REVIEW: Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths #6

Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #6 sets the entire DC Universe across all the eras loose when it comes to heroes and villains. Joshua Williamson and Daniel Sampere seem to have never had a book packed with so many characters in their entire comic career – such is the nature of Crisis events. Everyone who was once sidelined, including the Justice League, makes a return for a no holds barred universe-shaking battle against Pariah’s forces containing some of DC’s most powerful villains.

It’s not a set of Dark Crisis variants without a reference to the original Crisis on Infinite Earths and that’s exactly what Sampere and Alejandro Sanchez’s variant is. The all-powerful Pariah is juxtaposed like the Anti-Monitor from the original cover with a horde of the more hard-hitting superheroes charging him. His new multiverse stands at the top of the cover behind the lettering. You can enjoy picking out your favorite Superman-tier hero here including the Man of Steel himself along with Jon, Calvin Ellis, Conner, and Kara. Sampere and Sanchez’s rendition gives this otherwise classic cover a more high-definition feel.

Cully Hamner gives a rendition of another dream match-up that deserves its own standalone issue Jon as Superman and Starfire against Doomsday. With the anniversary of The Death of Superman coming up this week, it seems right to include the creature that did the deed in a variant. Jon and Starfire are the perfect heroes to show how the next generation can stand up to something that can easily (and has) taken down a Justice League. Hamner uses red and grey as dominant colors to indicate these hits are so hard that eat and energy is being produced from them. Hamner remains one of the foremost contemporary comic artists with a smooth pop art-like style.

Another acclaimed Crisis event is referenced with a variant by Ariel Colon. Infinite Crisis by Geoff Johns was notable for being the first direct sequel to the original Crisis on Infinite Earths in years and gave us the iconic meta villain Superboy Prime and some great panels by Jim Lee as well. Colon references the first cover of the limited series with the Trinity in the foreground. He seems to channel his Alex Ross here based on their realism-based designs and it’s actually spot on how they appeared in Jim Lee’s original. The astral background cast is changed a little bit, but The Spectre’s appearance remains unchanged. Black Adam and Hal Jordan are nice inclusions along with a confrontation between Hawkman and Cheetah.

Crystal Kung’s variant truly could’ve been used as one for the first issue. The message and illustration are simple – the next generation of heroes having a vigil with Jon flies overhead. There’s something so simple, yet complex when it comes to Kung’s illustrations. From afar, they look like broad strokes, yet still in the shape and with the correct colors so that you would recognize the hero – the young Red Tornado is a great example. When you zoom in, you will see that some of the finer details are there like the capes and windows in the background city. It’s both charming and unique.

Rafael Sarmento gives our main protagonist Nightwing his starring variant but puts him in a perilous situation suspended upside down at the mercy of the Darkness (and not the Marc Silvestre and Garth Ennis one). If you’ve been keeping up then you would know that the Darkness knows no such thing. Despite the name, this variant is actually quite light in palette. So much so that it almost feels like this attack is happening in daylight. Still, Sarmento’s smooth 3-D feeling art is always a visual treat when he includes your favorite character.

Black Adam is still going strong even in its third week in theaters and fans can continue building their collection of the theatrical release variants with Ben Oliver’s. The Rock’s likeness, costume, and sheer power and presence are all done to a ‘t’ much like several others in the collection. The dominant colors will always be yellow and gold. Oliver was always a great realism artist, perfect for such a job.

It’s literally all-out war, the official description of the issue was not exaggerating when it came to that. Pariah continues to snatch up more heroes for his new infinite Earths and his multi-versal Doomsday machine is nearing its apex. His horde of villains is more powerful than ever with big bads like Darkseid, Eclipso, and Doomsday now in the Fray – The Spectre himself was also there. Each page is packed full like a Where’s Waldo of nearly the entire cast of DC battling out in front of the Hall of Justice for what will be the final time.

Deathstroke has been a constant menace this whole story, as the epitome of a villain for heroes of the next generation. Finally, Beast Boy gets his moment of glory as he stands up to his old rival. Meanwhile, the Justice League works to get back to Earth Prime to join the fight with the key to defeating Pariah. Green Arrow, who hasn’t been seen much this whole event, has a great monologue about taking shots in the dark during times of crisis (pun intended). That would make any CW fan happy.

After 6 issues, Jace Fox as Batman also finally decides to join the fight alongside other valiant heroes. On top of all this, we also get a magnificent Superman moment with Jon. That one panel with him flying towards Doomsday with the iconic catchphrase, “this is a job for Superman” will send chills up any fan’s spine. But that is just the tip of the iceberg of what follows. 

This is the big multi-versal fight Williamson and Sampere have been teasing since the beginning. The best part about these is that you can sit back and enjoy the art of the comic book in its most basic form – loads of characters and spread-out action scenes. In fact, there’s so much that Sampere has to spread the action across multiple panels in a matter that leaves a lot of it up to the imagination.

This issue could have benefited from an oversized edition treatment. Still, Sampere manages to include the important battle highlights. You could really spend minutes spotting all the characters he includes. It’s one milestone after another for Sampere with this series.

As a writer, Williamson also has to space out all these actions and characters with pacing the story now that all the devices are in place. He really gives some characters that you would not expect to shine a chance in this issue, especially with Green Arrow. One thing is for sure, he can write some fun battle banter that will hype you up.

Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #6 is the pivotal action issue with the decisive battle taking place and it has some phenomenal Superman content. The main theme of legacy heroes deviates here as we see the appearances and return of several classical heroes. However, there is still one issue left and this could be a red herring. Pariah still needs to be stopped!