“Hope At World’s End” – Chapter Two
Artist: Renato Guedes
Color Artist: Rex Lokus
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Review by Steve J. Ray
DCeased: Hope At World’s End #1.2 takes us to Kahndaq, home of Black Adam and a possible refuge for the survivors of Darkseid’s anti-life plague. This is a nation of extremes and one vastly different to what many of us know, so seeing how the infection hits this country, and how its leader deals with it… well, it’s effective.
Correct? Humane? No… but definitely effective.
Once again, writer Tom Taylor gives us a thrilling read, but with layers and ideas that provoke thought and deep, careful consideration. Should a nation’s leader be a man of the people, or does might equal right? With what’s happening in the world right now, never have these questions been more important, or relevant.
All this from a superhero zombie book. Nice.
There’s A Storm Coming
Renato Guedes and Rex Lokus make a hell of a team. Adam looks as mean and menacing as I’ve ever seen him, particularly when he shares scenes with Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Canary and J’onn J’onnz. Guedes’ style is very different to that of Dustin Nguyen, but perfect for this kind of story. He moves from the devastating action at the beginning of the issue, to the tighter more personal ones with ease.
Lokus’ colors just rock. You can almost feel the lightning, at first as it’s building behind Adam at the top of page three, before bursting forth on page four. Once again Saida Temofonte’s letters and sound effects work flawlessly with the art.
DC’s Digital First format is a tricky one. The pages have to work on PC screens, so are landscape, yet they also have to be a half page in height, so that two half pages can form a whole for when the stories get published in print format. This must hinder creativity, but you wouldn’t know it from the spectacular results that are so clearly on display.
Conclusion
DCeased: Hope At World’s End #1.2 is another action packed, yet cleverly written and thought provoking piece of fiction. The cliffhanger and next issue description leave readers gagging for more, so I’m very happy that we only have to wait two weeks to find out whats happens next.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment