Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate #1 is published by DC Comics. The anthology book features stories by Tim Seeley, Dennis Culver, A.L. Kaplan and Alyssa Wong. Artists on the book include Kaplan, Haining, Chris Burnham and Baloemar Rivas. Main cover art (left) is by David Marquez & Alejandro Sanchez.
Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate #1 is available now where all good comic books are sold.
Synopsis
NEW THREATS WILL RISE! When the Lazarus storm touches down, people from every walk of life stand to be affected. People who are kind, people who are good…and people who are evil. This epic issue will spotlight the many disastrous new villains created by the Lazarus event and the heroes who stand ready to stop them from doing harm to others! What sinister threat brings a new chapter to the Doom Patrol saga? Can a new hero channel the inexorable Still Force energy to fend off evil? What lurks in the corners of the Spirit World for new character Xanthe? And what early clue to the new direction in Arkham Tower will spell disaster for Gotham City?
Review
Another week, another entry in the Lazarus Planet event. Dark Fate features another four, 10-page stories which feature characters from across the breadth of the DC Universe. Once again, the publisher has opted for a mix of old and new characters to help maintain the authenticity of the book. Rather than it feeling more than an attempt to shoehorn purely new characters during an Earth-shattering event.
First up, Tim Seeley tackles Huntress – the Helena Bertinelli version – in “Whisper of the Moth”. The story finds Helena sans-Bat-Family, checking in on the inmates at Arkham Tower. A location she is all too familiar with following her tenure there undercover. Helena has always been on the periphery of the Bat-Family, mainly due to Batman’s disagreement with her methods. Seeley is able to tap in to Helena’s voice and capitalise on those outsider feelings through her narration.
Inside Arkham Tower, Huntress comes face to face with a slew of Z-list Bat-villains including Onomatopoeia, The Cavalier, Big Top, and The Monarch of Menace. But it’s Killer Moth who she’s here for. Through her investigation, Helena questions the connection between Ra’s Al Ghoul and both the Lazarus storm and the Lazarus Resin which is being smuggled in and out of the city. Despite being relatively low on action, “Whisper of the Moth” is a brilliant exploration of the character.
Long overdue for a comeback, next it’s over to the Doom Patrol for a story from writer Dennis Culver. The mission is simple, enter an underground army base and rescue a key asset from within. The issue, that Lazarus rains have turned him into a metahuman monster. So it is up to Negative Man, Robotman and Elasti-Woman to save the day. The story may seem straightforward but the sheer volume of weird the team comes across in the tunnels allow the visual team of Chris Burnham and Brian Reber the chance to run wild.
It’s great to see the team back together on the page. With their TV series coming to an end, it’s exciting to see DC has picked up on their popularity. This one-shot alone is set to push the team in to their own title which launches in March. Culver also clearly has a brilliant handle of each of the team’s personalities. There’s small moments for each of them to shine although it’s Negative Man who is MVP, sharing his own pain to help win their target over and clinching the rescue.
A.L. Kaplan’s “8 Seconds of Still Force” comes next. The story introduces a brand new character, Jules Jourdain aka Circuit Breaker. A trans, non-binary character who will be seen again in the next round of DC Pride stories. Jules is a jobbing actor, working in a local theatre where they reenacting The Flash fighting The Turtle. When the Lazarus rains arrive, Jules and another actor are given metahuman powers.
Jules gains the ability to absorb time and redirect the energy using the Still Force. A opposing force to the Speed Force used by Flash. The energy bursts capture the attention of Avery Ho’s Flash who comes to their aid.
It’s both a cool introduction for Jules. But also an excellent character portrait. Kaplan hones in on who Jules is as a person and adeptly communicates it to the reader. But doesn’t do so by forgoing any of the usual comic book action that fans will expect. I’m intrigued to see more of Jules in the future so “8 Seconds of Still Force” has absolutely done its job.
We return to Gotham City once more for our final story, “The Envoy”, from writer Alyssa Wong. It’s also time to introduce another new character to the DCU, Xanthe Zhou. Xanthe has some kind of magical abilities and wields a rather huge sword. Visiting a graveyard somewhere near Gotham’s Chinatown, Xanthe is attacked by a group of vampire-like creatures.
Backup arrives in the form of Cassandra Cain’s Batgirl. A nice tie to the wider Gotham world and the Bat-Family. They’re soon joined by none other than John Constantine to help root “The Envoy” in the magical side of the DCU. A super cliffhanger ending teases a future release, Spirit World No. 1, which promises to explore more of DC’s magical side. Something which has been lacking of late.
Verdict
Old favourites and new character combine in another great anthology from DC. Though it feels like the Lazarus Planet event is running out of steam, it’s impact and ability to put the focus on some of DC’s most underused characters is to be applauded.
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