Warning: Spoilers for Challengers of the Unknown #3Darkseid’s death is tearing theJustice Leagueapart, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but DC’s heroes may have been better off while he was still around. I’d figured that the New God being out of the picture would allow the Justice League to flourish, yet things have only gotten worse in his absence. Even though the threat of Darkseid is no more, the Justice League hasn’t entered the era of peace I had anticipated.
Challengers of the Unknown#3by Christopher Cantwell, Sean Izaakse, Amancay Nahuelpan, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou is pitting the Justice League’s heroes against each other now that Darkseid is no more. The higher-ranked heroes are keeping secrets from the Challengers as they struggle to figure out what has become of the deceased tyrant, which has caused tensions to rise.
The Justice League is gearing up for an all-out civil war as the Challengers prepare to fight back against Mister Terrific and the rest of the Leaguers, and I’m taken aback by how quickly things have escalated in the aftermath of Darkseid’s disappearance.
I Can’t Believe The Justice League Is Worse Off After Darkseid’s Death
The Impact of Darkseid’s Demise Echoes Throughout the DC Universe
InChallengers of the Unknown, the titular team has been tasked with investigating a series of anomalies that have occurred throughout the universe in the wake ofDarkseid’s groundbreaking death. However, there’s more to these anomalies than meets the eye, and each one has triggered a reaction within the nearby Challenger thatMister Terrificthinks is heralding the return of Darkseid in some capacity. They have all been created by the New God’s Omega energy, which Terrific refers to as “the energy of death” in his notes on the subject, and he believes it to be a bad omen.
The Challengers of the Unknownwere created by Jack Kirby and made their DC Comics debut in 1956’sShowcase#6.
Every time a Challenger finishes uncovering one of these Omega anomalies, the Justice League locks them away in isolation out of paranoia that they’re in some way involved in bringing Darkseid back to the land of the living. In the series' first issue, Mister Terrific theorizes that an anomaly has manifested withinAce Morganhimself after he experiences strange visions on a mission. However, Superman is then pictured with red eyes, suggesting that he’s the one who could be under Darkseid’s thrall.The Justice League’s heroes are picking each other off at random without thinking it through and noticing obvious signs of the true threats.
With Darkseid Gone, The Justice League’s Heroes Are Turning On Each Other
Fear of Darkseid Returning Fills the DC Superhero Community with Paranoia
Each time a Challenger returns from their mission to interact with Omega energy, the Justice League locks them away in isolation out of paranoia that they’re in some way involved in bringing Darkseid back to the land of the living. In this issue, Prof finds himself face-to-face with a future variant of himself who has combined theAnti-Life Equationwith the Life Equation, and Mister Terrific fears that there’s yet another connection to Darkseid at play. He isolates Prof with his teammates, but not before a confrontation that demonstrates just how far the Justice League has fallen.
Darkseid Is Joining DC’s Most Dangerous Universe, And It May Make the Villain Even More Bloodthirsty
Darkseid’s god-level appetite for blood could unleash devastation across the entire multiverse, bringing unprecedented carnage and death.
When Prof returns with the two Atoms, Mister Terrific is furious with Prof for threatening their project by letting their minds be invaded by the Optimum. They claim to trust Prof, but Terrific decides that he doesn’t and prevents him from working alongside theAtoms in their work to restore DC heroes' powers. When Prof tries to argue, he says,“If you think I’m fighting you, then you need to ask yourself whose side you’re on - ours, or his.“The Justice League has resorted to pointing fingers and accusing each other of working on Darkseid’s behalf, proving that he doesn’t need to be around to hinder them.
The Justice League Needs Darkseid More Than I Ever Realized
As It Turns Out, Superheroes Require a Common Enemy to Function
What I’ve gathered from the Justice League’s messy reaction to Darkseid’s absence is that they are at their best when they have a shared enemy to aim their efforts towards. Without that “big bad” looming over them, they have fallen apart in a matter of months, and it’s hard to watch. Darkseid only died back in October’sDC All In Special, after all, yet DC’s superheroes are already at each other’s throats. As the Challengers prepare to take a stand against theJustice League, Omega energy is infecting powerhouses like Superman, leaving the heroes weaker than they ever were whenDarkseidwas alive.
