DC Nation #0
DC Comics
Written by: Tom King, Brian Michael Bendis, Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV and Joshua Williamson
Art by: Clay Mann, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, and Jorge Jimenez
Release date: 5/2/18
Another compilation issue coming off the heels of Action Comics #1000 and Dark Nights: Metal, this issue contains three stories that are prequels to the next big arcs for the DC heroes.
The first story is “Your Big Day” and the first thing that grabs you is a beautifully rendered picture of the Joker by Clay Mann. Joker has decided to enter the home of a seemingly nondescript citizen and wait for the man’s mail to be delivered because he believes that he should be getting an invitation to Batman’s upcoming wedding. Roger, who is completely terrified and showing it, is doing his best to deal with the situation while at the same time looking for a means of escape. It’s a pretty tense story, especially with the ticking clock of Roger’s daughter coming home from school soon.
The tension escalates as Roger tries to get Joker to listen to reason and we feel for him a little more because we realize how stupid a move that is. Definitely well written and dramatic.
Perry White is having a meeting with his staff and laying down the law about what he wants to see in the paper going forward in the next story called “Office Space”. Apparently, there’s been a rash of articles and editorials stirring up fear about what Superman can do and Perry wants the focus to be on what he does. It’s classic Superman storytelling as Clark shows up late to tell Perry about a gang of ex-government agents dealing in old LexCorp tech on the black market.
What follows are some of the plot details and character changes that we should see going forward with Bendis, the least of which is that Lois no longer works at the Planet and the new person that Perry’s hired has some secrets of her own. It’s a pretty run of the mill story to be honest and doesn’t really add a whole lot, but it’s clear that Bendis is going to be focusing on the classic aspects of Superman’s life in Metropolis and that might be interesting.
The final story is a prequel to Scott Snyder’s Justice League: No Justice arc and it finds Batman at the mercy of Brainiac as the new teams are shown on their new missions. Batman’s team is apparently freeing a group OF multiverse criminals while Superman’s team is going after a giant space brain, Wonder Woman’s team are taking out space ghosts and Cyborg’s team is trying to hack an entire planet. There are some great story moments in this vignette and it has a good balance of holding back on the bigger plot while dazzling the reader with the characters and their interactions.