DC All In Special #1 review

Flip books. How I hate them. You’re reading a comic and you get to the middle and have to turn it upside down, usually for no good reason. It’s just a gimmick. DC All In Special does have a decent excuse for the chapters starting from opposite ends of the book, meeting in the middle and flipping. And it’s still blooming irritating.

I mean, don’t DC remember they sell these things not just in paper, but digitally? And while I can turn my tablet upside down – get that rotation lock on, kids – and get an idea of the desired effect, what are people who read on desktops meant to do?

So what is it that narratively justifies a flip book?

The story on the A-side, ‘Alpha’, sees heroes invited to sign up for Justice League Unlimited, a reaction to Amanda Waller’s war on heroes – the story takes place 52 days after Absolute Power #4.

Soon, the big day arrives and heroes who have accepted the offer – it seems that, like, Robotman, Metamorpho says no – are addressed by Mr Terrific.

Within seconds, an alarm sounds, and things get crazy.

Who’s ripping through reality?

Darkseid is.

As for how he got there, the ‘Alpha’ underside of the comic reveals all.

The dark god of Apokolips is trying to gain more power, and with the aid of a Miracle Machine and his son Kalibak – rather unwillingly – Darkseid merges with the Spectre and attacks the new team on the block.

Not that the Spirit of Vengeance goes quietly – even as Darkseid fights the newborn JLU he’s lecturing the villain about his place in the universe.

Darkseid puts the knowledge, along with power he’s stolen from various magical beings, to good/bad use and grows to greater godhood.

There’s a lot more going on in the script by Joshua Williamson and Scott Snyder, but this is a big story and I heartily recommend you give it a look. I will say that one of the best aspects of the issue is that it gives one of my favourites, Booster Gold, a big role. Heck, he was getting so much attention and respect I expected Max Lord to show up and shoot him in the head. But no, he’s alive as we reach the cliffhanger, which is a winner.

The big takeout of this issue is that not only do we get the birth of Justice League Unlimited, we get new, but familiar, heroes on the parallel Earth christened The Elseworld.

Well, they look a fun time.

We get to meet Absolute Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman in the next few weeks in their own books. For now, let’s concentrate on this comic.

It was a lot better than expected. Well, I expected to enjoy the Justice League half, and I did – it’s full of hope and heroism, heroes who smile. The Darkseid section I expected to bore me rigid. I mean, how many times do we have to see Old Stone Face plotting to take over Earth One or Prime or whatever it’s called this month? But I enjoyed it hugely, thanks in part to the intense, well-constructed script, which captures classic Darkseid while making him seem a little more evil, a little smarter. And then there’s the art of illustrator Wes Craig and colourist Mike Spicer, which barrels through the back half of the comic like a bullet train. It’s direct, dynamic and occasionally has a vibe of the late, great Darwyn Cooke. I love it.

As for the pages drawn by Daniel Sampere and coloured by Alejandro Sánchez, they’re more in the DC house style, but elevated. The clean lines are just what the first half of the book, steeped in the optimism of a fresh start for superheroes, needs. And when all hell breaks loose and Darkseid attacks after breaking through from his half of the issue – Apokolips is in a separate dimension to Earth and travel between the two is usually a matter of Boom Tubes – Sampere brings the power he applied to his now classic Action Comics run.

There’s a third artist on the book and that’s Dan Mora, who handles a chaotic cosmic spread connecting the two halves of the whole. Coloired by Tamra Bonvillain, it’s a terrific take on some Absolute characters DC hadn’t previewed and I love it

One query about the art… for a few panels around the Darkseid fight, Batman seems to have gone full metal knight.

I like the look, but is it a costume mode I’ve not come across?

The business about Superman energy setting the tone for the universe is objectively weird, but it’s not new, having been established in Doomsday Clock #12. I’d assumed that piece of Geoff Johns-ery would never be referenced again, so it’s fascinating to see it used.

So, on the same day this week DC released the end of one crossover in Absolute Power #4 and the beginning of a new publishing initiative in this very comic. It’s exhausting but a heck of a lot of fun.

Just buy this comic in print if you possibly can.