Time is broken. And someone or something is murdering all the known time-travelers one at a time. Yes, even HIM. Your Major Spoilers review of Justice League: Dark Tomorrow #1 from DC Comics awaits!

JUSTICE LEAGUE: DARK TOMORROW #1

Writer: Marc Guggenheim and Mark Waid
Artist: Cian Tormey
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Paul Kaminski
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $5.99
Release Date: July 30, 2025

Previously in Justice League: Dark Tomorrow: In the wake of the We Are Yesterday crossover epic, a mysterious Quantum Quorum has emerged, stalked by a lethal enemy that takes no prisoners. The League deputizes a rag-tag group of time-displaced heroes like Batman Beyond, Gold Beetle, and Helena Wayne to fill the void left behind by the Time Masters, and save the quorum from the mysterious threat that’s picking off time-travelers one by one. These Legends of Tomorrow are the only ones standing in the way of this cascading chronal Armageddon, with the past, present, and future teetering on the brink of destruction.

THE LEAGUE IS FACING ANNIHILATION

As Justice League: Dark Tomorrow #1 begins, we are once again faced with Matthew “Waverider” Ryder, the time-traveling golden figure from Armageddon 2001 and Zero Hour, who faces his moment of truth: a nightmare he has seen over and over again – his death. He’s not the only one, as strange shadow demons wearing Omega symbols hunt down and kill Epoch, the Lord of Time, and Extant, the villain of the aforementioned Zero Hour. All of this is witnessed by another time-traveler who then arrives at the Justice League Watchtower in explosive fashion, nearly killing Air-Wave and Amazing-Man in the process. The unknown armored person tells the League that they can’t identify themself yet, insisting they be called Legend, and asking for backup in dealing with the ongoing threats to the time stream. That comes in the form of several time-lost heroes (Air-Wave, Amazing Man, The Huntress, Jonah Hex, Marilyn Moonlight, Batman Terry McGinnis, a Plastic Man, and the Gold Beetle), all of whom join him on his time-ship, also called The Waverider. If the show hadn’t been cancelled in 2022, I’d say my Corporate Synergy Sense was tingling. And then, things get dire.

THE LEGENDS… OF TOMORROW?

This issue contains numerous interesting Easter eggs that reference not only Zero Hour but also Crisis on Infinite Earths, the end of the Earth-2 era, and the Great Darkness Saga. Another one of the corrupted Legionnaires makes her appearance, and at the issue’s end, we have a Waverider full of time-tossed “legends” unable to get back to the twenty-first century. The setup promises interesting things, but it’s not entirely clear whether that will include a series of their own or just appearances across the DC Universe, as the involvement of DC KO and the JLU ongoing is unclear. (Personally, I hope for the former, especially with Plastic Man, Amazing-Man, and future Batman in play.) I find the art quite remarkable, as well, as Tormey manages to make a flying future time-ship make sense alongside Jonah Hex and his black-powder pistols, and makes the horrifying vision of the Omega Demons truly disturbing. I wasn’t sure how Waid and Guggenheim’s work would gel, but the overall effect of this issue ends up being one of the best “zero issues” in recent memory.

BOTTOM LINE: IS IT BOOSTER?

The identity of the person in Legend’s armor is kept obscure, with hints here and there, but the best part is, that mystery kind of doesn’t matter to Justice League: Dark Tomorrow #1, as the strength of story, the massive scope and the interesting team of assembled heroes makes for a good read, earning 4 out of 5 stars overall. The story’s most meaningful weakness is the same as that of Justice League Unlimited, as the huge cast means that certain characters don’t get much time in the spotlight, making things feel more abstract than I might prefer, but it’s still a pretty great one-shot.

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