Review: Dark Knights of Steel #3

Tom Taylor created something truly special with the Injustice franchise. He used characters we loved and placed them in impossible situations. So it is truly sad to see just how mundane his Dark Knights of Steel has quickly become.

Rather than being about knights, battles and strong characterization, it is a political drama with a sew-saw of assassinations and characters who have completely unrelated personalities to the heroes we know. This story would be better served by throwing away the Game of Thrones inspired royal politics and bringing on some dragons and action instead.

The only characters who are remotely interesting are Harley Quinn and Black Lightning, and both are given too little to do. The issue begins in the courtyard of El where Batman the bastard son departs to investigate a Kryptonite meteor. Meanwhile Zala Joe-El comes to the land of Magnus and kills the Metal Men and the son of King Jefferson in a bloody rage.

The king in turn visits the Amazons for their loyalty against the Kingdom of El. Diana cannot abide this and with the encouragement of Lois she leaves the Amazons to try and prevent war. Jefferson and Constantine voyage back home but Zara stops them and kills King Jefferson as well. Batman arrives at the lands of Magnus to find the kryptonite which immediately flattens him given his relationship to the house of El.

The art throughout this book is epic, with bloodshed, amazing ships, great expressiveness by all the characters. The fact that the art is so perfect for this era and this story makes the absolute dullness of the proceedings even more tragic. All of this was done much more effectively by Crossgen already.

Since none of these characters act anything like themselves the flimsy plot is all we have to hold our interest. There is simply not enough depth to these characters and since they are not the same characters we know there is no emotional hook for the reader. This was a promising idea but it has quickly fallen apart.

The skill in telling an Elseworlds type tale is placing heroes we know and love in new circumstances. If we can’t recognize the heroes then the new circumstances become a basic artistic exercise. It might provide imagery for a new line of action figures, but it certainly won’t inspire readers to return for more.

Writing: 1 of 5 stars
Art: 4 of 5 stars
Colors: 4 of 5 stars

Overall: 2 of 5 stars

Writer: Tom Taylor
Art: Yasmine Putri
Colors: Arif Prianto
Publisher: DC Comics

Author Profile

M.R. Jafri

M.R. Jafri was born and raised in Niagara Falls New York and now lives with his family in Detroit Michigan. He's a talkative introvert and argumentative geek. His loves include Star Wars, Star Trek, Superheroes, Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Transformers, GI Joe, Films, Comics, TV Shows, Action Figures and Twizzlers.