polished style that offers beautiful, expressive characters along with precise storytelling.

Yeah, kinda liked this one but I still hope the next issue offers more intriguing ideas.