Reflections And Revelations: Reviewing ‘Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths’ #4
by Olly MacNamee
Summary
The midway point of DC Comics’ latest crisis event and another action packed issue that swings from one dramatic scene to the next with great gusto. Although there is the odd quieter, contemplative scene too as we learn more about the effects of this multiverse wide crisis on the DCU.
Overall
9/10There comes a point in any big event comic series that relies on crossovers into other titles when the main series becomes somewhat harder to fathom. And to some extent Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 is the issue that reaches that point. Barry Allen, The Flash, appears after months of having gone AWOL, to help Hal Jordan take out the Green Lantern of multiple Earths, but without reading the tie-in issues of The Flash, it doesn’t seem as dramatic an entrance as it could have been.
But, that doesn’t make the remainder of the issue being an entertaining read as we frantically jump from one scene to another thereby sustaining the epic scale of this crisis on everyone in the DCU. We get a sombre Nightwing holding vigil over Beast Boy, Deathstroke and The Legion of Doom at each others throats, and a great callback to the original Crisis on Infinite Earths as Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern, realises there is something off with magic in the multiverse. Oh, and we get not one but two Swamp Things. Looks like new boy Levi Kamei is here to stay.
Writer Joshua Williamson continues to enthral and thrill and this mid-point balances the action and revelations perfectly, knowing when to give the reader a breather with a quieter, dialogue heavy scene and when to deliver on the action. And we get a killer moment on the final page that will have any hardcore DC fan salivating for the next issue. Everything you’d want from a big event like this one.
Of course, this story would not be as riveting if not for Daniel Sampere’s art work, as well as Alejandro Sánchez’s colours. A stand out moment for me that also best illustrates this art team’s exceptional work is the aforementioned scene in which Nightwing sits by the bedside of Gar Logan. Using a good deal of shadow and black space, Sampere captures the sombre, sad tone wonderfully, while Sánchez’s colours allow Alan Scott to glow without dominating this quiet, reflective moment.
A well balanced narrative and wonderful artwork makes this a gripping issue from cover to cover. And out now from DC Comics.
