Originally published on Patreon
DC occasionally comes out with a concept so weird that you're kind of not sure if you want to read it or not. These ideas tend to get relegated to their own timelines and universes, and get to go a little bit wild. The recent Jurassic League is an example of this.
The latest entry in this 'fuck it, let's just do it' category of books is DC Mech. This series begins at the end of World War Two, where the Justice society helped to end the war and stop the forces of the axis powers. However, in the middle of a huge celebration a portal forms above the city and a huge mechanised Parademon from the distant world of Apokolips arrives on Earth.
The Justice Society engage the huge mechanical warrior in battle, and manage to defeat it. However, the society suffers extreme losses, and many of the heroes die stopping this single warrior. This battle brings the age of the super hero to a close, as the world knows that they need stronger defences for when the next attack comes. Humanity dedicates itself to developing its own giant, mechanised warriors.
Many years later, the planet of Krypton comes under attack from the forces of Apokalips, and whilst his parents fight to buy him time and infant Kal-El is placed inside a giant robotic warrior and sent out amongst the stars, flying towards the planet Earth on a journey that will take him many years.
On Earth, decades later, the heroes and villains that we recognise have been replaced with giant robotic versions of themselves. Wally West pilots a giant flash battle suit, and Bruce Wayne watches over Earth from a floating asteroid and goes into battle in a huge Batman mech. When a trio of Parademons attacks the Earth, the two of them engage them in battle, and receive assistance from Kal-El and his own mechanised warrior. With more of Apokalips' forces on the way, can these new heroes come together to form a team in time?
The concept of this book, to replace all of the major characters in DC with piloted mech suits sounds pretty wild; but its actually pretty fun. Kenny Porter has come up with a decent way of justifying not only the reason why this would be happening, but how the tech would develop too, by giving Earth a giant Parademon mech to research for decades.
The changes in the timeline, and how things have shifted from what we know are pretty interesting, and there seems to be some big changes because of this. For example, Bruce has a godmother that he keeps talking about, a woman who seems to have provided warnings of things to come and pushed him to become Batman. I've got a theory it's going to be someone we know, but am interested in seeing who it is, and how these characters have changed in this new world.
The giant mechs are also pretty cool, and some of the designs look great. The fights take on a different feel now that they're between huge robots rather than people, especially as they mechs are incorporating the powers and abilities that the characters would normally have. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how more heroes and villains have been adapted into this new set-up as the series goes on.
These separate kinds of side stories can be a lot of fun, and can provide a decent distraction from the stuff that's happening in the main universe, and they can let creators go a bit wild and try something different. I'm definitely intrigued by this one, and am looking forward to seeing how it goes.
This article, and many others, can be read a month early on my Patreon for as little as $3 a month!
No comments:
Post a Comment