DC has been reinterpreting some of their most famous stories through a dark alternate universe in the “Tales from the Dark Multiverse” one-shots. “Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Infinite Crisis” #1 retells the story of “Infinite Crisis” with an alternative history filled with new twists. The one-shot continues DC’s impressive line-up of talent they have assembled in past issues. Writer James Tynion IV is stepping in to write the issue alongside DC staple artist Aaron Lopresti. The creative team and concepts feature ideas and stories that are instrumental to DC. I’m excited to see what DC can bring into the fold and exactly how the publisher is planning to rewrite a few key moments from “Infinite Crisis” for The Dark Multiverse. Will the publisher be able to go beyond introducing new villains for the one-shots and tell a meaningful story?
Written by James Tynion IV
Penciled by Aaron Lopresti
Inked by Matt Ryan
Colored by Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Lettered by Rob LeighDC’s mega-event Infinite Crisis saw the dissolution of the Trinity, the rise of Alexander Luthor and Superboy-Prime, and the rebirth of the Multiverse…but it started with Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle, who saw it all coming and died with secrets that could’ve saved the world. But…things happened differently in the Dark Multiverse! In the fourth Tales from the Dark Multiverse one-shot, not only does Blue Beetle survive—he thrives! And after killing Maxwell Lord himself, Ted sets off a chain of events that irreversibly alters the lives of the Justice League and his best friend, Booster Gold. In trying to prevent a crisis, Blue Beetle becomes the Crisis…and the Dark Multiverse will never be the same.
The “Tales from the Dark Multiverse” one-shot continues the familiar streak of exploring new twists in existing DC stories that lead to new villains. The latest one-shot starts off incredibly familiarly with another look at Tempus Fuginaut who guides readers through a ton of exposition. It takes author James Tynion IV a while to get readers caught up to the events of “Infinite Crisis.” Tynion eloquently explains the long, convoluted story of “Infinite Crisis.” Tynion then briskly brings readers to the point in the story where he takes a left-turn on the narrative. The issue has a ton of exposition throughout the entire chapter but Tynion is able to raise the stakes relatively high shortly after introducing his twists on “Infinite Crisis.”
When “Infinite Crisis” was first published in 2005 the DC Universe was a very different place. The script and artwork take advantage of the setting by bringing heroes and continuity in from the DC Universe at that time. Familiar elements that readers haven’t seen a lot of in a few years like Checkmate and Brother Eye are back. Artist Aaron Lopresti is adept at capturing the setting of the DC Universe at this time. Seeing the older designs for the Teen Titans and Blue Beetle through Lopresti’s pencils evokes a beautiful sense of nostalgia. More importantly, the relationships between these heroes have changed as well. Tynion’s script references the status of the relationships. It is interesting to see how some of these heroes had strong bonds before continuity was revised in DC’s future publishing initiatives.
“Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Infinite Crisis” #1’s core contributions are the changes to continuity and big new villain the title introduces. Tynion subverts relationships by changing the role of a key player in “Infinite Crisis.” Tynion seeds a lot of important parallels to the event within his story as well. Tynion stretches the limits of just how dark a key DC story can get while staying in continuity. Tynion even backs up some of the shifts in motivation with other forces obscuring the morality of these heroes. Most of the heroes in the chapter have good intentions but are toying with technology outside of their control. Tynion’s motivations for the big new villains are mostly fleshed out and explored within this one oversized one-shot. “Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Infinite Crisis” #1 isn’t gritty for the sake of shock value and makes an effort in establishing the motivations from the bad guys.
Continued belowAaron Lopresti is an excellent choice to guide the art direction of the story. Lopresti’s pencils evoke a 2005 DC Universe. As the issue proceeds the art becomes more ambitious, changing from capturing an older DC Universe to evoking the visual direction in The Dark Multiverse. The references and continuity to “Infinite Crisis” are captured with a strong eye as well. Lopresti draws Tempus Fuginaut with a shocking sense of scale that kicks the issue off on a foreboding but intriguing note. The issue also contains an influx of dialogue and captions that Lopresti embraces in the story. Tynion has a lot of elements to establish and a big story to tell but his script has a tendency to overexplain elements clearly conveyed within the artwork.
“Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Infinite Crisis” #1 doesn’t pull punches. The issue inverts a key moment from the original “Infinite Crisis” storyline that ripples across the remainder of the storyline. The foreboding new villain is someone I hope transitions into the main DC Universe along with some of the other Dark Multiverse characters. All the “Tales from the Dark Multiverse” one-shots are starting to become slightly derivative at this point from the standpoint of narrative structure. Taken out of the context of the rest of the issues, I really enjoyed how Tynion and Lopresti told a dark version of “Infinite Crisis” with a surprising new villain. Also, this issue explores so many elements of this story so quickly that I would have a hard time sharing “Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Infinite Crisis” #1 with new readers. Overall, this is a strong chapter of the Dark Multiverse series that should not serve to be too redundant with the one-shots scheduled to end shortly.
Final Verdict: 6.5 – “Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Infinite Crisis” #1 explores an important DC story with a dark yet slightly derivative twist.
