DC Comics reviews 6/7/22 – Dark Crisis #1, Dark Knights of Steel #7
Dark Knights of Steel #7
Give Tom Taylor a book set in the standard DC Universe and you’ll read a book overflowing with love for the DC characters and an appreciation for all the continuity and character development before him.
Let Taylor do an Elseworlds story and all bets are off with no safety nets for characters with unpredictability being a major factor.
In both cases, Taylor is going to write a tremendous read. That remains the case with the seventh installment of Dark Knights of Steel.
Bruce Wayne is still coping with the revelation of his powers when he’s nursed back to help from Jonathan and Martha Kent. With the help of some persecuted and misunderstood teenagers. With Taylor stories there’s never a moment where I find myself going “it would be so cool if he’d do x,y and z.” Taylor gets it and includes the obvious character beats that make DC such a fertile landscape in the right hands and imagination.
MORE:
- DC Showcase: Constantine – The House of Mystery review
- Marvel Legends Vintage Retro Shocker review
- Superman and Lois – Bizarros in a Bizarro World review S2 E10
- Interceptor review
Ra’s al Ghul made good on his deal with Constantine to revive the Lightning Prince and now he wants the Titans. This isn’t the typical Batman/Ra’s al Ghul face off and Taylor incorporates a clever twist that could only be done in this kind of story.
It’s never a welcome sight to see an event’s regular artist had to miss an issue especially at the quality Yasmine Putri has delivered. While Nathan Gooden doesn’t quite match Putri’s clean linework and knack for detail, the visual integrity still holds up and is overall consistent with Putri’s presentation. Gooden was a very smart fill-in choice.
Arif Piranto remains on as the colorist and this issue heats up the action giving Piranto some nice showcase scenes. Wes Abbott utilizes a medieval style font in the early sequence that’s a little tricky to read, but his usual quality work carries through the rest of the issue.
Dark Knights of Steel remains full of excellent surprises with just enough traces of the default characterizations of DC legends that it succeeds on multiple levels. Even with a shift in artist, this remains a definite must-read for the week.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10