In Review: Dark Knights of Steel (2021)

Synopsis: This month in Dark Knights of Steel. Kingdoms are divided. Monarchs have fallen. Families have been torn apart. The Kingdom of Storms, the Amazons, and the Els are on the brink of all-out war. Can Constantine, Lois Lane, and Harley Quinn stop what’s coming? Or is the prophecy correct? Do Superman and his family have to die to save the world?

The Story

Picking the story up from the last issue. Constantine is deeply grieving the death of his King and the young Prince and the prophesized war between the Kingdom or Storm and the Els is almost inevitable. Complicating issues further is the presence of Tim Drake in the court of Storm. Constantine does not wish the kid harm but must expose him as the spy that he is.

Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of the Els the Queen contemplates the problem at hand. She is in an impossible situation because the Amazons will side with the Kindom of Storm. Thinking that he might be able to prevent a war. Jor-El flies to the Amazon Kingdom and seeks an audience with their Queen.

The Artwork

Much like with previous issues.  Yasmine Putri does a brilliant job of the art as she does all the pencils, inks, and colors. My favorite pages are toward the close of the issue when Jor-El aka Superman is captured by the Amazons and is subdued for the time being. The sequence of panels of him in the dungeon with Lois Lane is nicely done. Particularly when it comes to the micro-expressions on the character’s faces. I also loved the final page of the Amazonian sail ships heading out to battle the House of El. 

Overall

This was a really solid issue, which did a great job of building onto events from previous issues. I loved the opening few pages as we see Constantine try and get to grips with his grief. The way in which the emotions of grief play up against what Constantine has to do when it concerns Tim Drake is a fantastic juxtaposition. Its pretty obvious that none of the sides involved in this conflict actually want a war.

I can’t wait until the next issue. And also look forward to finding out who it is that is manipulating these events.