Team RWBY collides with the DC universe in “DC/RWBY” #1!
Written by Marguerite BennettCover by Meghan Hetrick
Illustrated by Meghan Hetrick
Colored by Marissa Louise
Lettered by Morgan MartinezTHE WORLD OF REMNANT COMES CRASHING INTO THE DCU!
Grimm are running amok around Gotham, and Batman’s on the hunt to find whoever brought these mysterious monsters to his city. But as the trail goes cold, the Dark Knight finds himself face-to-face with none other than Team RWBY! What other effects are taking hold around our world with Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang here, and what does it mean for the future of the DCU?!
Marguerite Bennett returns to RWBY with Meghan Hetrick and Soo Lee for an epic tale of adventure spanning every corner of the DC Universe!
The RWBY (pronounced like “Ruby”) multimedia franchise has been fairly popular since it’s introduction in 2012, with entries across its origins in animation, video games, prose novels, and manga. However, considering every entry, including crossovers with other franchises, is primarily focused within its own world, there has been little room for outsiders to come in and enjoy the tale in full, mostly relying on existing fans. With “DC/RWBY” #1, Marguerite Bennett seems to try to put an end to that trend, bringing characters from the Rooster Teeth-based series into a version of the DC Universe, rather than keeping them centered within what they know. With the trends somewhat stacked against her in terms of an inviting narrative, how does she do at both bringing in a new audience and keeping the old?
Bennett is certainly no stranger to comics about the world of RWBY through DC Comics. In fact, “DC/RWBY” marks the third miniseries she has written for that tale, following the canonical “RWBY” (taking place between two seasons of the show) in 2019 and a very different crossover with superheroes in 2021’s “RWBY/Justice League.” As such, she was the natural choice to handle another trek into the tale of teenaged monster hunters.
Instead, Bennett focuses this debut issue on how Gotham City in particular deals with the nighttime arrival of not only the eponymous Team RWBY, but also their most frequent antagonists, the creatures of Grimm (shortened to “Grimm” from here on). Some of the interactions appear somewhat overly meta-fictional, like Jim Gordon asking Batman what his thoughts are and drawing attention to how he always does that, which may come across as overly self-referential and break readers out of the story. However, on the whole these moments mesh with the general tone relatively well, being more fun-loving and comedic than the average Batman story. The influx of new superhuman abilities is dealt with as if they were metahuman powers randomly granted as would normally be considered very abnormal in the DC universe, rather than the inborn, somewhat expected “Semblance” system of the world of Remnant (as was the case in “RWBY/Justice League”), making for a much more serious approach that many DC fans may find familiar.
While they may have some place in the wider DC universe in theory, Team RWBY itself does not fit into the standard storytelling of Gotham City, a fact that Bennett makes glaringly apparent. The powers mentioned above are treated almost like an infection, spreading from the “invaders” from another world, but while they are a problem, they are not treated as having prejudice against them for its own sake, just in the interest of public safety. The world itself changes them, just as they change the world, with readers likely to be left intrigued by how the two will interact not only on a character-to-character basis, but also in a more theoretical way across multiversal lines.
Meghan Hetrick has a tricky role to play with her illustrations, one that she excels at by a wide margin. Gotham is usually a place of dark, dour modernity with as much of a helping of non-cartoonish, down-to-earth realism as can be expected in the DC universe, while Remnant is one of extremely animated people (pardon the pun), meaning the transition to a style more in line with DC than RWBY causes some significant design changes.
That said, there is a balance at work. Hetrick’s style may be more subdued than prior RWBY comics, but it still walks a line between the mundane and the fantastical. In terms of visual humor, a quick pan to someone using powerful fire abilities is framed in an amusing way without words as if as a joke that requires no words at all. On the other hand, the representation of precognition through a scene portrayed within a panel shaped as a silhouette of one character helps to emphasize the type of ability at work.
Continued belowCombat is swift and dynamic, with focus shifting based on Batman’s perspective more than the actions themselves. As such, while it is indeed swift like the show, it maintains a grounded nature that helps readers to grasp not only the speed of the combat, but also the perceptions of a relatively normal person amongst the high-flying action of Huntresses.
Marissa Louise does a very good job with the colors of “DC/RWBY” #1. The overall palette is, as may be expected of a story in Gotham, relatively dark, but that darkness makes the light stand out all the more, from Team RWBY’s varied palettes to even the white-and-red of the Grimm that attacks in the opening sequence. Bad or good, mindless or mindful, all of the entities coming to the DC universe have a general sense of not fitting in, and that otherness keeps the tale intriguing. Furthering that idea of otherness is the use of precognition, as noted above. Not only is the event entirely within a known silhouette, but it is entirely two-toned, with a pink background and yellow figures, helping to indicate absolute focus as well as the fact that the events are not actually happening outside of the person’s head.
Final Verdict: 8.0– Inviting for new readers while not disparaging those who already know the basic premise of either franchise, this debut is entertaining for readers new and old.
