Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths #3
The Justice League shatters, the Green Lantern Corps finds a fateful secret, and Black Adam asks for help from a most unexpected direction in Dark Crisis #3, by writer Joshua Williamson, artist Daniel Sampere, inkers Sampere, Daniel Henriques, and Danny Miki, colorist Alejandro Sanchez, and letterer Tom Napolitano. This issue builds the story up even more than before, with some very interesting developments.
All around the world, Deathstroke’s Secret Society attacks and heroes make the hard decisions, some fighting and some going into hiding. At the hospital, the Titans gather to watch over Beast Boy as Nightwing sits his lonely vigil. At the Hall of Justice, Black Adam puts the League through their paces, but a disagreement leads to the team breaking up, even though Yara Flor joins up with Jon, as does the Justice Society. At the Secret Society’s headquarters, Ravager tries to kill her father, but he stops her and realizes just what he must do to start a crisis. At Ryut, the Green Lantern Corps investigates the new Black Lantern Battery, with Hal, Jo, and Kyle entering it. They face off against Pariah, with Hal getting past him to the Justice League’s Earths. As Pariah boasts about controlling the Great Darkness, Hal realizes what the Earths are for before he’s pulled into John Stewart’s. Finally, Black Adam goes to the last people anyone would expect for help against Deathstroke’s Secret Society.
This issue is way more stuffed with content than it seems like when it’s being read, which is a good thing. This isn’t a short comic, so pacing is important, and Williamson does a great job in that respect. DC events lately have made up for being shorter when it comes to issues by having larger page counts. Pacing is important with a larger page count, so for this chapter to impart as much as it does and never seem like it is great.
As far as the content goes, if someone isn’t a fan of this story to begin with, this issue isn’t going to convince them. A lot of people complain about Williamson’s work recycling ideas, and that’s in effect here. However, it’s still done in a manner that most DC fans will enjoy. There’re some cool plot points, of course. It’s nice to see Ravager and the Justice Society again. Readers still don’t know exactly what is going on with Deathstroke, but it’s gotten even more interesting. The Green Lantern Corps portions are cool, and Pariah’s delusions of control are definitely foreshadowing. The ending is pretty surprising.
Sampere’s art is great, especially when it comes to figure work and character acting. The big moments of the issue definitely capture the grandeur of the moments, as well. The inkers all do an amazing job, and Sanchez’s colors are pretty bright and lush for a book called Dark Crisis. If there’s any problem with the art, it’s that it feels too much like action figures. It looks great, but it’s not the most kinetic.
Dark Crisis #3 is even more set up, but it’s well done. Williamson paces the whole thing well, and the art looks great. The issue sometimes feels like it’s hitting the right parts to make DC fans happy, so if someone is a DC fan, they’ll love it. One definitely has to be sold on Dark Crisis to like this issue, so if that’s the case, then it works.
