DC Comics Destroys One of Its Most Iconic Cities

The shocking twists and surprises of Tom Taylor’s DCeased continue to unfold with issue #4, as this already horrifying series somehow takes an even more horrifying turn. By the end of DCeased #4 the DC Universe sees some of its major cities fall – including one of the most iconic comic book settings of all time!

WARNING, SPOILERS for DCeased #4 Follow!

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In chapter 4 of Taylor’s story, the Justice League tries to gather its forces in Metroplis, in order to take a stand against the horde of the undead that have been spawned by Darkseid’s manipulation of the Anti-Life equation. While the League’s call goes out around the world, Captain Atom is busy trying to clear Washington D.C. of the undead, as per Amanda Waller’s orders.

Unfortunately, what Captain Atom doesn’t know is that his last encounter with Ray Palmer / The Atom has set a dire set of events in motion. Palmer was last seen diving into body of one of the undead to help identify / treat the virus, but that investigation didn’t end well. Palmer was inevitably infected himself, the microscopic undead Palmer snuck into the body of Captain Atom, where it begins to tear apart the Atomic hero from the inside out.

Hawkgirl manages to get back to Superman and Wonder Woman in Metropolis with a warning: Captain Atom has turned and is about to blow. Superman and Wonder Woman race to Washington D.C. and try to get Captain Atom out of Earth’s atmosphere in time – but they only succeed in taking the doomed hero high up enough to unleash “the most destructive explosion ever unleashed on the world.” The atomic wave obliterates any number of major US cities – and the last stop is Metropolis, which is engulfed in a wave of atomic flame. The heroes gathered in Superman’s home city are seemingly vaporized too, as Taylor closes the issue with a heartbreaking scene of Black Lightning holding his two daughters close and trying to calm them, as the end comes upon them.

It’s hard to see how DCeased can pull out of the tailspin of bleakness at this point; but then again, that is *the* point of the story, in a lot of ways. Taylor’s DC Universe version of a zombie apocalypse is designed to be a story of how the Justice League face a calamity they cannot stop, while using that dark frame to explore a more “human” side of the characters than we’ve seen in awhile. Assuming that at least Superman (and Wonder Woman?) survived the blast, it will be intriguing to see what the Man of Steel becomes after he’s stood atop the ashes of what used to be metropolis.

DCeased #4 is now on sale.