The end of DC's Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover has paved the way for Dawn of DC, a yearlong initiative focused on introducing new titles and fresh jumping-on points for familiar franchises. But there's also an overarching story tying Dawn of DC together, and Amanda Waller is at its center.
That story has become clearer with the release of Dawn of DC Primer #1 and Titans #1. Read on to learn more about why Waller is suddenly the greatest threat to the world's heroes.
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Dawn of DC Primer #1 and Titans #1!
Amanda Waller Sees the Light
The final issue of Dark Crisis established a new status quo for Amanda Waller. More than just heading up the clandestine agency ARGUS and overseeing Task Force X, Waller has now been given a mandate to rid the world of metahumans. Her new benefactors view heroes and villains alike as an uncontrollable threat to world peace. As they see it, even the Justice League causes more problems than it solves for humanity.
Those benefactors are none other than the Council of Light, the secret cabal introduced in the animated series Young Justice. In that series, the Light are a group of powerful figures who take it upon themselves to protect the world by any means necessary, even if it means allying themselves with supervillains or aliens. Originally formed centuries ago by Vandal Savage and his daughter Ishtar, the Light disguise their identities and only appear on monitors as bright, white silhouettes. We don't know the identities of the Council of Light members yet, but they appear to have the same motives as in Young Justice.
Waller has now been gvien free reign to kill every metahuman in the world. To accomplish that goal, she's assembled a new team that includes Peacemaker, Peacewrecker, a mysterious, hulking cyborg and another mystery character wearing a Joker-ized version of Batman's armor and wielding a Sinestro Corps ring.
The Helmet of Hate
Waller's new team is a start, but she needs some major firepower if she's going to declare war on Earth's entire metahuman population. That's where the new story in Dawn of DC Primer #1 comes in [note - you can read this issue for free on Kindle and Comixology].
Waller sends Peacemaker and Peacewrecker to infiltrate Lazarus Island and steal a mystical artifact. That artifact turns out to be the Helmet of Hate, seemingly the dark opposite of Doctor Fate's Helmet of Fate. Does this mean Peacemaker himself is about to get a big upgrade in the headgear department? If the Helmet of Hate is anything like its counterpart, it's one of the most powerful weapons in the DC Universe.
While that high-stakes theft is going on, Waller herself meets alone with a group of costumed assassins. She's purposely assembled the world's greatest hired killers in one room to make them an offer. And after killing one of them as an example, Waller makes her offer. Any criminal who kills a superhero will be given a full pardon for all crimes. Waller has just made it open season on all heroes.
The Murder of Wally West
DC has also just launched Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott's Titans series. In this post-Dark Crisis era, Dick Grayson and his friends have now replaced the Justice League as the world's first and best line of defense. Unfortunately, the Titans barely have time to settle into their rooms at Titans Tower before new disasters crop up.
The Titans are called upon to stop the gigantic, cybernetic chimpanzee Titano from destroying a nuclear power plant. Naturally, the only way to stop an oversized primate is for Beast Boy to transform into a massive lizard and reenact Godzilla vs. Kong. In the aftermath, Peacemaker arrives on the scene and claims to be representing the President. The US government hopes to keep the Titans under their control, but our heroes make it clear they have no intention of serving any particular government. That tense standoff suggests there's going to be plenty of friction between the Titans and the government as the series unfolds.
However, the Titans have a more immediate problem. No sooner do they return home than they discover the body of Wally West. Wally is seen in the opening pages of this issue being shot through the heart and running backwards in time on the Cosmic Treadmill. It's not clear from when in the timeline this Wally hails, but he leaves his friends with a cryptic message - "Solve it."
Based on Waller's open offer to the criminal underworld, it may be safe to assume the Flash is the first victim of Waller's war on metahumans. And if the Fastest Man Alive isn't quick enough to save himself, what hope do the rest of Earth's heroes have? Dawn of DC could get very dark very quickly.
In other comic book news, DC is about to introduce Wonder Woman's daughter, and IGN has an exclusive preview of Titan Comics' Conan the Barbarian relaunch.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
