Winter is coming… the DC Nuclear WInter Special #1, to be exact.
This title is an 80 page Giant, selling for $9.99. The cover is a Red and Green Christmasey themed image, featuring many of our heroes bringing items to roast upon the open fire. No sign of Jack Frost, but the cover DOES boast about “10 Cataclysmic Carols!”
The ten short stories are ‘wrapped’ with an overall linking story that ties them together (in a bow??) Rip Hunter, Time Master has accidentally arrived in Silicon Valley in the mid-21st Century, where the reception is not very friendly. It’s the Nuclear WInter! People gotta eat!! Rip tells some stories to the gathered throng, with the hopes of having his life spared.
If the idea of seeing some of DC’s top heroes trying to cope with post-apocalyptic conditions is your idea of a good time, you’ve certainly come to the right place. We follow Batman 666, Superman One Million, Flash, Supergirl, Aquaman, Firestorm, Kamandi, Catwoman and Green Arrow in tales in all different centuries in the future. We hop around through time like, well, a Time Hunter I guess!
As the book progresses, the throng gathered to hear Rip Hunter’s tales are not impressed. They start dissing the tales and yawning. Surely this is no reflection on the contents of the comic itself. Or is it???
It’s grim, the stories are short, but the messages are generally somewhat hopeful. Maybe we can wring some good out of bad situations if we all pull together. The dismal situations and thin-hope messages may be repeated throughout this Special, and sometimes we wish the stories dug a little deeper for a little longer, but the message of hope still rings quietly throughout, which is a good thing.
DC Comics, DC’s Nuclear Winter Special #1, $9.99 for 83 pages of content, Rated Teen +
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