Greetings comic lovers and welcome back to casually comics the channel where we chat
all things comics from reviews of comics new and old to history to anecdotes to really
wherever our whims take us DCeased #5 from me Sasha your late late host at the time of
this recording in a few months no one will know that I was late except that I told you
times arrow and all that.
At the time of this recording this series just ended it’s mini run and I’m on issue
5 such is the life of reading many comics simultaneously tis a good life.
If you’re reading multiple runs at the same time hit that like button.
Ok so DCeased DC zombies the zombie apocalypse spreading across the dc universe even if in
issue 4 Cyborg stopped to have a couple of panels saying no they’re not zombies they’re
a blight make sure to know the distinction as they kill you, super important apparently.
Also I got roasted by a commenter cause of something way back in issue 3 so at the end
of that one when Clark goes to get his ma and pa from Smallville he finds that Pa has
succumbed to if we have to pick one parent to off for Clark it’s John syndrome and
he’s infected.
So Clark put him in the storm cellar and them bomb heat vision which I read as him killing
him cause well these be zombie times you don’t come back from this it’s over.
But apparently he just sealed him in there which I mean yeah it’s Superman so makes
sense he is a living marshmallow about certain things he’s the stay puffed marshmallow
man.
So yeah Johnathan alive in the cellar still sad but waaay less impactful, but here's the
thing I found this fascinating this is a teachable moment.
Our own biases impact how we read things it’s true and look an example this panel he just
melts the lock but my mind when full through the floor killed without having to look him
in the eye this is despite everything I know about superman and how he doesn’t kill usually.
So what have you learned about me well you don’t want to be with me in the zombie apocalypse
I’m not waiting for any cure you infected I’m taking you out back, you bit turn around,
is that a scratch or a bite nevermind I’m not waiting to find out (gun cocks noise).
It’s just funny the things our minds fill in based on what we think makes sense.
I full on think he should have killed him though how impactful also I full on am not
the only one who thought that.
Maybe I am right ooooooh anyway either way it actually makes no difference to the narrative
thus far.
But we’ll get to that in a sec.
If you missed our last vids you gotta catch up I’ll put links below or you can click
the card extreme cliffnotes edition.
Zombies everywhere world crumbling from all fronts.
Batman dead, mantle passed on survivors on roof of daily planet.
Captain Atom infected by the atom detonated over metropolis and that’s where we left
off.
Issue 5 go!
This cover is cool I really like the menace it evokes.
Also it’s not coming wholly out of nowhere which I always appreciate.
As always we have to do a variant cover shout out I love the hal jordan green lantern variant
very eerie feels in tone unlike a lot of what we are about to witness.
Wonder Woman and Superman were unable to save Metropolis or two of it’s surrounding cities
and their special band of survivors were only able to survive because of Green Lantern’s
shielding.
Lex survived though cause reasons mostly cause the narration box wants to call him a cockroach
but him and Clark have a moment that’s really heartfelt.
Luther by Rao if you so much as.
Truce I am not here to fight you, superman I am not here to add to...look what happened
to our city.
I like this it’s a good acknowledgement of the fact that divide aside Clark and Lex
both want what’s best for people most of the time your Lex may vary.This Lex seems
to be in humanity needs to achieve it’s full potential and you’re stifling us Clark
mode.
Now the comic goes into fast forward abruptly and is about to stop showing you things for
awhile and just dictate a list of events.
Such as the fact that they shut down the internet that dramatic moment at the end of two their
big push yeah they do it in two panels.
Go team I guess disconnecting the world is super easy.
A footnote really.
They set up safe zones such as themyscira even though the amazons are like ugh men and
Diana has to be the entire world is ending before they go fine I guess but they have
to have their own zone so Clark and Diana bring up landmasses from the sea to expand
it and the comic takes time to say it is paradise no longer.
Yeah I’m super sorry all those displaced refugees ruined your paradise how dare those
zombies not be more considerate.
Did you miss atonal Ivy and harley cause they back Ivy has turned gotham into a garden but
just for her and harley she’s murdering anyone who tries to come in
Batman now damien green arrow and green lantern formerly black canary go to negotiate.
How awesome is the death wall??
So this is a harley who is compeltelt detached from all empathy for other people huh in fact
when they learn batman died it’s poison ivy who tells damien she’s sorry for his
loss not harley.
In what way is this harley a bad match for the joker cause she seems more in tune with
him every issue.
Come on red you have some empathy blooming in your heart says the woman who loves the
kills wall still that convinces Ivy to open up their garden to survivors cause love and
flirting in the zombie apocalypse.
But if they kill any plants Ivy is exiling them Krakoa style.
Lex and Cyborg manage to set up a communications hub from inside the fortress of solitude and
suddenly Lex just decides oh yeah I’m a villain guess I’ll be a jerk to everyone
for no reason.
He’s proposing arks so that humans can set up shop somewhere else Clark is super against
this and says they need to fight for the planet, and here’s where the cliffnotsing of what
else has been going on comes into play.
What is the state f the rest of the world?
Cause I have no idea we’ve only seen a few snippets and we haven’t been told really
anything else so we just have to fill in the gaps and based on the knowledge we have it
looks like it’s all over even though we will also see people travelling places on
foot in a bit.
So for all I know Lex is right I don’t have enough information to agree with or disagree
with either except on pure emotional principle and I already assumed John was homelander
style melted so I’m not doing that again.
Losing two home worlds in one lifetime...how careless.
Why would he say this.
I mean i know why it’s so Lois can punch him and have a whole splash page doing it
so the audience can go oh snap take that Lex you don’t mess with Lois’s man you had
your chance, not that last part that’s me adding that.
But based on te lex we have seen the lex who is sad about the loss of the world why would
he be gloating about it.
Also earlier he called himself the smartest man alive cause Batman was dead which again
when did bruce get elevated to extreme super genius but we’ll put that in a box and leave
it his brain didn’t save him did it.
So if he’s the smartest man alive he knows that Clark was never on Krypton so that’s
just a silly false equation I dunno you’d think the smartest man would want to make
digs that actually make sense, but I mean it does if you don’t overanalyze it like
I did.
Anyway Lois punched him hooray.
More cliffnotes while they’re organizing survivors and building arks nobody went huh
where’s martian manhunter that seems kinda important like maybe we should have made a
list of who’s around and not around cause they may be infected and Martian Manhunter
has a terrifying amount of abilities so he’s probably not dead which he isn’t he finds
his way to the fortress and begins attacking the heroes he slices Lex in half and ends
up infecting the flash before firestorm destroys him with fire his one weakness.
His kryptonite!
So we get a play on the whole who’s faster the flash or Superman, Superman has so many
things let the flash have this he’s the fastest man he needs something.
So the comic gives him that Superman is going to try and stop him but he’s going to have
to be clever cause he can’t catch him, and he’s moving infecting survivors at superspeed.
So Clark has to fly around the world the opposite way and just flies right through him….you
know what this was time for a neck snap but no he flies through him which means he gets
chunks embedded in him so he’s infected and he has special trinity golden age character
privileges like batman before him so he gets to go back to the fortress and have a heartfelt
moment with his family.
But he connects them to the speedforce to do it so it’s still less time then batman
had what with is mr freeze suit.
Ma thank you for finding me for raising me for teaching me Thank you for giving me your
name and your values and your empathy my world ended... and you and pa gave me another one
Lois i have absolutely no regrets I honestly don’t know how i got so lucky I crossed
an ocean of stars and somehow I found you Thank you for choosing me.
The two share one last kiss before Clark flees, and our narrator is revealed to be Lois...so
are all of Lois’s articles so dramatic cause if so I want to read them all like is this
how she covers local backsales is this how the ping pong tournament was covered.
Little meet the puzzler joke there for ya for repeat viewers.
Clark unfortunately doesn’t make it and can’t kill himself before the virus takes
hold which is our set up for the final issue.
So full disclosure this was not my favourite issue of the bunch in my humble opinion the
pacing felt really rushed as if the sudden realization that there’s only 1 issue left
kicked in cause some things that were set up as big deals just dealt with in a couple
of panels, and suddenly a lot starts happening very rapidly.
The character moments cut way down and humour creeps up this series does it’s dramatic
moments very well and they tug at your heartstrings.
The goodbyes are poignant it also manages the horror of the infections spread when it
is showing it that is and acknowledges some of these heroes as carriers is a nightmare
scenario, but the humour is much more of a miss just for me and I say that of course
acknowledging that humour is very subjective,
But the jokes rely very much on a separation from the horrific environment particularly
the ivy harley stuff who I’m only supposed to care about because of who they are cause
storywise thus far they have no connection to anything since they couldn’t care less
about the apocalypse which is the entire point of this series.
Welcome to paradise don’t step on the grass.
Seriously don’t!!
At least ivy is caring more about plants than people again hooray.
Lex’s arc or well appearance is super rushed and he has character whiplash from I’m so
sad this happened let me help to ha ha smug lex returns as if the problem is solved and
it’s not.
For me those little moments take me out of the narrative rather then create immersion
or a refresher from the horror cause ok we’re 5 issues in and for me this could be a lot
darker it doesn’t feel as big as it could cause we don’t really see the consequences
for the rest of the world.
Still they got me with Superman that’s rough and I felt it that’s a great soliloquy to
just put out of your hat as you slowly lose your sense of self to a zombie oh I’m sorry
blight infection.
I am a fan of taking out major players and pushing their kids into the forefront though.
Legacy and john and damien supersons besties assuming mantles here for it.
So yes the drama still very effective but the pacing rushed so we can have our big climax,
and the humour still a miss for me but perhaps I just have a heart of stone.
Tell me your thoughts down below we’ll finish this off with 6 soon clean sweep style what
ever is the endgame in zombie storie what is the optimal ending to these types of narratives
for you let me know that too down there.
I’m Sasha and please do all of the youtube things like share comment subscribe and hit
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