Thursday, June 8, 2017

Dark Knight III: Master Race #9 (of 9)

   After 20 months we've finally reached the end of the third Dark Knight series, based on Frank Miller, Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley's ground-breaking series from 1985.

   This series, The Master Race, has offered an apocalyptic challenge for all Earth's heroes, as an army of Kryptonians threaten our planet with destruction - and even Earth's Justice League (or what's left of it) seems helpless against them.

   It's been interesting to see the "Dark Knight" versions of Earth's greatest heroes, including Wonder Woman, the Flash, the Atom and Green Lantern.

   The story this time around is by Miller and Brian Azzarello, and the only real criticism of it is that the focus is often on heroes other than Batman, who seems to be the only hero suffering from old age.

   Superman actually steals much of the thunder here - but he's one of the few characters who can go toe-to-toe with the Kryptonians.

   The art is by Andy Kubert and Janson, with color art by Brad Anderson - and it's powerful stuff, evoking the feel of Miller's original series, but maintaining Kubert's distinctive look and layout.

   I've enjoyed the series - it's popped up to the top of my reading stack every time it's released - but it doesn't quite measure up to the original.

   But that's ok - neither does anything else!

   It's a solid series with quite a few surprises and terrific art - and it lays the groundwork for future series set in the DK Universe. Good deal!

Grade: A-

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1 comment:

Dwayne said...

It's not really Dark Knight III, is it? It's more like a Justice League story set in the DK future.