DC: 5 Reasons DCeased Is The Best Zombie Apocalypse Arc (& 5 Why It’s Dead Planet) – CBR – Comic Book Resources

DCeased saw Earth ravished by a zombie-esque virus, and Dead Planet is about the aftermath. But which is actually the better story overall?

Tom Taylor is one of DC's hot writers right now. Coming off the success ofInjustice: Gods Among Us andInjustice 2,Taylor once again took on writing the story of fan favorite heroes being thrown into murderous, creepy and end of the world situations.

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DCeasedsaw a virus consume the Earth and has the heroes fighting in vain against it, while the sequelDCeased: Dead Planetsees a new age of heroes return to Earth in order to once again take back their planet from the virus that consumed it. Both stories are captivating and leave fans worried if their favorite hero will make it through each issue.

The main plot ofDCeasedis the Anti-Life virus that is infecting the Earth through technology. The idea of the virus working through social media and devices, infecting the mind and turning people into mindless creatures is a clever allegory for modern society.

It is a play on people being glued to their phones and almost numb to the world around them at points, and it could almost be said people are infected by the negativity on the internet which is then absorbed by them through their phones.

DCeased: Dead Planetis all about the legacy of heroes in some respects. The survivors of Earth have left the world, and are doing their best to live up to their legacies. Readers get to see Jonathan Kent take over asSupermanandDamian Wayne stumble along as he learns to be Batman. Seeing these children/mentees step up to the plate as the mentors is a very cool dynamic.

Much likeInjustice, DCeasedpulls no punches and is merciless to the heroes. This makes for some very heartbreaking moments throughout the series, starting right off in issue #1 where Batman gets ripped apart by his sidekicks.

Each time a hero falls, the fans feel it. Although it isn't main continuity, each death is visceral and violent, making them all the worse. Each hero dies fighting for the people and the ones they love, making for gut-wrenching final scenes from many of them.

Dead Planetlooks at trying to fix the world and save humanity from itself. InDCeasedthe heroes failed and the world fell to darkness and chaos, but with the promise of a cure inDead Planetthere is a chance that they can make up for their failures and redeem themselves, both in their own eyes and the eyes of the people that they save.

If they can extract the cure they can also bring back all the heroes that they lost to the virus. A redemption arc is always compelling because readers like to see people be given the second chance to make up for their short comings.

Aside fromMarvel Zombies, which has some similarities,DCeasedis a fairly original concept for DC. What really sets it apart is the complete lack of good triumphing over evil, which is a standard in event series.

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The heroes not only lose, and they lose everything there is no final stand leading to victory, no last charge that sends the enemy running. They are overwhelmed and flee for their lives and whatever safety they can find. Although sad, it is refreshing to see events where the heroes don't win by default.

While most events focus on DC's Trinity or even just narrow in on one hero, much likeDark Knights: MetalandDeath Metalfocused on Batman,Dead Planetseems to use heroes that aren't as often in the spotlight.

For instance, John Constantine is a big part of the plan inDead Planet.Even though Constantine is a well known hero, he often isn't in the limelight for events. It makes for a nice change of pace to see the younger and lesser known heroes get a chance to shine.

One aspect of what makes superhero events difficult is finding a villain that is reasonably hard enough for the heroes to take on without re-hashing old villains too much.DCeasednailed it by making the "villain" a virus and the people who are infected by it. It is much more difficult to punch the way out of the problem if the problem are the heroes' friends and normal citizens. It forces them to come up with more creative solutions than brute force.

One thing that most readers love about comics is all the costumes and the artwork that goes along with the story. SinceDead Planetturns its attention to the next generation of heroes, fans get to see brand new takes on some classic costumes, such as Jon Kent's new Superman uniform or Cassandra Sandsmark's new Wonder Woman.

One of the best new looks is attributed to Black Canary and her Green Lantern uniform that she has been given as the new Lantern.

Although more graphic content is not always needed, and does not guarantee a better product, it does help in a couple key areas.DCeasedis a very graphic series and it does help deliver a sense of intensity and realism to the story. The visceral scenes help ground the story and remind the readers of what is at stake.

It help helps deliver the wow factor of the story, and it is shocking to see Nightwing eat away at Bruce or Superman looking bloody and beaten. Those scenes stand out more due to the graphic artwork.

Damian Wayne is not the most popular of sidekicks in the current comics and has never been portrayed to be anything other than an arrogant child.Dead Planethelps to fix his character by making him a genuinely good Batman. On top of that, he is shown to be more caring and open with the heroes he works with.Dead Planettruly works at redeeming Damian Wayne as a character.

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DC: 5 Reasons DCeased Is The Best Zombie Apocalypse Arc (& 5 Why It's Dead Planet) - CBR - Comic Book Resources