Zombie Outbreak in the DC Universe!

May 1st kicked off the DC's newest event with DCeased #1, which gives us the beginning of what will be a zombie outbreak in the DC Universe! This event is basically DC's version of Marvel: Zombies, and will likely give us zombie versions of our favorite DC superheroes. The first issue is written by Tom Taylor, the writer of the critically acclaimed Injustice (Years 1-3) comic book series. Meanwhile, the artists are Trevor Hairsine, Stefano Gaudiano and James Harren.

Defeating Darkseid...

The issue begins with Superman breaking Darkseid's jaw, signaling the victory of the Justice League over Darkseid. After this, the entire League threatens Darkseid and orders him to leave Earth and never return. And just for good measure, Wonder Woman uses her Lasso of Truth to force Darkseid into revealing whether he will return or not, and that's when Darkseid ominously says:

"I will not return. I have no need. For the truth is... I already have what I came for."

Darkseid then opens a portal, using Motherbox technology and leaves the planet. The Green Arrow says that the way Darkseid left was suspicious, just as Batman gets a notification from one of his bat-doodads that cyborg has gone missing. In fact, Batman finds out that Cyborg isn't even on Earth because he has placed a tracker on Cyborg (without Cyborg's knowledge) that can detect his presence within two light-years. This means that Cyborg isn't even in the solar system. This leads the Justice League to wonder where Cyborg is, and that is when the reader is taken to Apokolips, Darkseid's home planet.

The Anti-Life Equation...

As we find out, Cyborg is trapped on Apokolips and imprisoned by Darkseid's servant named Desaad. Desaad explained that Darkseid had half, of what is called, the anti-life equation. Darkseid believed that finding and using the anti-life equation would give him complete control over all life in the universe. Desaad explains that half of the equation was found on Apokolips, and that Darkseid believed that the rest would be on Earth. In fact, he was right about that because he managed to find the anti-life equation within Cyborg, as he contains motherbox (Apokoliptan Tech) technology within his robotic body parts.

Darkseid would make an attempt to combine his half of the equation with Cyborg's, but there is a problem. Darkseid's half is a physical manifestation in the form of the motherbox he possesses. Meanwhile, Cyborg's half is digital and stored within him. Desaad lets Darkseid know that this could be problematic, by saying that if he uses his physical motherbox to combine with the digital half of the equation, it could kill Cyborg before the two halves combine, and both will be lost. This would render Darkseid's plan a complete failure. Of course, Darkseid has a solution... or at least he thinks he does.

"Darkseid is. Darkseid was."

Darkseid summons the Black Racer (one of DC's iterations of Death), who he grabs and rips a piece off of. Darkseid takes this piece of the Black Racer and attaches it to Cyborg, which corrupts his half of the anti-life equation. The two parts of the anti-life equation, one pure (Darkseid's) and one corrupted (Cyborg's), merge together to create a new impure and corrupted version of the anti-life equation. The equation immediately affects Darkseid, who begins clawing at his face. Darkseid loses control of himself and kills the Black Racer. Desaad, however, was unaffected because he is immune to all disease. Noticing the damage that could be wrought on Apokolips, Desaad sends Cyborg away (back to Earth) to minimize damage. But the damage was already done. Darkseid had left Cyborg's holding cell and jumped into one of the fire pits of Apokolips. (Apokolips is a rogue planet that has no sun. The fire pits serve the purpose of the sun by heating up the planet.) This kills him and destroys the entire planet of Apokolips.

On Earth, trouble only just begins...

The Anti-Life Equation goes viral.

Cyborg, back on Earth, contains the anti-life equation in his systems. Since Cyborg is connected to the digital world via the internet, the anti-life equation is essentially uploaded to the internet. Meanwhile, bystanders are recording the high-profile superhero that just dropped out of a portal, so naturally they all begin recording on their devices. This then allows the corrupted anti-life equation to spread via social media platforms. The techno-organic virus then took hold of many civilians, and begins to spread rapidly. Cyborg watches in despair, as people around him begin to tear each other apart.

Meanwhile, Superman is speaking with Mr. Miracle and his wife, Big Barda to plot a trip to Apokolips and rescue Cyborg. The meeting is fruitful as Mr. Miracle and Barda agree to go to Apokolips to find Cyborg, but the meeting is interrupted by Superman hearing screaming. Superman rushes to the source only to find that thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, tear each other apart. This makes Superman rush home to make sure his son, Jon, and wife, Lois, are safe.

Back in Metropolis, Lois is at her and Superman's apartment with Jon and Damian (Batman's son) when Jon's phone rings. He goes to check it, but at that moment Superman uses his laser vision to destroy his son's phone and the TV to prevent anybody from being infected. As the world goes to hell, Superman says that he needs to assemble the Justice League. Damian, however, notices that his father is not responding to his emergency radio which makes him worried. Superman reassures him that Batman always has contingencies for everything, and that he'll probably be fine.

Batman is not fine...

Back in the Batcave, Batman is monitoring the virus as it spreads throughout the world, and discovers that it will likely infect most of the world in days. That's when Bruce checks to see if the internet connection to the house is active, finds out that it is, and has it shut off. After that, he runs to find Alfred, Dick (Nightwing) and Tim (Red Robin) to see if they're okay. Alfred is fine, but Dick and Tim were not so lucky, as they are infected by the virus. Batman tells Alfred to run, and fights off Tim and Dick, but Dick gains the upper hand. The issue ends as Batman screams for Alfred to run.

My Thoughts...

I really enjoyed the issue, and am eager to find out what happens next, and how the DC Universe's heroes will be affected. One thing I liked seeing in the issue was Green Arrow and Black Canary being part of the Justice League because they were members prior to New-52 reboot in 2011, and were members of the iterations of the Justice League I grew up with (namely, Justice League Unlimited). Another thing I liked seeing was Dick Grayson as Nightwing again, instead of going by the name Rick Grayson, since he became an amnesiac due to a sniper bullet to the skull. One thing that I, and many fans, have missed is seeing a young Jon Kent. Ever since Brian Michael Bendis' Superman run, Jon Kent has been aged up to about seventeen, I think. Not that older Jon is bad, but there just hasn't been as much of young Jon in the comics lately.

The issue stated that the disease was transmitted through social media and blood-to-blood contact. Considering that both Batman and Nightwing were bleeding during their fight it is quite possible that Batman has been infected. This'll put the league at a huge disadvantage because Batman is usually the brains behind any operation he is a part of.

I really enjoyed how Tom Taylor showed the reader how much of a threat the virus really is, by having it drive even Darkseid, a character referred to throughout his comic history as a god, insane. The character was in so much pain that he literally jumped into his planet's equivalent of a sun to make it stop. One thing that concerns me is how Tom Taylor will wrap the story up, especially with a threat this powerful. I am not really a fan of stories where there is a plot device that insta-kills this insanely powerful enemy, or when the enemy or threat is shown to be very powerful, but for some unexplained reason becomes stupidly weak during the final encounter. I do think that Taylor will do a good job, and I think that primarily because of his work on Injustice (which I think is one of the best comics I've read to date).

I liked that the issue had three artists doing work on different sections of the issue. My favorite two artists this issue were Hairsine (I really liked the way he drew Darkseid) and Harren. I just preferred the way they drew characters as opposed to Gaudiano.

Overall the issue is a good start to what will hopefully be an exciting summer comic event. If this isn't THE comic event of the summer, then maybe the Leviathan event by Brian Michael Bendis will be. Aside from events, the next upcoming series I'm looking most forward to is Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's "Batman: Last Knight on Earth". So expect something related to those in my future posts.