"DCeased: Dead Planet #3" Comic Review

When the Green screams in pain, Swamp Thing answers, even if that means fighting through a red sea of death made of what remains of Plastic Man. Joined by John Constantine, Zatanna, and Detective Chimp, what's left of Justice League Dark invades a compound only to find a group of powerful villains waiting out the apocalypse. You thought the real evil came from the anti-life equation that infected most of the world turning them into zombies? Not so fast.

DCeased: Dead Planet #3 takes this terrifying journey to new places, both literally and figuratively. I want to spend some time on the Plastic Man lake though. Artist Trevor Hairsine does some tremendous work here. The details are extraordinary and every bit is horrifying. Plastic Man is usually depicted as a comedic shape shifter, turning into things like teapots and parachutes. This is anything but. He's a flowing sea of blood, spikes, and teeth, ready to consume anyone that comes nearby. It's a great visual that really sets the stage for the rest of the book.

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Inker Gigi Baldissini captures all of the frightening textures of this abomination. You can imagine cutting your hand open if you dared touch it. While these opening pages feature some great pencils, the rest of the issue looks a little looser, with less detail work. It's not bad by any stretch. It just looks different when compared to the first few pages.

While this is scary enough in its own right, the real horrors come from what's in this compound as the Penguin, Jason Blood, and a few other ne'er do wells reveal their plan to hide out until the zombies have been dealt with. The sick thing is that you can imagine this happening in real life. Rich folks and government employees rushing to a secret bunker somewhere to let the rest of humanity die off so they can pick up the pieces and hold onto their power. It's rather chilling.

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Colorist Rain Beredo drowns out any hope from these characters. Yes, these are heroes through and through, standing for things like truth, justice, and the American way, but they've seen their loved ones die and thousands if not millions more perish or turn into monsters. That's a lot to take in. It shows in the colors with muted tones.

Finally, letterer Saida Temofonte conveys the seriousness of the situation through Swamp Thing's words. You understand where he's coming from and the rage he feels that the Green is threatened.

While we didn't necessarily need more from DCeased, this series has shown there are still many stories left to tell. Writer Tom Taylor is picking through what's left of the DC Universe, bringing tales of heart and horror that tie together everything that's come before. If these folks are going to have any hope of stopping this terror, they'll need to go for something big and desperate and that comes with a good amount of risk. At the very least, you'll never look at Plastic Man the same way again.