“War”
Creative Staff:
Story: Tom Taylor
Art: Yasmine Putri
Colorist: Arif Prianto
Letterer: Wes Abbot
What They Say:
The bestselling series continues! The opening battle for the Three Kingdoms takes a deadly and dramatic turn as heroes return…enemies are revealed…and dark secrets spill out like blood on the battlefield!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Non-continuity DC books continue to be where I’m at and this one has definitely been hitting the mark on just about all counts for me, through a five-month or so gap between installments doesn’t do anyone any favors, even a two-month gap feels like a hit at this point. Tom Taylor is showing a really solid understanding of characters and how to place them in new situations, retain what makes them who they are, but really challenge them in how they react. Just being able to make a real impact on characters with events goes a long way toward hitting a sweet spot for me. This installment has Yasmine Putri back on the book and the payoff is there with the look, design, and overall quality that they bring to it. It sticks to the general theme and design of the first half with its take on the characters and seeing them presented in this setting and exploring the way things can be adapted and reworked from familiar things.
Events have been moving along in a big way and we basically have the three kingdoms together as the fight goes in some pretty dark directions quickly. It’s the kind of setup that puts us in a place where it needs something radical in order to change the direction of things because there’s no coming back. With Kal having been rescued by Cassandra and given a Lasso to try and make things clear upon his return to the field, it’s his mother that he comes across first. But even here nothing goes well as Lara, leaving the battlefield, wallops Kal into the battle herself which makes it look like a Kryptonian strike. And that sets Diana and the others even more firmly into the war footing as it becomes a brutal slog with all the forces that exist there. And Kal’s just utterly confused by what’s going on after being away and trying to figure it out. It doesn’t help that Bruce shows up as well and puts blade to throat while calling him brother.
While this is unfolding, we also see how Lara has gone to the prison within the castle in order to eliminate threats, which means killing them outright as she does King Shark. This incentivizes Oliver and Dinah to work together and for her to use her abilities to get them out of there quickly in a big and chaotic way. Of course, even with crossbow in his one remaining hand, they land in a worse situation of the three kingdoms’ war at their doorstep and it’s just a disaster. Even worse? Another version of Lara arrives, and we discover it’s the real one as the Lara that has caused so much of this is a shapeshifter. It’s here that things go in an off the rails direction in an interesting way by revealing that they’re White Martians and that Alfred is actually a Green Martian. It makes me wonder how much of it was really seeded before and to look forward to a re-read when it’s all done.
In Summary:
Tom Taylor continues to surprise with how much fun this is and how twisted and weird it can get along the way. If it’s a twist with what’s really orchestrating things then it’s one I didn’t see coming and I like being surprised like that. Now I just have to see if it really makes sense once we know all of the trick and a revisit to it. What we get here is a mostly brutal fight going on as the bodies pile up and the anger increases. It’s definitely a lot of fun even as it tries to juggle a lot of characters and their plots while also having just enough character moments to make it work. Pour one out for King Shark, though.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: DC Comics
Release Date: January 3rd, 2023
MSRP: $3.99
