Warning: SPOILERS for DCeased #6
The DCeased zombie nightmare has delivered everything it promised, bringing DC's Anti-Life equation to Earth in the form of a zombie apocalypse. However, it has also revealed an important truth about the Justice League's greatest heroes. Batman may get all the credit for his scheming, strategizing, and the morally troubling idea that he has plans to subdue every one of his friends. But not only is Wonder Woman able to do the same, but better... she's willing to do what even Batman never would.
Unfortunately for everyone, this rivalry is not a hypothetical in Tom Taylor and Trevor Hairsine's DCeased. While Batman may not be around to offer his best plan for taking on Superman--having been infected in the very first issue--his son Damian does offer it in his place. Having been named the next Batman, Damian is ready for what comes next when Superman kills the zombified Flash, only to be infected himself. To end this planetary threat, Batman has left behind a plan and a chunk of Kryponite. But Diana is only interested in one of them.
While the heroes are confident that Batman would concoct a plan to take down every one of them (well... except Green Arrow), it's Diana who claims that Bruce would never plan to kill them. He is a man, and not a true warrior like Wonder Woman, after all. Taking the Kryptonite herself, Diana sets about showing that while Batman was thinking of how to beat Superman, she was constructing a plan to finish him for good.
As Diana takes the Kryptonite to her forge, she also reveals that when it came to plotting to kill Superman, should the need arise, she wasn't alone. She drew upon the wisdom of her mother, as well. Which means the weapon being forged to slay Superman is Amazon's legacy. And where Bruce would have used Kryptonite to gas, or possibly even pierce Superman into submission, Diana knows exactly how to apply it to a true weapon of war.
Clark is vulnerable to Kryptonite, and to magic. Years ago, my mother and I hypothesized we could join the two. This is the sword of Athena. Athena was the goddess of war. And we fight for everything. She was the goddess of craft. And we have fused mythology with an element from a world that no longer exists. Last, she was goddess of mathematics. And we are fighting an equation. This is not coincidence. I believe I hold fate in my hands.
Although we doubt Diana really wants to believe DCeased was destined to happen, there's no arguing with how the world has turned out. And no matter how the series ends, the point remains: Diana's plan to kill Superman isn't just better than Bruce's, but more lethal, too.
- DCEASED #6 (OF 6)
- Written by: Tom Taylor
- Art by: Trevor Hairsine, Neil Edwards, Stefano Guadiano
- Cover Art by: Mark Brooks
- Humanity is on the brink of extinction, and only a few remaining members of the Justice League stand between life and annihilation. As the remnants of humanity make their last gamble for survival, will there even be a planet left to call home when all is said and done? The senses-shattering conclusion to the year's surprise blockbuster is here!
DCeased #6 is available at your local comic book shop.