We're coming close to the end of Dark Knights of Steel, and for most of the run its been pretty clear where the story was going to be heading; the three kingdoms were going to end up going to war with each other. But, this is a Tom Taylor book, and you should never really expect the obvious with him. Last issue we got the shocking revelation that the mysterious forces manipulating things from behind the scenes were the White Martians. Not only that, but Alfred has been Martian Manhunter the entire time.
After such a big twist in the story it's no surprise that this issue pushes the brakes a little and slows things down, because there's a lot of cover here. With the three kingdoms having already clashed, and monarchs having died, those left standing have to treat their wounded, bury their dead, and figure out what the next steps are. Emotions are understandably high, and the scene where Diana threatens J'onn, the only figure she can take her anger out on, is one of the more tense in the series so far. The moment of peace that we're experiencing was hard won, and it feels like it could be lost in a second if the wrong choice gets made. Luckily, Batman won't allow anyone to hurt the man who raised him; and he's got a big green dragon backing him up.
Thankfully, the monarchs agree to discuss things calmly, using the lasso of truth in order to get an honest story out of their green guest. We also have Poison Ivy turn up for this moment, forging herself her own throne out of plants so as to represent the planet itself, in a pretty awesome scene of four female rulers coming together as one to hear the history of the Martians, and to devise a plan of action.
Most of the issue is given over to backstory, as we get to hear J'onn give a history of the war between the two races. Whilst this is a story that we're all aware of, Taylor makes it different enough that it still feels interesting. We see the Martians at peace for a while, but then witness the growing racist sentiments begin to form thanks to one White Martian, Protex. I love how Taylor sells the shift of the Martians towards hate with the phrase 'In a telepathic society, a thought can spread faster than sense'. With the amount of open hatred and bigotry in our world today you can see this playing out in our own lives, thanks to how quickly social media has helped to spread bigotry and lies, and how hard it is to combat easily digested hate with rational arguments.
The war between the two races is done well too, and the moments where the Green Martians are left hiding beneath the surface are heartbreaking. The scene where J'onn comforts his dying child in his arms and wants to tell him he's going to be fine, but unable to give him that comforting lie because his child can sense his thoughts, can see that there's nothing his father can do to help him or save him is utterly heartbreaking. Because of this, I can see how Taylor was able to marry his character with that of Alfred's, because the loss of his own children, or everything, ended up being the reason he came to love Bruce so much, having raised him from a boy as a surrogate son.
The issue also manages to deal with the Luthor/Joker/Green Lantern combo character, as Protex literally tears him to pieces, taking the Lantern ring for himself. The reveal that the ring hasn't been speaking to him like the Earth-3 Power Ring was a neat twist that should have been obvious as soon as the White Martians were revealed, but it honestly didn't occur to me at all. And now we have the leader of an already incredibly powerful group of foes wielding the most powerful weapon in the universe. So that's not good.
The artwork on the issue, provided by Yasin Putri and Arif Piranto looks absolutely fantastic, and the entire issue looks phenomenal. All of the character designs are able to look fresh and new, yet are also instantly recognisable as the characters we know they're supposed to be. Mars stands out as looking particularly good, as do its inhabitants. I love the tiny details of the cute, purple Martian bunnies in the backgrounds, and the shape-shifting and abilities of the Martians looks fantastic. The scenes where they're going from invisible to visible look awesome, as they have this look where parts of them are missing in odd chunks and gaps that is a great new way of visualising the effect.
There are only a couple of issues left to go of the series, and I'm excited to see what the book will be doing now that it has unveiled this new threat fully. I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up losing more characters before it's all done. I'm also hoping that the series does well enough that we end up getting a sequel, or tie ins that can explore some of the characters who've not been given much of a spotlight in the main story.
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