Mild Mannered Reviews - Specials Comic Books
Dark Crisis #2
Scheduled to arrive in stores: July 5, 2021Cover date: September 2022
"Chapter Two: Fall of the Titans"
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Daniel Sampere
Cover: Daniel Sampere and Alejandro Sanchez
Variant Covers: Juliet Nneka, Mario "Fox" Foccilo and Prasao Rao (Pressy), Lucio Parrillo, Rafael Sarmento
Reviewed by: Craig Boehmer
Click to enlarge
We start with a quick monologue by Pariah explaining his role in "Infinite Crisis" and his burgeoning role in the coming crisis. We then jump back to Titans Academy where three students are dragging Nightwing to safety. The students debate running away or taking the fight to the intruders, during this discussion they are attacked by Deathstroke's men who carry the students away. Nightwing wakes up to find Deathstroke's army has infiltrated the school and they are also taking out heroes around the world. Deathstroke reveals that Beast Boy will survive a bullet to the head. This causes Nightwing to attack. The two fiercely fight with Nightwing coming out on top. Deathstroke asks who Nightwing wants for round two, to which Dick responds that he will let Slade kill him if all the others are set free. Slade agrees and takes aim at Dick. The bullet is blocked by Jon, arriving in the nick of time. The two friends attack Slade's army. But Deathstroke calls in Cyborg Superman for reinforcements. As Jon and Henshaw fight, a voice, presumably Pariah, calls Deathstroke and tells him to let the heroes live. As Slade calls his soldiers back he tells the heroes that it is open season on them, and that death is mercy compared to the darkness. Henshaw and Jon continue their fight until Cyborg arrives, stepping on Henshaw's head and crushing it. Black Adam then arrives to take leadership of the Justice League.
The next scene takes place on a prison ship. Kyle Rayner is trying to escape when he is rescued by Hal and Jo Mullein. They explain their mission and the last page is a beautiful splash page of the Green Lantern Corps gathered to fight.
Story - 3: I'll get rid of my complaints first. I can't believe they did Hank Henshaw dirty like this. Henshaw is a legitimate Superman level bad guy, there is no way Cyborg and Jon could beat him, especially by stomping on his head. I am pretty sure if Henshaw's head can withstand punches from Superman, Cyborg's foot isn't going to do anything. That scene, which was meant be a cool reveal of Cyborg, just ended up being stupid. A page earlier Henshaw's head even draws blood from Jon's face! Somebody needs to sort out power levels for everyone, because inconsistency really takes me out of it. How is Jon even keeping up in this fight? The rest of the story is actually quite entertaining. Dick and Slade's fight is full of history and emotion. It is choreographed beautifully by Sampere. Plus, Kyle's rescue scene at the end gives me a lot of hope that the Green Lantern Corps will have a positive role in this crisis.
Art - 5: Beautiful. Sampere and Alejandro Sanchez rock this issue. The art is gorgeous! The colors are vibrant. The fights look amazing! The art on this event is its biggest asset.
Cover Art - 5: A great cover by Sampere and Sanchez. It showcases the threat to Titan's Tower and the brutal conflict between Slade and Dick. This is a beautiful shot.
Variant Cover Art A - 5: This cover has Future State Batman and Future State Wonder Woman back to back. I really like this version of Wonder Woman. I didn't read much of the Future State Batman, but I read a lot of this Wonder Woman (Wonder Girl?). This cover showcases both of them beautifully. Its dark and broody with a lot of earthy textures.
Variant Cover Art B - 3: I like the water color palette used in this cover, but I am not a fan of the Silver Age character designs. It's just not for me.
Variant Cover Art C - 4: This is a cool Trinity cover. I like the minimalist design. My only quibble... why does Batman take up half of the cover while Superboy and Wonder Woman only get a quarter each?
Variant Cover Art D - 5: A cool scene from the attack. The tower burning in the background while Slade is on his knees in the foreground. It makes for an engaging image.
Mild Mannered Reviews
2022
Note: Except for digital first releases, the month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.January 2022
- Batman/Superman: Authority Special #1
- Action Comics #1036
- Action Comics #1037
- Superman: Son of Kal-El #5
- Superman '78 #3 [of 6]
- Superman '78 #4 [of 6]
- Superman vs. Lobo #2 [of 3]
- Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #5 [of 8]
- Justice League #69
- Justice League: Last Ride #7
- Justice League Infinity #5
- Justice League Incarnate #1 [of 5]
- DC vs. Vampires #2 [of 12]
- Dark Knights of Steel #1
- Action Comics #1038
- Superman: Son of Kal-El 2021 Annual #1
- Superman '78 #5 [of 6]
- Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #6 [of 8]
- World of Krypton #1 [of 6]
- Justice League #70
- Justice League Infinity #6
- Justice League Incarnate #2 [of 5]
- DC vs. Vampires #3 [of 12]
- Dark Knights of Steel #2
March 2022
- Action Comics #1039
- Superman: Son of Kal-El #6
- Superman: Son of Kal-El #7
- Superman/Robin Special #1
- Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #7 [of 8]
- Justice League #71
- Justice League Infinity #7
- Justice League Incarnate #3 [of 5]
- Justice League vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #1 [of 6]
- Superman '78 #6 [of 6]
- World of Krypton #2 [of 6]
- Dark Knights of Steel #3
- DC vs. Vampires #4
- Action Comics #1040
- Superman: Son of Kal-El #8
- Nightwing #89
- Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #8 [of 8]
- Justice League 2022 Annual #1
- Justice League #72
- Justice League Incarnate #4 [of 5]
- World of Krypton #3 [of 6]
- Dark Knights of Steel #4
- DC vs. Vampires #5
- Action Comics #1041
- Superman: Son of Kal-El #9
- Superman vs. Lobo #3 [of 3]
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest #1
- Justice League #73
- Justice League #74
- Justice League Incarnate #5 [of 5]
- Justice League vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #2 [of 6]
- World of Krypton #4 [of 6]
- Dark Knights of Steel #5
- DC vs. Vampires #6
- Action Comics #1042
- Superman: Son of Kal-El #10
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest #2
- Justice League #75
- Earth-Prime #2 - Superman and Lois
- World of Krypton #5 [of 6]
- Dark Knights of Steel #6
- Action Comics #1043
- Action Comics Annual 2022 #1
- Superman: Son of Kal-El #11
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest #3
- Justice League: Road to Dark Crisis #1
- Justice League vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #3 [of 6]
- World of Krypton #6 [of 6]
- Jurassic League #1
- Action Comics #1044
- Superman: Son of Kal-El #12
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest #4
- Justice League #75 (Special Edition)
- Dark Crisis #1
- Multiversity: Teen Justice #1
- Dark Knights of Steel #7
- Jurassic League #2
- Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen's Boss, Perry White #1 (One Shot)
- Dark Crisis: Young Justice #1
- Earth-Prime #6: Hero's Twilight
- Action Comics #1045
- Superman: Son of Kal-El #13
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest #5
- Superman: Space Age #1
- Dark Crisis #2
- Dark Crisis: Worlds Without a Justice League - Superman #1
- Dark Crisis: Young Justice #2
- Multiversity: Teen Justice #2
- Justice League vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #4 [of 6]
- DC vs. Vampires #7
- Jurassic League #3
- DC: Mech #1
- Young Justice: Targets #1
- Action Comics #1046
- Superman: Son of Kal-El #14
- Superman: Warworld Apocalypse #1
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest #6
- Dark Crisis #3
- Dark Crisis: Young Justice #3
- DC's Saved by the Belle Reve #1
- Multiversity: Teen Justice #3
- Justice League vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #5 [of 6]
- DC vs. Vampires #8
- Jurassic League #4
- DC: Mech #2
- Young Justice: Targets #2
- Action Comics #1047
- Superman: Son of Kal-El #15
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest #7
- Superman: Space Age #2
- Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #4
- Dark Crisis: Young Justice #4
- Multiversity: Teen Justice #4
- Justice League vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #6 [of 6]
- Dark Knights of Steel: Tales from the Three Kingdoms #1 (One Shot)
- DC vs. Vampires #9
- Jurassic League #5
- DC: Mech #3
- Young Justice: Targets #3
- Superman: Son of Kal-El #16
- Action Comics #1048
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest #8
- Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #5
- Dark Crisis: Young Justice #5
- Multiversity: Teen Justice #5
- DC vs. Vampires #10
- Jurassic League #6
- DC: Mech #4
- DC's Terrors Through Time #1 (One Shot)
- Young Justice: Targets #4
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