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I really didn't think the Day of Vengence mini-series was all that hot. It ended with the Rock of Eternity getting blown up and left the Spectre free to continue his magical assisinations. We couldn't possibly expect Detective Chimp and Blue Devil to save the day, could we? The Day of Vengence Infinite Crisis Special is much better, or maybe it just seems that way since I had low expectations. Things actually happen! Dr. Fate teams up with the Phantom Stranger, the Shadowpact, Zatanna, and just about every third rate mystical character you can think of. There are fanboys who will pay $4 alone just to see Zatanna in her fishnets, so right off the bat, this special offers more than the mini-series.
Spoiler warning: if you don't want to know the ending, turn back now. There are big ramifications here for the rest of the DC Universe and the Infinite Crisis. Dr. Fate is now bodiless and driven by Nabu, but he's pretty much the only person with enough mana and balls to stop the Spectre. Once the mystical army assembles, Fate says something quite shocking: instead of stopping the Spectre, let's help him! There's too much mystical mumbo jumbo going on! The mystical heroes arrive in Gotham City to pick up all the rocks that make up the Rock of Eternity. (Some of these heroes you haven't seen in a while: Jennifer Morgan, Zauriel, Black Orchid, and Rex the Wonder Dog.) While they assemble that back together, the Shadowpact tracks down the Seven Deadly Sins and traps them in Shazam's vases. It's good fun, especially when Blue Devil finds lust inhabiting Witchfire. (I think if lust inhabited Zatanna, all fanboys would be utterly helpless. Wait a minute. Isn't that the case already?) The sins all get captured. The Rock of Eternity gets assembled, but Captain Marvel will need to live inside it for a while. Nightshade gets captured by Felix Faust and his demons, presumably for Luthor to stick into the giant tuning fork that we saw in Infinite Crisis #3.
Back to the main event. Dr. Fate fights a big mystical battle with the Spectre. Lots of flashing lights and computer colored graphics. Fate muses about who has been pulling the Spectre's strings in order to make him eradicate magice. He loses to the Spectre--maybe on purpose. Fate is the last of the Lords of Order and Chaos. With his death, the supreme authority (G.O.D.) steps in and withdraws the Spectre. Fate and the other Lords had been working on a new female host for the Spectre. Now that HE is stepping in, HE will find a new host. (This is a little too Christian and male centric for me. I liked Deadman's God, the female Rama chick a lot better.) Fate has a few moments left to return to the mystical heroes and tell them that the Ninth Age of Magic is over and soon the Tenth Age will begin. A new host for the Spectre has already been determined. Fate's helmet is incredibly de-powered now: the history of all the previous Fate's are gone, and so is that inner universe where we last saw Hector and Ayla Hall. There's still enough power in the helmet for a new Dr. Fate, so Detective Chimp immediately tries it on for size. Since it doesn't fit, Chimp asks Captain Marvel to throw it away as far as possible! He sounds mad.
The artwork in this issue is really good. There's a full page spread of the mystical army--I captured a small version of it above--by Justiano that is just incredible. I love the cover by Simonson which mimics the old Doorway to Nightmare covers by Kaluta.
We'll have to wait and see what happens now. Who is pulling the strings? The Spectre had a big role in the last Crisis, stopping the Anti-Monitor at the last moment from nullifying the universe. Is he somehow behind this? Since Jim Corrigan is back in Gotham Central, will he be the new host for the Spectre? And Dr. Fate's helmet, who gets it? I haven't really been jazzed about any Fate since the original guy, Kent Nelson. Will he come back with the other Earth-2 heroes? I just gotta live longer enough to find out. Nuff said.
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