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Dark Crisis #3

Scheduled to arrive in stores: August 2, 2021
Cover date: October 2022

"Chapter Three: Boot Camp"

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Daniel Sampere
Cover: Daniel Sampere and Alejandro Sanchez
Variant Covers: Lee Weeks, John Giang, Ethan Young, Michael Allred and Laura Allred, Sampere, Henriques, and Sanchez

Reviewed by: Craig Boehmer
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Dark Crisis #3 Dark Crisis #3 The superhero community is in mourning after the attack on Titans Tower. Black Adam is leading the new Justice League on many raids against Deathstroke's army, but overall the heroes are afraid and losing. Black Adam decides it is time to start killing the villains, but Jon pushes back about it being wrong. Yara shows up in Jon's support, and Black Adam leaves. Damian and Jon continue the argument, but are interrupted by the arrival of the Justice Society who offer to help.

Deathstroke is talking with Ravager, she attacks him prompting his guards to come to his aid, he then unleashes the darkness infecting those in the room.

The Green Lantern Corps are in sector 666, and have found a Black Lantern power source. Hal, Kyle, and Jo enter the Lantern and are immediately confronted by Pariah. Hal creates constructs of the League and attacks Pariah. Hal discovers that, unknown to Pariah, the darkness is not creating a new multiverse, it's creating weapons from the League. He is then transported to a world seemingly governed by the Corps.

Black Adam meanwhile seeks the help of Luthor and the Legion of Doom to take down Deathstroke.

3Story - 3: I felt Black Adam being confronted by Jon and Yara led to him backing down really easily. His time with the League felt rushed and pointless. Sampere even drew him with a fearful look on his face, but in what world could Jon and Yara seriously hope to defeat Black Adam? Superman and Shazam combined barely defeat him. I also don't buy the whole, "we've been attacked before, but this time was different" narrative that the Titans are pushing. Like Williamson wants you the reader to believe that all the other attacks on the Titans pale in comparison to this one. Show, don't tell.

I loved the scenes showing the Titans deal with the outcome of the attack. And the Green Lantern section was really fun to read, and left me with a lot of questions, in a good way. I was also ecstatic to have Yara back, she is such a great character, and an awesome foil for Jon. I hope we get a lot more of their interactions together. Williamson's characterization of Jon here doesn't hit for me, and I was disappointed that the only conversation between Damian and him was an argument. Ideally they would focus on Damian, Yara, and Jon as the new Trinity.

The interaction between Deathstroke and Ravager was also very cool. And seeing him begin to infect everyone else should lead to quite an escalation going forward. Having reread Bryan Hitch's Justice League run from Rebirth, I'm struck by how Williamson's basic plot is the same as the overarching plot from that run. A darkness comes that infects people to do evil. That concerns me.

5Art - 5: One of the joys of "Crisis on Infinite Earths" was seeing George Perez (RIP) draw so many different DC characters. His work always looked beautiful. Sampere's character art work is also a joy to look at. This issue gives him plenty to do to flex his artistic muscles. The Titans pages really manage to showcase the devastation they feel with Gar's injury and the attack on Titans Tower. And the arrival of the Justice Society is beautiful. Each character in Society looks great, and it's so good to see them incorporated into this event. Likewise the last page reveal is also incredibly drawn. The return of the Legion of Doom. They each look fantastic. Also as eye catching is the Green Lantern Corps. Sampere keeps nailing the interior arts on this event, and that is worth picking these issue up.

5Cover Art - 5: Wow! Hal Jordan and his construct Justice League looks fantastic. Each character is beautifully illustrated, and something similar to this scene actually happens in the book!

3Variant Cover Art A - 3: This cover is fine. It has nothing to do with the book and is a character that I'm not familiar with. It is a showcase of Red Canary. The art is fine, and she looks like an interesting character, but this cover should be a variant on a book she is featured in.

4Variant Cover Art B - 4: Allred does a great homage to Perez and the original "Crisis on Infinite Earths" with this cover. I'm not a huge fan of the way Allred draws some of the faces. But the overall cover works for me.

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.
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