Originally published on Patreon
After a while away Dark Knight of Steel makes a return just in time for war to begin. After several issues of build-up, of political manoeuvring, and assassinations, it looks like the three kingdoms have nothing left but battle to resolve their issues.
This issue is largely the final pieces getting into place, in some cases literally, as the assembled army of the Amazons and the Kingdom of Storms makes their way towards the castle of the Els. Along the way they're approached by Harley and Waller, who try to appeal to the better sense of the allied leaders, asking them to try and find a peaceful solution to the situation. But, it looks like blood is the only thing that's going to settle things.
When Constantine tries to attack the leaving diplomats, against the orders of his queens, they come under attack by Ivy, who uses her abilities to protect Harley, and to destroy a portion of the army. It's at this point that the Green Man comes in, beat down Ivy so that the allied army can continue on. His ring tells him that the war needs to go ahead.
This, I think, points towards some answers. We know that there's some manipulations happening behind the scenes, that the kingdoms are being pushed to war, and that some of the powered individuals have been duplicated, or someone is impersonating them, in order to commit crimes that will get blamed on either side. With the Green Man's ring pushing him to make sure that the war happens, it further convinces me that he's the one behind things, that he impersonated Zara, and killed the King of Storms. The fact that his ring talks to him, seemingly trying to manipulate him, is interesting, and makes me think of Power Ring from Earth-3.
The issue ends with the leaders of the opposing armies assembled on the battlefield, making one last push to end things without violence; Diana and Zara say as much to each other before entering the situation. However, upon shaking the hand of Hippolyta, agreeing to avoid war, Lara cuts her in half with her heat vision. So, fair to say things are going to kick off next issue.
The world that Taylor has created in this series, the new versions of the characters, their relationships with each other, and the ever expanding and complex story has been a highlight each issue, and whilst I don't want these groups to end up fighting each other like this, it does feel like the only thing that could have happened. Like when watching Game of Thrones and you can see the good on both sides of the conflict, and want everyone to come out okay, you're both excited and afraid when the battle begins. The manipulations behind the scenes have led them here, and it doesn't look like it can be avoided.
I'm glad that the series is back, but I'm also hating that it means characters are going to start dying. These aren't are regular DC characters, but Taylor has managed to make these versions so interesting and likeable that only eight issues into the series it still shocks and hurts when we lose them.
The art, by Yasmine Puti and Arif Prianto, looks great, and some of the best moments are the quieter ones between characters, such as Constantine trying to convince the resurrected prince to strike against his enemies, or the moment between Ollie and Dinah in the El's dungeons. Though, the final image of the issue of someone being bisected down the middle with heat vision is pretty amazing too.
Dark Knights of Steel has been a great series, and I'm glad its back and heading into the endgame of the series.
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