Writers: Tim Seeley, Dennis Culver, A.L. Kaplan, Alyssa Wong
Art: Baldemar Rivas, Chris Burnham, A.L. Kaplan, Haining
Colors: Ivan Plascencia, Brian Reber, Sebastian Cheng
Letters: Carlos M. Mangual, Steve Wands, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Janice Chiang
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99
Release Date: February 14th, 2023
Rain caused by the eruption of Lazarus Island’s massive volcano continues falling across the Earth (thanks Batman and Robin!), causing some people who are powerless to gain powers. Also, a percentage of people who already have powers have either lost them or their powers have been altered in some way. Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate #1 tells more stories of those people who have been affected by the Lazarus Rain, and it’s an enjoyable one-shot containing four stories (2 great, 1 good and 1 mediocre). If you’re interested in the Lazarus Planet storyline, drive, bike or run to pick this up, it’s the best Lazarus Planet one-shot so far and features the debut of two interesting new heroes.
If you’re interested in this comic, series, related trades, or any of the others mentioned, then simply click on the title/link to snag a copy through Amazon as you read the Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate #1 Review.
The Story
Not only did I like most of the stories in Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate #1, I loved the variety of characters across each tale also. Reading the issue, it reminded me of the awesome 1 dollar (yes, 1 dollar!) 68-page Adventure Comics book that DC published through the early 1980’s, which always had the most eclectic mix of characters combined with great stories and art. This book has the same great variety. My two favorite stories in the book were “Whisper of the Moth” (featuring the Huntress) and “The Envoy: A Spirit World Story” (featuring Cassandra Cain, John Constantine and new character Xanthe Zhou). In “Whisper of the Moth” (written by Tim Seeley with art by Baldemar Rivas and Ivan Plascencia), The Huntress battles through Arkham Tower to save the workers there and get the communications systems back up. She runs into several minor Batman villains and a terrifyingly transformed Killer Moth. The story plays out like a wonderful variation of “John Wick” as Huntress battles her way through Arkham Tower inmates before encountering a bone-chilling Killer Moth, who has been changed into a Charles Manson-type figure with hypnotic abilities by The Lazarus Rain. The story is only 10 pages long but packs more action and character moments here than in a handful of issues of other books. I loved Huntress’s inner monologue throughout, showing her thought process (which is totally opposite of Batman), and the story has some horror film-style moments, especially in a disturbing scene with the bewildering Onomatopoeia, and the art by Baldemar Rivas is atmospheric, blanketing the halls and chambers of Arkham Tower in shadows. It’s a violent moody story and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Where the Huntress story is an action-packed story tinged with horror, “The Envoy: A Spirit World Story” (written by Alyssa Wong with art by Haining and Sebastian Cheng) is all high fantasy and mysticism, featuring giant swords, spellcasting and hopping and levitating vampires. Reading the story, it felt like a beautiful tribute to the Asian dark fantasy films of the 1980’s like “Mr. Vampire” and “Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain”, where warriors levitated on light, battling in the air in a grand martial arts ballet. Yep, if you can’t tell already, this was my favorite story in the book. It’s the debut of Xanthe Zhou, who’s a sorcerer and vampire slayer born in China who now resides in Gotham City. Visually, they’re a stunning character, with pixie-style hair, a jacket with fiery dragon-like symbols, and wielding a giant sword so magnificent that it would have Dante from “Devil May Cry” drooling with envy. I loved Xanthe from the first page of the story and I hope they stay in the spotlight a long time.
The story involves The Lazarus Rain bringing vampires back to life and amplifying necromantic energy in Gotham, with Xanthe teaming up with Cassandra Cain to destroy the vampires. Xanthe and Cassandra make a great duo and play off each other beautifully. They have a great witty repartee and Cassandra’s midnight black costume and street-fighting moves are a great contrast to Xanthe’s bright costume and high-flying acrobatics. I could easily read a 100 page book where Cassandra and Xanthe sit in a Starbucks, knocking back a few Cappuccinos and making sly comments while crowd-watching. That’s how fun they were together. Constantine pops in during the battle and has a hilarious beef with Xanthe. Constantine’s his usual apathetic self, puffing on cigarettes like they’re oxygen while admonishing Xanthe. I never thought I’d see a story where Cassandra Cain and Constantine teamed up, but damn if I didn’t enjoy them and Xanthe playing off each other, all while battling vampires and other dark beasts from the void. Haining’s art for the story is beautiful and every panel overflows with details. Mystic wisps of fog perpetually swirl around Xanthe, Cassandra Cain’s moves look graceful and deadly, like scenes from the best Kung-Fu film you’ve ever seen. Geometric symbols wheel around Constantine’s hand as he casts spells, smoke wafting like a smokestack from the cigarette forever dangling from his mouth. The art really complements the story and takes it to the next level. The book also features a fun Doom Patrol story and it was great seeing them in action again! Rounding out the issue is a story featuring Circuit Breaker, who channels the Still Force. This was the only story in the book I didn’t like, it seemed like filler.
The Art
I enjoyed all of the artwork in Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate #1. As mentioned above, Haining, Sebastian Cheng, Baldemar Rivas and Ivan Plascencia did magnificent work on their stories. Chris Burnham and Brian Reber’s art on the Doom Patrol Story “Storm Damaged” is full of bright vivid colors and scruffy details. The art had an off-kilter look and feel to it that fit The Doom Patrol perfectly. They made Negative Man and Cliff Steele expressive, which is no easy feat considering the visual limitations that come with those characters, and when The Doom Patrol are battling the giant fungi-style monster in the climax, the book takes on a wonderful hallucinogenic feel. A.L. Kaplan’s art on “8 Seconds of Still Force” (featuring the debut of Circuit Breaker) reminded me of Gil Kane’s work, especially in the battle scenes, where time and space seem warped around Circuit Breaker as they battle a Lazarus Rain-powered person who has lost control. I loved the visuals but didn’t care for the story itself.
Final Thoughts
Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate #1 is the best Lazarus Planet one-shot so far. The stories range from pure superhero action to high-fantasy adventure to dark and moody “John Wick” type action. It gives us great moments with rarely seen characters like The Huntress, The Doom Patrol and Cassandra Cain and introduces new characters Circuit Breaker and Xanthe Zhou. I especially loved Xanthe Zhou and I hope we see a lot more of them in the future. Highly recommended.