It’s a tale of kings and queens, knights, magic, and a rocket ship from a dying planet carrying the last of a nearly extinct race. Your Major Spoilers review of Dark Knights of Steel #1 from DC Comics, awaits!

DARK KNIGHTS OF STEEL #1 (OF 12)

Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Yasmine Putri
Colorist: Yasmine Putri
Letterer: Wes Abbot
Editor: Ben Abernathy
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 2nd, 2021

Previously in Dark Knights of Steel: An entire medieval world will be forever changed when a spaceship crash-lands from a doomed planet. Monarchs will die, kingdoms will rise, and what seemed the end of the world for man, was only the beginning.

THE KINGDOM OF EL

Dark Knights of Steel #1 starts on Krypton as it’s facing its destruction. Jor-El and Lara tearfully embrace as Jor-El unveils a rocket ship. Later, on a medieval world the rocket crashes and a group of solders approach it. It then opens and Jor-El emerges and tries to appeal to the soldiers to help his wife who’s in labor. The soldiers and Jor-El then fight. Elsewhere, a young boy named Constantine is having fit where he’s speaking in prophetic language, the King Jefferson arrives and orders that all his sayings are written down. Things then go forward in time, with Jor-El and Lara as king and queen of the land. A knight named Bruce gets ready to head out to find “The Banshee”. A young Kal-El attempts to join him but Bruce says no, the magic is too dangerous for him. At his destination Bruce is greeted by Richard, Duke, Stephanie, and Jason, his “Robins” who have been scouting the village. After a brief encounter with the banshee who’s named Dinah, they are able to capture her with help from Kal-El. Back at home Kal-El, Bruce, Jor-El and Lara, all discuss the encounter. Elsewhere an archer is given an arrow empowered by magic from a green ring, who then fires it. During a private conversation Jor-El admits something to Bruce.

CHOCK FULL OF CHARACTERS

Dark Knights of Steel #1 wastes no time revealing its twist and getting into things. The twist works and it was legitimately surprising to see Jor-El step out of that familiar rocket ship. After that, this issue seems primarily focused on getting as many familiar characters onto the page as possible. Not that this is a bad thing, most of the cameos are fun, even if they don’t quite make a lot of sense. Which brings me to my biggest criticism of this issue. Even though it doesn’t carry the label, this does come off as very similar to those old Elseworld titles. The difference though is that most of those Elseworld stories had an internal logic to things and clear lines from the variations on the character to how they’re depicted in the Elseworld. Dark Knights of Steel #1 doesn’t have that. The mandate seems to be, “make medieval Justice League” and that’s exactly what you get here. Now, this lack of complexity doesn’t get in the way of the fun of seeing Batman as a knight or Jor-El dressed up as a king, also there are some interesting implications created at the end of this issue. Beyond that though, this is a bit shallow of a story so far.

UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT

There’s nothing quite like seeing a familiar character re-imagined as something else and Yasmine Putri nails why this is so enjoyable. The approach here seems to be mostly superhero costume with some medieval flare thrown on which leads to enjoyable character designs that don’t seem too concerned with fitting in perfectly with what’s expected in a medieval setting. So, it’s basically Batman, but it’s plate mail. It’s basically Superman, but with a double-breasted tunic. Like most of this issue, it’s just fun. Also, kudos to the letterer Wes Abbot for the faux-illuminated text in the narration boxes. It’s a nice touch.

BOTTOM LINE:  A FUN ISSUE, BUT LACKING

Dark Knights of Steel #1 is a good time. Seeing these familiar characters in a new set of clothes in a new setting, with new dynamics, is enjoyable for sure. Unfortunately, it seems like the priority here was to just get as many characters in as possible without much other thought given, leading this to come off as lacking in the story department. Some late issue story events open things up for possible interesting developments in later issues, but as for this issue the main draw is going to be seeing Batman dressed as a knight. 3.5 out of 5 Stars.

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Dark Knights of Steel #1

70%

70%

'Tis Alright

Dark Knights of Steel #1 is like a hot dog of a comic. It’s fun and tasty but you’re not going to get anything of substance from it. Come to see the changes made to the character designs and their stories but don’t expect anything deep here.

• Writing

  5
• Art

  8
• Coloring

  8
• User Ratings (1 Votes)
  9.8