Story Title: Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Reviewer: Paul Sebert
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artists: Steve Lieber
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Clem Robins
Editors: Nachie Castro, Matt Idelson
Publisher: The Distinguished Competition
You know for all the hype, all the tie-ins, and all the sound and fury, I haven’t totally been sucked into DC’s blockbuster Infinite Crisis mega-event. Maybe it says more about me; as I grow older I tend to find myself more drawn to stories about the more down to earth inhabitants of the Marvel and DC Universes. So here in the middle of DC’s over-the-top apocalyptic event to end all over-the-top apocalyptic events, comes a civilian’s eye view of what it’s like to survive an over-the-top apocalyptic event.
People are saying that the world is ending. Ominous clashes of lightning fill the darkened sky of Gotham City. Two of Gotham’s finest, Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen, are on the verge of an emotional breakdown still dealing with the fallout of the ordeal with corrupt Detective Jim Corrigan. That’s the point when Armageddon comes to Gotham.
You know the scene from Infinite Crisis #1 quite well. The one with the Rock of Ages, The Spectre, Captain Marvel rendered helpless, a legion of rogues on a rampage, and the seven deadly sins incarnate unleashed upon the city.
Kind of hard to believe they only dedicated a couple of pages of Infinite Crisis to this nightmarish scenario. Which is perhaps why this little window into the chaos is so enthralling.
The two capable officers we’ve seen survive countless close encounters are now helpless. Caught up in something much bigger than they can comprehend, two souls are now thrust into one peril after another before finally finding some calm in the eye of the storm.
Infinite Crisis has thus far offered big ideas, big plot twists, and big fight scenes. But it often takes little moments with the all too human inhabitants of the DC Universe to put everything into focus. In a day where it’s all to common for fans to complain about the slow pace of some stories, I can’t help but wish Infinite Crisis writer Geoff Johns slowed the story down and focused on consequences like Greg Rucka does so well in this book.
