REVIEW: ‘DCeased: Dead Planet,’ Issue #3

Tom Taylor’s DCeased world got even bigger last month with DCeased: Dead Planet, published by DC Comics. With the original creative team returning with Taylor as writer, pencils by Trevor Hairsine, inks by Stefano Gaudiano, and Gigi Baldissini, colors by Rain Beredo, and letters by Saida Temofonte, the new mini-series time-jumped us into the future with Damien as the new Batman, Jon as the new Superman, and Cassie as the new Wonder Woman. But, this isn’t just their story as John Constantine and Zatana lead their own group to help save the world. While last issue ended on a cliffhanger which showed nearly of all of the new Justice League Dark being swallowed by an anti-life Plastic Man, DCeased: Dead Planet #3 picks up immediately after and answers our questions.

In DCeased: Dead Planet #3, we find out why the Green has mysteriously been screaming out to Swamp Thing from Australia and we get to inside the second “garden” as well. Continuing to tell dual stories, in Ivy’s Gotham garden, we see a softer side to Damian, a healed Superman, and we get small moments of hope. If there is an anti-life equation there has to be a life equation right?

While DCeased: Dead Planet #3 is built on the “new Justice League” with the children taking over the mantles for their heroes and in Jon and Damian’s case, their fathers’, it isn’t the most compelling thing about this mini-series. In fact, John Constantine and his crew of supernatural heroes and anti-heroes are infinitely more interesting, and with John Constantine’s narration setting the stage for the story, it’s clear that Taylor wanted to tell a Constantine story.

Now, don’t take this the wrong way, Taylor is doing interesting things with characters we know, as he has done throughout each of his DCeased series, but the character with the least change, Constantine, remains the focal point of which the story moves around. Damian has tender moments with Gordon, laughing about his father, showcasing his softness, a side we haven’t seen of the character as a child. Jon is a commanding presence just like his father. But of the three, “new Justice League,” Cassie fades in the background, with her lasso offering more plot than her as a character. Additionally, for people who have watched the world and their parents die around them, their symbols of hope die, they seem well adjusted, even commented on by Damian, who despite watching the world end didn’t have as much trauma as his father?

It’s because of this, and how Taylor weaves in the events of his one-shot, DCeased: A Good Day to Die, into this series that you realize that the main characters aren’t who were marketed in the previews. And that isn’t a bad thing. Perhaps its because I’ve fallen in love with Taylor’s Constantine both in previous issues of DCeased: Dead Planet and not the first issue of his Hellblazer title under DC’s Black Label, but having the blonde and angry magic user as the backdoor protagonist is not just interesting but allows for a new level of emotional grit.

While DCeased: Dead Planet  #3 isn’t perfect, it is good. The twists in this plot are better left unspoiled, but I can say, the new enemies rising against the Green and potentially against our remaining heroes means I have no clue where the story is heading. That uncertainty, is what will make me pick up issue four.

DCeased: Dead Planet  #3 is available now, where comic books are sold.