Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths #4
As the heroes regroup and the Legion of Doom faces its own trial, Pariah’s plan inches closer to fruition in Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths #4, by writer Joshua Williamson, artist Daniel Sampere, colorist Alejandro Sanchez, and letterer Tom Napolitano. The book is past the halfway mark, and it still feels like it’s building, but at least it’s interesting.
This issue runs back and forth between the Flash and Hal as they explore the worlds of other League members, Black Adam and the Legion of Doom as he tries to get them to help against Deathstroke’s army, and Alan Scott as he works to figure out just what is going on. Flash and Hal encounter Batman, and Deathstroke’s army attacks the Legion, now in the chains of the Dark Army, and ravages the other villains. Alan gets Nightwing back into the fold, and he, Nightwing, and Superman visit the Justice League Dark, where the two Swamp Things share what they know and what they think about the Great Darkness. Meanwhile, Pariah finally has the power to make his dreams a reality, and the infinite Earths are reborn.
Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths seems to be reaching the next phase in this issue, but it’s still a very slow book. It’s only seven issues, and yet this is the first time it feels like anything important is happening. Williamson is doing a good job, and the book is entertaining, but the last three issues are really going to have to impress. The pacing of this comic has been glacially slow, but Williamson knows his DC history and how to write the characters, so even though not a lot has happened in the book so far, it’s still worth a read.
The chapter focuses a lot on Alan Scott but not a lot on the Justice Society, which is a bit of a frustrating bait and switch, something this series is really good at so far. However, any focus on Alan Scott is a good thing. Another good thing about this event so far is that it’s very much not a Batman-centric event, which at modern DC is a great thing. Williamson throws a spanner in the works by saying that the Great Darkness may not be in control of itself. Hopefully, that little tidbit will play into the last three issues. It feels like this is the chapter where things are going to start moving forward. If there’s a major problem with the issue, it’s that it feels a bit too short. Ending with the return of the infinite Earths is a good cliffhanger, but it could have used a few more pages.
No matter what people think about the writing, the art from Sampere and Sanchez is excellent. It’s not exactly kinetic; Sampere is better at doing snapshots of action. However, it’s detailed in the best possible ways, and his figures feel powerful. There’s something about the way he draws the heroes and villains in this book that gives them a weight and power that other artists don’t always give them. Sanchez’s colors are brilliant, literally. He uses a pretty bright palette for a book called Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths.
Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths #4 is good. It seems like things are finally starting to happen, which is nice. Williamson is a great DC writer, so if the reader is a fan of DC, they’ll still be enjoying this book. That is its triumph and its tragedy. Sampere and Sanchez do an amazing job with the art, and Napolitano’s letters look wonderful. Things are finally starting to happen in this book, and that’s a good thing.
