DC is launching their, "All-In," Initiative which involves the standard DC Universe and an alternate one (the Absolute one) somewhat co-existing and (one assumes) eventually overlapping in some fashion. It's a bit like the original or new Ultimate Universe Marvel is doing, in other words. This new, "DC All-In Special," #1 is a one-shot that kicks everything off...and it actually does so in a clever way.
There is a lot of artistic creativity in this special that makes a big commercial endeavor actually feel almost a bit quirky--and I like that. You see, this is a flipbook that tells the same story from vastly different viewpoints and uses that format for all kinds of intriguing ways to tell a surreal story. We see things from the perspective of the heroes on the main DC Earth as they expand the Justice League--and Booster Gold is there as everything goes wrong with Daniel Sampere providing some solid art.
We also witness Darkseid getting up to a bunch of evil stuff and enacting a master plan...with Booster Gold yet again there from a slightly different metaphorical angle as everything goes wrong (the man can't catch a break in this comic). I liked seeing an alternate take of the same yarn and the Wes Craig artwork on the, "Evil," side is especially impressive--as others have observed. I give props to writers Joshua Williamson and Scott Snyder for their creative use of the comic-book format and using that to give us two stories that end up uniting beautifully as one twisted tale.
The, "DC All-in Special," #1 is much more experimental than I expected for a random one-shot that launches a new line of stories (and a whole new Universe of heroes). This gives me some optimism for the upcoming Absolute titles--I was thinking of at least trying their first issues and definitely plan to do so now--and makes me curious about what will be happening in some of the, "Main," DC books as well like the upcoming, "New Gods," series. Color me pleasantly shocked at how good this was. I tip my hat to DC for getting me excited about all the other things coming down the pipeline for, "All-In."
5 out of 5 Stars.
