Danger Street, Vol. 2

It probably wasn't that brilliant an idea to go a year before I read the second, and final, volume of the Tom King Black Label maxi-series Danger Street. This tribute to the DC First Issue Specials of the 1970s, is complex; with dozens of plots all merging together into a potential universe shattering event. Add Darkseid and the New Gods into the mix and you can be sure that the conclusion will be anything but simple.

In my defense, waiting this long was entirely all my fault. Volume 2 wasn't available at the time I checked out the first from my local library. Sure, I could have gone and bought the companion piece on Amazon. And I enjoyed the opener. But this wasn't something I wanted to spend my hard-earned cash on. Going into the summer and forgetting about this book didn't help either.

When we last left our players, several characters had died. Metamorpho, a member of the Dingbats of Danger Street, several members of the Green Team and the demigod Atlas had all gone on to their eternal reward. It was Atlas's death that triggered the end of all things. It's a situation so desperate that even Darkseid is working with Highfather to stop the eclipse of the Fourth World.

Before his demise, Atlas bestowed his powers to Good Looks. That event should prevent the end of the universe. It just happens to be that Good Looks is the Dingbat killed accidentally by Warlord and Starman. In other words, we're $(π€#€∆! 

Now the Dingbats, Lady Cop and Warlord among others are rushing to obtain the sole object that could save everything: the helmet of Fate. But on the flip side, the Green Team's surviving leader, the Commodore, is using his nearly endless resources to make sure that the apocalypse comes by sending the Creeper and a nearly unbeatable assassin after those seeking the magical relic. As the scale looks perfectly balanced between good and evil, what will be the ultimate outcome when you add in the unknown factors of the ever determined Manhunter and the freakish Outsiders!

I like Tom King. He has a devotion for DC nostalgia and a real love for the publisher's B and C level characters. But as much as I love his work, Tom King manages to anger me because it seems like he takes delight in killing off all of the oddball characters I adored as a kid. But this time around, King manages to end the story on a somewhat positive note. There's a body count. But I was okay with who lived and who did not.

I really think if I had read volumes 1 and 2 back-to-back or within maybe a month of each other, I would have enjoyed it more. The New Gods were tied into the main plot which brings all of these eclectic characters together. But they play such a diminished role in regards to the ending. It almost felt like they were unnecessary. But you can't have a story combining all of the players from the First Issue Specials without including Darkseid, Orion and Mantis- even if this was a neutered version (at best) of the ruthless leader of Apokolips. Plus, there are so many philosophical diatribes, especially in issue #7, that I found myself wondering what the hell everyone was talking about. Thus weighing in all these factors, I hereby stand with the rating I give without feeling like I was biased.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.