DCeased: War of the Undead Gods has fully kicked off the final story in the trilogy. We’ve had a lot of set-up going on in the first half of DCeased: War of the Undead Gods. Now things have escalated to the point all our heroes can do is try to protect planets from the Yellow Lantern Darkseid’s Ant-Living army. Things did not go well as they were unable to save Bolovax Vik, the home planet of Kilowog. Add in that Spectre is fighting an Anti-Living Mister Mxyzptlk things appear to only be getting worse. Can they get better? Let’s find out with DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #6.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Trevor Hairsine
Inker: Andy Lanning
Colorist: Rain Beredo
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
SYNOPSIS
While Lobo gets hired to fight the Anti-Living, Superman reminds a sad Green Lantern Kyle Rayner that while they may have lost Bolovax Vik that there is still a war they must fight and win.
Over on Earth-2 the Justice League discuss how to best spread the cure to the rest of the universe. They don’t get much time as the Anti-Living New Gods use the Anti-Life Equation Virus Moter Boxes to teleport onto Earth-2
Elsewhere the fight between Spectre and Mister Mxyzptlk continues at a standstill. Superman shows up to land a powerful attack on Mister Mxyzptlk. This gives Spectre the opening to defeat Mister Mxyzptlk.
Before he dies Mister Mxyzptlk uses his remaining power to rip Jim Corrigan out of Spectre, killing Jim in the process.
Back on Earth-2 seeing Batman (Damian Wayne) about to be killed by Anti-Living Highfather, Alfred Pennyworth is filled with defiance against the New Gods. Sensing this Spectre merges itself with Alfred.
Using Spectre’s powers Alfred punches Anti-Living Highfather through the head. End of issue.
REVIEW
There are certainly big things that happen in DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #6 with Anti-Living Mister Mxyzptlk defeated and Alfred Pennyworth becoming Spectre. But even with those major developments, it does not feel as if the story is progressing. At the very least not progressing the amount expected after not only six issues but an entire comic book trilogy of storytelling.
The biggest problem that DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #6 runs into is the fact that we are still at the point our heroes are discussing how to handle the latest Anti-Life Equation Virus crisis. At this point the DCeased DC Universe history we should be beyond this point. The cure was found in the previous DCeased series. Now we should be seeing the heroes being proactive about getting it distributed while fighting off Darkseid’s Anti-Living army. But instead of that what we get is the heroes still going in circles about what to do.
It’s all counter-intuitive that does not position our heroes well. They all appear to be more interested in talking about what to do rather than actually saving the universe from the Anti-Life Equation Virus. This being the third series in the trilogy should already be a reason for this to be all about our heroes stepping up. The fact we are six issues into DCeased: War of the Undead Gods and we are still in the discussion phase is just unacceptable.
It makes events such as the Anti-Living New Gods’ arrival on Earth-2 not hit the way it intended to. Instead of this big game-changer moment all you can think of is how this is the obvious outcome. The heroes should’ve expected their location to be found if all they were going to do was stand around. Because as they’ve done that Darkseid’s Anti-Living army has decimated the universe. With that in mind, the heroes have no excuse for not being prepared for Earth-2 to be attacked. By not being prepared to properly counter you are left wondering what the purpose of all the set-up in the last five issues was.
This all leads to what would normally be gut-wrenching emotional character moments like Superman being there for a depressed Green Lantern Kyle Rayner after Bolovax Vik’s destruction did not hit as intended. These are character moments that are trademarks of what’s made DCeased DCU a special universe for stories to be told about. Unfortunately, the Superman and Kyle scene just felt more of the same rather than a moment that creates a greater connection between the reader and the story going on.
The only part of DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #6 that works is Spectre and Mister Mxyzptlk’s fight. The Anti-Living Mister Mxyzptlk was a threat that needed to be most dealt with as the longer he was left the more likely the heroes were to fall. This created a lot of drama around if Spectre could win the fight. Superman showing up was nicely timed to give Spectre the opening needed. Though with Spectre’s own game-changing presence, it made Mister Mxyzptlk taking out Jim Corrigan a surprise development.
This leads to a cool payoff moment for Alfred Pennyworth, who has been a constant in DCeased, transforming into Spectre. When the moment happened there is satisfaction in Alfred giving an important spot to help the heroes out. Becoming the Spectre also works into what Alfred’s narrative has been with how he felt responsible for killing Bruce and the others before the cure was found.
FINAL THOUGHTS
DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #6 is the first miss in the DCeased franchise. There is some plot progression, but we get a lot of the same content seen in the previous five issues. It makes you wonder if this issue was necessary outside of one character change. The quality of the DCeased franchise is known for it makes the disappointment even greater. The final two issues of DCeased: War of the Undead Gods have a lot of work to do to provide a satisfying conclusion to the DCeased trilogy.
Story Rating: 3 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 4.5 Night Girls out of 10