Spinning out of the pages of New History of the DC Universe, uncover an untold moment in DC history, where a murder leads to an all-out war between the heroes of Dakota City and U.S. government! As their home becomes a battlefield, what must Static, Rocket, and the others sacrifice to keep their loved ones safe? But as heroes fall in the past, the stage is set for their return in the present...
Milestone characters finally getting the love and attention they deserve! Great to see how many creatives contributed to this project, McDuffie would be proud!
Great first issue with all the key social economic and racial tension expected and all the great Easter eggs across the DCU highly recommend this issue
I was a huge fan of Milestones' Shadow Cabinet and Icon comics when they were originally released and will support anything DC looks to release under the Milestone banner.
This was an exercise in ret-conning to have Milestone fit into the main DC Universe. Taking place at the time when Lex Luther was the President is an interesting time to take it to and I would like to have more stories told within this setting.
Overall I think there was a lot happening in this with many writers and artists covering many characters which deserve more time to shine. I hope the success of this special leads to more comics featuring these heroes and villains of Dakota.
I swear if this ends up being a dead end just like the power company stuff last year I am going to be so pissed!! This feels like the closest we’ve been to proper milestone in a minute and I am begging DC to please do more with it, at the very least a new static series. PLEASE!! I was thoroughly impressed with this book, that is not what I expected at all and in the best possible way. The task of not only weaving milestone history into the DC universe but also explaining why they haven’t been around is no easy task, but they pull it off so well here while also crafting a milestone exemplary message about systems of oppression and how you can continue to fight back against all odds. The story itself actually starts in milestone’s future with Amistad aka beacon, the son of Raquel aka Rocket the mayor of Dakota as he is handling a normal day in Dakota taking down one of his mentor’s, Static, old villains who just escaped. But suddenly the entire world came crashing down around them as Beacon detects tons of temporal problems. Shielding himself he retreats into the time stream intent on finding what went wrong and fixing it so that he saves everyone. He is literally thrust back through the issues of new history of the dc universe as he hands back at the beginning of everything in Dalton, with Edwin Alva, the special gas meant to tag protestors for later identification, and the Dakota incident that gave way to the bang babies and tons of super powered individuals running through the streets as the first true hero to show up…static. This story gives a brief overview of the basic milestone standards, the rise of the blood syndicate, Raquel discovering Augustus and inspiring him to become Icon, and Curtis falling out with Alva and becoming hardware. What I especially love from this is this section really summing everything up:
“Hardware was the Crusader. Icon and rocket were the symbols static was the spark. This was the beginning of the age of milestones.”
But from there everything went wrong, the true beginning point where the timeline branched off and the DC universe thrusts its way in…the death of Edwin Alva. Hardware was the first on the scene to discover it and was first to be blamed. But hardware brought everyone else together due to a few major issues, Alva was in bed with the government in conjunction with the supermen project, a cover plan to create government controlled superheroes…the big band was no accident and Alva was using it as leverage to keep the rest of the government out of Dakota…now no one is holding them back and they will have to be ready to fight. This takes place during the time of Lex Luthor as president, and he immediately tasked Waller with sending in the suicide squad, led by bronze Tiger; to take out any metahumans in the sea and to consider them all threats. Of course the suicide squad was told a load of lies, no one wakes up a villain and when they arrived and found the blood syndicate waiting, both sides believed they were saving the world. But it didn’t end there, as the blood syndicate proved themselves to be a strong force, the squad called in more soldiers to help fight and even more of Dakota’s heroes got involved. War raged in the streets and civilians were put directly in the way. Eventually bronze Tiger saw what was truly happening around him and how he fell on the wrong side of history, and began to fight back against the forces he was sent in with. Unfortunately Captain atom was once again boiled down to government stooge to be sent in to fight back, trading blows with icon. I have to admit I haven’t read any dc comics during the time of Luthor’s presidency, so I have no idea if this was the standard characterization for Nate during the time. But as the fighting persisted the Sun finally rose and the Justice league Trinity rushed in to end things. Just the Trinity…war in the streets of Dakota for hours and only the big three showed up. The Trinity came to the heroes of Dakota with information from the other side…Luthor wants to prohibit all metal natives in Dakota, anyone who uses their powers will be prosecuted. Absolutely ridiculous, they were supposed to be the hope in Dakota and are now getting cut down after being attacked. Superman knows this is wrong as well and they are only delivering the news so they are not blindsided later, but this is the decision of Dakota not of the Justice league so they will stand with the decision the heroes make. Static and Rocket are in direct and rightful opposition to this, but Icon and Hardware agree that they need a new direction for the city. The age of milestones is coming to an end before the eyes as the presidential transport and his cabinet, which includes Waller, Sarge Steel, and Jefferson Pierce, come to the negotiating table. Jefferson, secretary of education, was tasked with keeping an eye on the troublesome kids Static and Rocket. But he is the most inspirational and realistic one here, he joined the cabinet in the hopes of enacting real change from within the system….but a system that thrives on corruption makes working within it impossible…so he advises that they be careful and think of their loved ones…but as a black man afraid to see history repeat itself…do what you gotta do. But icon and hardware are the ones at the negotiating table and to give them credit they are white pissed at the facade of this entire situation. But Luthor lays it out clearly that Dakota has the higher methane population and needs to be in check, the protection for Dakota will stay the deal just ensures they won’t be the one to do it. Icon is ready to take Luthor out right there on the spot, he has been here since 1839 and has seen men try and stomp out the exploits of men who look like him for a long time. But there is a Kryptonian down the hall and killing Luthor won’t solve their problems, as satisfying as it may be, it will only put their loved ones at greater risk. Harare actually suggests they do what needs to be done, take our Luthor and the entire Justice league if need be just to go down swinging…but that would only make them fugitives and truly leave them in a spot to abandon Dakota…and Luthor knows that. They have no other moves to make without putting innocent lives at risk, they will continually be under attack unless everyone stops fighting…so they make the deal but make sure everyone understands what is at stake and if more is needed they will go to the justice league, as much good as that will do. Static and Rocket were brought back in to see icon shaking Lex’s hand…that’s when they knew it was over. Static and Rocket kept the future in mind so they played it safe, but static was the spark that lit the fire from the start and he felt the responsibility to continue being a hero and keeping the flaw alive… he then he found out about Sarge Steel setting up a DEO office just down the street from his house to make sure he doesn’t use his powers…and that spark suddenly fizzled out. Icon and Hardware sought out alternative ways to keep Dakota safe, static went back to his studies as a distraction from what he lost, and Rocket hit the ground running to create a future where the dream could become a reality again, pouring all of her energy into her unborn son.
Suddenly Beacon is thrust back out of the time stream, into a future that is unknown to him but with the hope that he can bring his future back. He is dropped nearby a coffee shop where Virgil is enjoying some time with his best friends living a normal non super life…only to notice beacon appear from nowhere. Virgil can’t help but go out to investigate where Beacon immediately recognizes him. He quickly tries to explain about loosing everything and being from a future they can still save but Static is still the meh and spark to that future. Everyone else kept finding ways to fight and protect the ones around them, but the spark that lit the fire in the first place needs to come back or his future will fall apart. Suddenly the temporal safeguards began to fail and beacon was erased from the timeline in front of Virgil’s eyes…right as he realized that he was talking to Amistad. The issue ends with Virgil returning home and pulling out his box, it’s time to stop hiding and accept who he is for a better tomorrow…it’s time for STATIC TO FIGHT BACK!! Hell yes!! I suppose what we saw in the kids are all fight special is a byproduct of this, right? Give me more, now please. How long has the Luthor administration been out of power, I feel like they can come back with little to no effort legal wise and the justice league will back them all the way. Highest metahuman rate in a city? Yes please.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Yes, I'd picked this issue up at my local comic shop and decided to give it a read, so what? I was anxious because of what's been going on with DC lately. If you're not familiar, I recommend checking out a couple of YouTube videos regarding what's going on with Milestone Media right now and the characters they've created. Before we get into the review, I grew up with Static Shock, and he's one of my favorite shows I was in my middle school days. I had never read a comic book until I decide to dedicate myself along with thousands of others who will buy the copy of the first issue of the New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident in support to keep Milestone Media going. Wouldn't you know it, this was amazing for where it was going. In the beginning, we see a young superhero named Beacon, or Amistad, who is the son of Rocket, or Raquel Ervin, and the nephew of Static, or Virgil Hawkins. He time traveled through a time stream before he was erased along with his world that takes place in the future through a time disruption. During his travel through the time stream, we are shown what happened in Dakota. Leading from Operation: Big Bang done by Edwin Alva to stop the protesting that's been happening. Only to find out that it didn't kill anyone. Rather, it'd been given those afflicted with the gas with metahuman powers, calling them Bang Babies. We also see the time when Curtis Metcalf has been thrown into the fray to take the blame, hence creating and becoming Hardware. We also see the arrival of Augustus Freeman, or Icon, who teams up with Raquel, who became Rocket. All teaming up to stop any Bang Baby who would use their power for their own vanity. During that time, it's been called the Age of Milestones. Thus, Dakota became a city filled with heroes. That is, until Edwin Alva has been murdered, and Hardware was framed for it as he arrived at the scene of the crime. Which means that it gets complicated for Dakota because Edwin is linked to the government. Not to mention, they'd learned a bit about the Superman Project. It caught wind with the president of the United States, Lex Luthor, who suggested that he would do anything to get Dakota City under his authority. So now Dakota City has become a warzone between the Suicide Squad, which consists of Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and Bronze Tiger. Even the Blood Syndicate fought them right next to the heroes against both the Suicide Squad and government soldiers. Not to mention, Captain Atom, who works with the government, To their surprise, the Justice League (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman) assisted. They had to go through negotiations between Icon, Hardware, and President Luthor to live without superpowers so everyone could live peacefully. If not, the president might hurt some folks. They had no choice, unfortunately. Thankfully, the Justice League would keep their word to find another solution without any more harm. Which leads to the now when Beacon has encouraged his uncle to get back in the game, or else the future is lost. More to come depending on how well this sells. I really enjoyed how we get to see how it started with the Milestone heroes and how unfortunate to see them bend the knee. Which makes sense with how it's tied to today's political climate when it comes to authoritarianism would do harm if compromise has not been made. Especially with the Community Center that Virgil's father has ties to. I do give this comic credit that not only it shows how we see their creation be made but also the age that they grew through. Age of Milestone is a nice touch because Icon, Rocket, Hardware, Bronze Tiger, and even Static, are their creations. I want to believe that Beacon is an old character and his involvement to fly through the time stream to encourage his uncle was a nice touch because Beacon is like a metaphor of how the fans want to see Milestone Media continue to make their work. It really shows that creativity and diversity from black creatives are as important as anyone else's. Hell, I don't mind looking up and connecting with someone regardless of race, gender, and whatnot despite my skin. I also find a nice touch with another character, such as Jefferson Pierce, aka Black Lightning, even though he, like Captain Atom and Bronze Tiger, are working with the government. Sure, Jefferson would rather find the real solution, yet it's hard when working with a corrupted government. The art style is smooth for how it ranges from a pleasant mood to a fight between supers from the backgrounds to the character designs. I'm also happy to see more of Static as he is now a grown adult and would love to see him in action in the next issue and going forward. Seeing the conflict between the characters is genuine to know what's going on through their minds, whether it involves the government or amongst themselves. You see what's going through Bronze Tiger's mind when he has to fight against his own community while having a bomb embedded into his neck by Amanda Waller. I would've liked to see more like seeing Gear, or Richie, and Ebon in action. But I digress. I think this is an amazing comic, and I look forward to where the next issue takes this series. And a belated happy birthday to the late Dwayne McDuffle. He would be proud of his characters who are still kicking along with Milestone Media. Especially for black representation. I am gonna give this a 9.5/10.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I was a big fan of the New History series and this is a nice addendum. I do kind of wish they would give the Milestone titles more runway than one-shots during Black History month (Thomas and Cowan’s Hardware from several years ago was very good but cut short), but the DC editors brought some good talent to this one. The JL end up looking pretty complicit with the white supremacist quashing of Dakota, which isn’t untrue…
I loved this book. I think that this is exactly the kind of stories that DC needs to showcase Black characters and artists. Give us Milestone, Vixen, Bronze Tiger, Mister Terrific, etc.! My only gripe with this book is that the superheroes gave in so easily to the government demands. I wish that there was a little more to that. But, great book and hopefully this is a catalyst to more Milestone ongoing books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This story provides an opportunity to uplift new younger heroes from the milestone universe while aging up our favorite heroes like static and rocket but providing a new prospective on their constant battle with government corruption.
It was good to see the Milestone crew back in ink. It's like catching up with old pals. Placing the incident during the president Luthor section of the timeline and creating a cover up to explain why the milestone characters haven't been seen much is clever. I look forward to the return of Static and the Milestone Four.
Great to see the Dakota verse get back in. Genuinely love the characters. Story was awesome. Really gives a strong setup as tho why the milestone characters haven’t been in play. Hopefully we get to see More!
I’ve not read a lot of Milestone but through shows like JLU & Young Justice I grew to love the characters a lot. Dwayne McDuffie was one of the best writers in the industry. This really honours the legacy of Milestone. I’ll be keeping this on my list
An unexpected and wonderful surprise. I loved the Milestone line. The DC/Milestone crossover event was one of my favorites storylines when I was younger.