The DC Universe just got a lot more interesting with the release of New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident #1. This one-shot is kind of a big deal, as it’s DC’s latest attempt to merge the Milestone and DC Universes into a single, natural shared history. For a long time, fans have wanted to see characters like Static and Icon truly interact with the wider DC Universe, and this book feels like the perfect launchpad for that. It really feels like Milestone has finally come home to stay, and the story doesn’t hold back on the future possibilities.
The issue brings together an incredible lineup of creators to reflect the changing spirit of Dakota City. Split into three acts, New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident #1 is guided by Joseph P. Illidge and Valentine De Landro in Act 1, Stephanie Williams and her team in Act 2, and Morgan Hampton and Fico Ossio in Act 3. Bookended by a prelude and epilogue from Nikolas Draper-Ivey and Edwin Galmon, which pulls the whole experience together.
The Mystery of the Dakota Incident
The New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident #1 is a bold new story that changes everything we thought we knew about Dakota City. It follows a young hero named Beacon (Amistad Ervin), who is the son of Rocket and a student of Static, as he travels back from a future that is slowly being erased. He arrives in a past version of the city that is falling apart and discovers a dark secret about the famous Big Bang. Instead of a random accident, the event was actually a planned government test called Operation: Big Bang. The billionaire Edwin Alva provided a dangerous gas called Q-Juice to create Bang Babies on purpose. After the test went wrong, Alva framed his protege, Hardware (Curtis Metcalf), for the tragedy. Because Alva was killed before he could be caught, the government used the chaos to seize total control, leaving heroes like Static and Rocket in a much more dangerous world.
The Dakota Incident does a great job of redefining the Dakota heroes as archetypes of resistance within this shared history. Icon (Augustus Freeman) is a symbol of resilience, a man who has walked the Earth since 1839. Hardware is the crusader, waging a covert war to destroy Alva’s corrupt system at every level. Static (Virgil Hawkins) is the spark; the only primary hero whose powers were born directly from the Big Bang event, making him the catalyst for the entire Milestone heroic age.
Lex Luthor and the Suicide Squad
The most intense part of this comic is seeing how the rest of the DC Universe reacts to Dakota City. Lex Luthor is the President of the United States in this timeline, and he views the super-powered people of Dakota as an Omega-level threat. He sends in Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad to shut everything down. The fight between the Suicide Squad and the Blood Syndicate is fierce, with characters like Deadshot and Captain Boomerang treating a regular American neighborhood like a war zone.
It is a terrifying look at what happens when the government decides that certain people are too dangerous to hold power. Even heroes like Captain Atom get involved, fighting against Icon in a battle that feels like it could level the whole city. When the Justice League (Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman) finally shows up, it’s not to save the day in a traditional sense; it’s to help negotiate a ceasefire that forces the Dakota heroes to stop using their powers entirely to save the city from further government-sanctioned destruction.
The Price of Peace and the Deferred Dream
Luthor gets exactly what he wants: Dakota City is brought under federal authority, and the D.E.O. sets up shop right in the middle of the community center on Cowan Avenue. This political fallout leaves the heroes in checkmate, forced to sign a deal that makes them fugitives if they continue to protect their home with their gifts. The issue ends with a poignant reference to Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem,” reflecting how the dream of a heroic golden age in Dakota was deferred and denied by the system.
Beacon is really the core of the story, and I appreciate the creative team showing us his journey, as it serves as a meta-commentary on the preservation of history. As his old timeline vanishes, he realizes that while the trajectory of the past changed with Alva’s death, the destination can still be saved. He finds the modern-day Virgil Hawkins, who has buried his loss in his studies, and delivers the emotional core of the issue: Static was the spark that lit the fire, and it is time for that spark to return.
Does The Dakota Incident #1 deliver?
Overall, New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident #1 does a great job of bringing the Milestone and DC universes together. It reveals a dark secret they both share and connects the Supermen Project to Operation: Big Bang in one quick move, making the whole universe feel much bigger and more connected than ever before.
It’s usually very hard to fix messy comic book timelines (see Mark Waid’s New History of the DC Universe), but this team made it look easy. The future of these two worlds looks exciting, and I can’t wait to see what comes next for the DC Universe and the citizens of Dakota.
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‘New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident’ #1 is the Fresh Start Milestone Fans Deserve
New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident #1 does a great job of bringing the Milestone and DC universes together. It reveals a dark secret they both share, connects the Supermen Project to Operation: Big Bang, and expands the universe in one swift move.
