This is Dark Knights of Steel Volume 2. It is the second installment of Tom Taylor’s fantasy series, Dark Knights of Steel. There are other Writers including Jay Kristoff and C. S. Pacat. The Prime Illustrator is Yasmine Putri. Other Illustrators would include Nathan Gooden, Caspar Wijngaard, Sean Izaakse, and Michele Bandini. The Prime Colorist is Arif Prianto. Other Colorists would include Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Antonio Fabela. The Letterer is Wes Abbott. The cover used above is Illustrated by Dan Mora. Trigger Warning: This book contains elements that one may find disturbing such as warfare, intense violence, and references to discrimination. Readers discretion is advised. The war between the three kingdoms has come to a head. Through the events of the previous volume, both The Kingdom of Storms and The Amazons both want to destroy The Kingdom of El. But something doesn’t seem right. Each assassination seems to have hold no memory to the alleged assassins. Batman and his new companions have made it their mission to solve this conundrum. Will this new group figure out the problem, will the three kingdoms even listen to them if they figure it out, and who is really behind this war?
This book is pretty good. I am honestly shocked that DC Comics hasn’t tried a fantasy elseworld story before this one. So finally getting a story after so long is greatly appreciated. There are a multitude of changes, most of which I will mention in the spoiler section, which are fun and make this world rather distinct. Many of these changes are nicely changing specific superpowers to be more magic based. One of which being how Poison Ivy is a avatar of the forest instead of being transformed by science experiments. Instead of Harley Quinn being a clown-themed vigilante, she is a court jester and advisor to the El’s. These changes are great because they add a little bit of flavor to this already distinct world. And of course, most of the magical characters in DC stay the same for this fantasy world, such as John Constantine.
Spoiler Alert: It is very difficult for me to talk about this story without going into spoilers. So, I’ll just do that. This story is pretty fun. All these kingdoms are going to war after assassinations that are committed by the Els. But they have no memory of these murders ever occurring, let alone by themselves. After the major battle between the three kingdoms finally arises, the mystery is finally revealed. White Martians have been impersonating the Els and comitting the assassinations. This was to stock both fear and division within all three kingdoms. These Martians have been planning on taking over after the three kingdoms tear each other apart. The rest of the story are the kingdoms uniting once more to defeat the White Martians. This twist is fun enough, even though it was pretty easy to solve. The White Martians, to my knowledge, are new creations and their design is pretty cool. I do wish we got to see more of them in the final issues.
Another Spoiler Warning: The other big changes of this universe, compared to the main one, is that it fuses characters together. For example, one of the big twists of this book is that Alfred is a Martian. And when he says his true name, its J’onn J’onzz. Which makes him a fusion of Alfred and Martian Manhunter. Another example, one of the main antagonists is a fusion of The Joker, Lex Luthor, and Green Lantern. And the final one is a fusion between Ra’s Al Ghul and Etrigan the Demon (which, honestly, is pretty clever). Most of these fusions are pretty cool, but it spotlights the biggest problem I have with the book. A lot of characters show up, make a big splash, and then never have any other significance in the story again. It is honestly really annoying because there are some interesting characters in this and I want to see them explored more. And I don’t know if this book will get a sequel. So, most of these characters will only get the small moments that were given to them. It is rather disappointing.
The art for this book is really good. I am not familiar with the rest of Yasmine Putri’s work. But her work on this book definitely has me intrigued. It is incredibly sleek, while still having a great spectacle. This leads to some beautiful and attentive battle sequences, especially the final fight between the three kingdoms. The other artists are great too, giving a different tone for the world. Each of the colorists give a light feel to each story which is greatly appreciated. Overall, the art is amazing and one of my favorite parts of this book.
Overall, this book is rather great. The world itself is really interesting and the characters are fun. The mystery keeps the plot moving in an exciting manner. I wish there wasn’t so many characters to follow, but it isn’t that big of a deal. The art is great and my favorite part. Overall, this book is great for fantasy fans.