DCeased: Hope At World’s End has reached a different point than what most may be used to with this franchise. That is that we’ve had sort of a calm before a storm taking place over the last few chapters. Everything seems to be going well but we know that is not how things turn out by the end of the original DCeased event. Because of that will we see things turn against our surviving heroes as we near the conclusion of this series? Let’s find out with DCeased: Hope At World’s End Chapter 10.
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Marco Failla
Colorist: Rex Lokus
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: While the heroes help get the survivors they’ve found together on Nantucket Island one guy takes out his smartphone and uses it. A woman sees this and tells the guy to get rid of his phone. The guy freaks out over being old what to do and takes out a gun. Batman (Damian Wayne) stops the guy from shooting anyone. Wonder Girl and Robin (Stephanie Brown) help Batman destroy the guy’s phone.
Talia Al Ghul sees what the guy did and wants to behead him but Batman tells her to calm down as they are supposed set an example for the others.
Green Lantern Canary then uses her powers to bring a large group of survivors to the Gotham Forest.
Somewhere underwater Black Manta struggles to escape a group of Anti-Living chasing him. His ship is eventually destroyed.
Superboy (Jonathan Kent) spots Black Manta and brings him to Nantucket Island.
Once they land on the island Wonder Girl tries to wake Black Manta up. Black Manta wakes up startled and fires a beam right at Wonder Girl’s face. Wonder Girl is able to defend herself enough so Black Manta’s attack only stings her.
Seeing this Talia Al Ghul wants to behead Black Manta. Superboy stops her from doing so. Batman then reminds his mom that there are only two sides now: The Living and Anti-Living.
Black Manta wants to leave but Robin and Superboy stop him. They tell Black Manta that he can stay with them rather than going out and fighting the Anti-Living alone.
Just then Anti-Living Black Adam and Anti-Living Hawkman appear leading an horde of Anti-Living to Nantucket Island.
The heroes immediately start fighting off the Anti-Living horde. As they do their best Anti-Living flies straight through Atom Smashers chest, immediately turning him into an Anti-Living.
Batman, Robin, Superboy, Wonder Girl, and Blue Beetle all get ready to fight the newly turned Anti-Living Atom Smasher. End of issue.
The Good: Things were going way to well for our heroes for the good fortunes to last very long. DCeased: Hope At World’s End Chapter 10 proves that the Anti-Living once again make their presence known with a strong statement. It is all just another reminder of how much against the wall all of the survivors of the DCeased crisis are since this whole event started.
Once again, Tom Taylor just impresses with how he is able to flip the switch from showing our heroes making progress to instant dread and fear for what could happen next. There is a tone set by how the character interact with each other that makes every scene work. Taylor knows where each character from Damian Wayne as Batman to Black Manta are at this point in this DCeased event. He uses all the character progression to make the dialogue be meaningful.
We see that with how Batman, Superboy, and Robin constantly remind Talia Al Ghul that there is no room for added violence. Even under normal circumstances Talia saying she will behead someone is unacceptable. Taylor adds to that fact by having Batman, Superboy, and Robin all reminding Talia that they are supposed to symbolize hope for people. It is a great way to show how far these characters have been through over DCeased that they have in fact grown up in front of us. This all adds greater weight to how we see Batman, Superboy, and Wonder Girl interact as the new Trinity in the future over in DCeased: Dead Planet.
The jerk that did not want to put down his phone even though he was risking the lives of all the survivors around him was an immediate reminder of what is at stake. The guy being a complete asshole showed that one person could really hurt the entire operation our heroes are doing to save the survivors. People calling the guy out also helps to show that there are many who understand that and don’t want one selfish person to ruin the one sign of hope they have for them.
That opening of DCeased: Hope At World’s End Chapter 10 was a great way to set-up how this issue ended with Black Adam turning Atom Smasher in an instant. Taylor once again reminded us how quickly things could turn out to be the worst outcome for the survivors with this ending. As the reader you are immediately left with the question of how the heroes on Nantucket Island will be able to hold out against Anti-Living Black Adam, Hawkman, and now Atom Smasher.
Even though we know that Batman, Superboy, and Wonder Girl will make it out of this we don’t know about the others. That is where having Stephanie Brown as Robin, Talia Al Ghul, Blue Beetle, and Black Manta involved in this story plays such a key role in this chapter’s success. These are all characters that we don’t know what their fates are. Having such an unknown helps build anticipation for seeing how things will turn out when DCeased: Hope At World’s End concludes.
In the middle of all this Taylor does a good job emphasizing why the Gotham Forest that Poison Ivy created is so important. Even though Poison Ivy is annoyed by how many residents there are now in the Gotham Forest it does not take away from the fact that it is a safe haven for the survivors. It furthers why we see it play such a key role in DCeased: Dead Planet as it is really the only safe place left on Earth.
Marco Failla provided solid artwork throughout DCeased: Hope At World’s End Chapter 10. Given the tone of this chapter’s story being one of hope until things turned for the worst Failla’s art style worked for that. The moment things turned for our heroes worked well to make a strong impact to set the stage for what the next chapter of this story will be about.
The Bad: Nothing.
Overall: DCeased: Hope At World’s End Chapter 10 was another strong entry in this series that has expanded on the timeline of the original event. Tom Taylor gives greater character progression that adds even more depth to where we see many of these heroes in DCeased: Dead Planet. The characters we have not seen in either the original or sequel series help add to the sense of unknown with where this tie-in series will end.
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