"Dark Knights of Steel" Corny, Yet Kind of Enjoyable

   

    I'll be the first to admit, I came into this comic very skeptical of it all, and frankly I can't say it wasn't unearned. I mean I only read this comic because I saw some goofy panel of someone posting it, only to learn the premise of this book was basically a light-hearted Game of Thrones style fantasy involving most of your favorite characters from the DC Universe. It's quite corny to be honest all things considered. Oddly enough, I think I enjoyed the spin-off companion comic books quite a bit more, whether it be the Aqua-man themed one or the Deathstroke-centric one. In fact, I might even say that Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter is kind of easily the best comic here. Let's talk about it.

    I'll focus on the original 12-issue run first, Dark Knights of Steel by Tom Taylor and Yasmine Putri. I will say at the very least for the first comic you need to be able to not take these characters too seriously. I would consider this comic like an above average fan-fiction with some pretty interesting concepts thrown against the wall. Like they literally have "the green man" which is Lex Luthor if he turned into the Joker because he was being manipulated by a Green Lantern ring through the white martians. Yes you are reading that correctly. There's just a lot of amalgamations and while there are some hits there are plenty of misses.

    So basically, the plot of this comic follows three kingdoms (starting to understand the GOT connection?) and all of this mystery and intrigue as they try and prevent the war. There are the Amazonians, the "Weather Wielders" aka Black Lightning and his family, and the "House of El." Plot-wise it gets kind of messy and I can't quite say I enjoyed it that much. Like Superman has a sister in this timeline and she basically just feels like OC because she literally has no real sort of personality or development other than she is in a relationship with Wonder Woman. Batman and Superman get much of the spotlight since their houses are intertwined but frankly it's messy as well.

    Like it kind of just feels like they wanted Batman to have some powers so they made him half-kryptonian and that particular decision doesn't quite sit that right to be honest, especially when much of the comic is him denying his worthiness to lead others. Like you just can't think about it too hard or the inconsistencies or random decisions will irk your brain. Like Batman has the robins kind of? Martian Manhunter is Alfred? Constantine is here? Oh and of course they featured Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn in a relationship since that was popular at the time. I'm not complaining about any of this, but there's just so many random choices in this comic. Like making one of the kingdoms the Jeffersons. I understand trying to fit more diversity into the story but at the same time I can't say they were particularly interesting in this book. Mainly all they did was be set up as the people opposing the El's but Black Lightning dies fairly early and his kingdom doesn't feel different enough.

    Even still, the premise and concept are novel enough for a 12-issue limited series and I will hesitantly say it's pretty fun watching them mish mash idea's together and watching them basically change the lore as they see fit. It's a level of freedom and boldness I can appreciate as long as they continue to not take themselves too seriously. 

    Moving onto the spinoffs. Tales from the Three Kingdoms is fine. I still don't know how to feel about the Bruce-Clark-and whatever his sister's name is again dynamic. Arkham Orphanage didn't really do much for me to be honest. It's just setting up Amanda Waller and I don't really care about that and it basically just exists to drop some more names for you to say "hey I know that person." The Flock is too weak as a standalone because the robins really aren't utilized enough yet in the main storyline. King's Bane is pretty interesting though. I think they should have explored the tension between Bruce and Clark's family's more though and had that story end with Bruce being more wary of them and not just instantly betraying Bane.

    Moving onto the two big spinoffs. Heir to the Sea was decent. I'd probably give it a 70? It was certainly a decision to have him be raised by the Kents, though I suppose everyone and everything needs to be connected in this universe. He doesn't actually reclaim his title yet so it's kind of hard to rate his story it's more of a TBD. Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter is just like a straight up 80 in my mind though. It was very cool seeing Deathstroke be a viking and learn to make friends with a very young Swamp Thing. Having Mr. Freeze be some evil mage and the black and white art style as well were also both very good choices. My only complaint with that story is the ending feels like it wrapped up too neatly with the whole Nora-Freeze relationship. 

Final Score: 60/100

    I'm enjoying reading it, I'm kind of tempted to keep up with Dark Knights of Steel II, but I can't help but think that this is just like a step above fanfiction. Like as long as I don't take it too seriously it'll be fine, but can I really consider it a really good piece of fiction? Absolutely not. Like just reading a couple issues of the second version, Amanda Waller is the mother of Barbara Gordon? Why does she just look exactly like Starfire, who actually exists in this universe? It's basically exactly what I'm talking about, like you just can't think about it or it'll hurt your brain.