A Review of Danger Street #1

Danger Street #1
Tom King words
Jorge Fornés art
Dave Stewart colors
Clayton Cowles letters
From DC Comics

Feeling left out? Wanting to be a part of something bigger? Well, peep the solicit:

Joining the Justice League is a goal for any superhero, but what happens when a quest for membership takes a sinister turn? Join Starman, Metamorpho, and Warlord as they look to prove themselves worthy by summoning and defeating Darkseid in battle. Soon they’ll learn that calling upon a New God never ends well, and their world is headed for a crisis as a result!

The journey to save the day will be a treacherous one filled with princesses, knights, and all kinds of monsters. Each person the heroes encounter plays a crucial role in this sprawling yet gripping narrative that is a little bit silly, a whole lot dark, and completely cool. Expect the unexpected with a supporting cast featuring Manhunter, Lady Cop, the Green Team, and the Creeper!

Inspired by the heroes and villains of 1st Issue Special, Tom King and Jorge Fornés (Rorschach) return for an unforgettable maxiseries that reimagines these characters and their stories. A multi-character, multilayered crime drama starring some of DC’s most obscure creations. No one will see it coming, but everyone will want to see where it goes!

I’ve been a big Tom King cheerleader for quite a while. I stand on the sidelines, gyrating, slinging my poms while a chunk of the crowd screams for his demise. I don’t get it. I love the humanness he showcases when writing about superheroes. I love how real he makes them feel. I wish more people did that. I want to see the cracks in these iconic foundations. I want to see the bat stumble. I want to see Superman go against the grain. It ludicrously enhances a narrative when I can relate to a fault in a seemingly faultless being, so now I’m here, the indie guy, reviewing the new big book at DC Comics.

Danger Street #1 is a lot to handle, but it rewards a reader willing to go the extra mile. It’s not a hard mile. This isn’t the cardio you’re dreading. You’re not running along the side of a road in the summer heat, athletic attire chafing your nipples and sweat stinging your eyes. It’s a chill, grab your phone and Google kind of mile. I say this because Tom King is deep-diving into some obscure DC Comics history. I won’t lie, I was unfamiliar with a handful of these characters: Warlord, Lady Cop, Green Team, and the Creeper. Centering myself on these obscurities, I was able to focus more on the narrative, its structure and depth. There’s another writer who continuously makes me do this, and their name is Grant Morrison. I’ve yet to regret falling into a title with their name emblazoned on the cover.

I trust Tom King. I’ve played his games. He enjoys the jump-cut, and he does it well. He’s dealing with a large cast, and we never stay with a certain group for very long before he comes from behind the curtain snagging our necks with his cane and yanking us into the next scene. In doing this, readers are kept on their toes. We’re also retaining bits of information about these characters, and those bits stay with us. They fill our pockets with knowledge that will be used later. I know these vignettes will come together to produce a wondrous tapestry.

King is very good at pacing, and I love his enjoyment of nine panel grids. Danger Street begins and ends with them. Nine panel grids are interesting gimmicks to control pacing. You can fly through them or be forced to linger upon certain moments. King does both. 

Initially, we’re flung into the premier issue with a quick moving nine panel grid. As certain characters are introduced, the pace is slowed due to the dialog. There’s a great moment with Jack Ryder where we get a great monologue about crime and how it infects innocent adjacents. We also see Jack’s fatigue. We get strong moments from Lady Cop and Good Looks, both of whom play important parts in the narrative. These nine panel moments signal a great importance, and in the end, ramp up the tension that leaves us gasping and readying for the long wait until Danger Street’s second issue.

Jorge Fornés is able to humanize these moments even further with exceptional art. A child’s panic, a cop’s intuition, a hero’s deadly mistake, these scenes are so beautifully realized and made physical on the page. Fornés makes it look effortless and encapsulates these moments in heavy inks that contrast Dave Stewart’s brilliant colors. The high action elements look great too, but there are so many artists able to swing that bat. To produce true, raw emotion easily visible from any vantage point, that’s the sign of a great creator, and that’s exactly what Jorge Fornés is.

To say it again, Stewart’s brilliant colors do what any stellar colorist is set to do: control our mood. The pages shift from the brightness of youthful innocence to a cold, dark night in the dunes where that innocence is lost forever. Stewart reminds us how to feel, echoing the script’s direction and highlighting Fornés’ prime linework. Clayton Cowles brings all these elements together into a truly beautiful book that screams with all the gusto the Big Two can, often easily, provide.

Though I may be biased due to my fondness of these creatives, I’m unsure how anyone could buy this issue and not be hungry for the second. Yes, it has many moving parts, but they’re not just moving. They’re gliding on a glass track with no friction. The momentum is unstoppable, and I can’t imagine the payoff not delivering.

I’ll be back for the second issue. I hope you join me.

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