Dark Knights of Steel #12

Dark Knights of Steel marked another successful out of continuity series for Taylor who excels at these types of stories. With Putri, Prianto and Abbott, Taylor has a creative team worthy of another round of stories featuring this magical, superhero kingdom. Read Full Review

This issue contains brilliantly crafted action scenes that are fully immersive. The classic illustrations focus on both character and scenery in detailed, realistic form. Every page is both emotionally engaging and tonally supportive of the tale. Read Full Review

Is this a good final issue? Absolutely, but it's also a little hamstrung by some of the best things about the series. It has an epic scale and a huge cast of characters, which means not everyone gets a fair shake in the final issue. Read Full Review

The fantastic world of Knights of Steel is fun, interesting, and action packed. Though most characters have familiar traits and reputation, a new reader can have a blast flipping through the story with little to no experience reading DC Comics at all. Even still, there are few issues and nitpicks that Tom Taylor still can't justify. Aside from all of the cool moments, the story takes small convivences to get from point A to point Z. In just this issue, I have no idea why the Kryptonite wielding White Martians would leave the battlefield to chase the heroes. Furthermore, it is a Batman/Superman story at its core, but Kal El doesn't actually get to do anything. Yet, overall I'd never say any of those things will keep this book from being an often gorgeous adventure for curious readers. Read Full Review

I want more, and other fans are left wanting more, too. Isn't that perfect for an Elseworlds saga? The series ends with this universe's own Justice League, pulling on my heartstrings. I'm hoping there will be more, as the art and different iterations of my favorite heroes has been a thrill to read. Read Full Review

Dark Knights of Steel #12 manages to wrap up the long building final battle while setting up a universe well worth exploring again in future series. Throw in a key character death or two and you have yourself a rousing climax. Read Full Review

Dark Knights of Steel #12 delivers a strong conclusion to Tom Taylor and Yasmine Putri's epic. The final battle against the White Martians had a big event feel. The end result leaves the door open for an even bigger story to take place down the line. All in all, Dark Knights of Steel is a series you should pick up the trade paperbacks to experience the story for yourself. Read Full Review

This was an absolute blast of a series from start to finish that only suffered from the delays it had. And those were worthwhile because the quality of the artwork and writing will mean that in the long run when more people see this through collections where they'll have the best experience. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the finale wraps up things neat and tidy but with enough messes around the edges so that we'll definitely come back for more whenever they decide to revisit it again. The concept is simple – just like the other non-continuity books that Taylor has worked on – but the execution is fantastic across the board. This is the kind of stuff that keeps me reading DC's books when their sprawling continuity stuff just feels like it doesn't work. Great characters, engaging and fun stories that shake things up, and great artwork. Very recommended. Read Full Review

Tom Taylor's swords of sorcery take on the DCU wraps up with a huge final issue. All the pieces slot together for a satisfying and epic conclusion which leaves plenty of room for future stories. Read Full Review

I really liked the way these characters were handled, as the power behind the power. In particular, I loved this Harley, using the power of being the fool to both lull people's suspicions while still being able to spout wisdom.  Give me a special with just these three. Read Full Review

A story closes with a satisfactory ending in this final chapter of "Dark Knights of Steel. Read Full Review

Dark Knights of Steel ends with one more shocking death, but otherwise wraps things up in a pretty satisfying way. Read Full Review

daspidaboy

Sep 03, 2023

As I finished up this series, I got to say that I really enjoyed it. My on ly complaint with this series was that Amanda Waller didnt get what she deserved, and it feels scummy she still gets away Scott-free when she betrayed the Kingdoms. But other than that, the pacing was good, the story was interesting, the characters were interesting (even though Batman got huge favoritism here), and the action was good. Overall, I would say this is another successful and great DC Elseworld story.

Jawsh

Sep 13, 2023

Not the finish one would hope for when the series began. It feels unfinished. Love the artwork as always and some versions of these characters work really well. Just hope the next arc (cuz it is coming...) is plotted more effectively.

fzanca

Aug 28, 2023

Pretty unsatisfying ending. Truthfully, they lost me when they brought in the martians. I wanted something a bit more grounded. We already had people with powers, bringing in aliens twisted the story over the edge for me. I could tell that Taylor just wanted to wrap it up quick since he had taken so long to end the series. A lot of loose ends and Waller's ending made no sense at all.

Hex

Jan 12, 2024

What the first half set up to be an amazing finale, lighting the heroes on fire as they decimate the White Martians is immediately cheapened by another shock death and zero repercussions for Waller. I absolutely hate her character, any time she is on screen or in a comic. I WISH that wasn't the case because she has so much potential for nuance. This was not nuance. This was done to upset and outrage. It is such an unsatisfying ending. I'm really over creators, writers, directors butchering their stories solely for the shock factor or to "subvert expectations". You can have a devastating conclusion without Waller walking free. We also know it is very unlikely to get a follow up series so just teasing ANOTHER Justice League seems so wasteful at least after the Waller incident. If she were taken by them and made an example by the League that would be something else entirely. The conclusion was purely just a wrap up and frustratingly abrupt. more

Avanvolk

Oct 20, 2025

A rushed ending that didn't deliver on the promising start. I can't help but be disappointed. The villains were disposed of far too quickly and far too easily. The Green Man was a total fake-out bad guy and ended up being completely inconsequential to the story. Why did the aliens even need him at all? It seems like all of the manipulation and assassination they did to get the kingdoms to fight each other could have been done without the help of the Green Man. Pointless. And speaking of pointless...Alfred's death! What purpose did that serve? And Waller just gets away with everything? The real mastermind behind the entire plot and she doesn't even face justice? So unsatisfying. I wish I could give this issue a higher score cause I really di d enjoy this series for the most part, but this ending was a huge letdown. It felt like Tom Taylor needed at least 6 more issues to tie up the plot threads neatly, but ran out of time and gave us a hurried mess of a finish. more

Vite

Aug 22, 2023

Well, this series was a waste of time. The setting is frankly, uninteresting. Taylor never goes beyond surface-level pop-culture fantasy tropes, that aren't aided by his bipolar need to either make everybody either super-nice or darker and edgier versions of themselves. The characters have less personality than a toaster (and that need to hide their motivations because of the twist didn't help them either). This has to be the most boring Batman, in terms of personality, I've ever read. Which is bizarre because plot-wise this is one of the most Batgod-wank based series I've ever read. He's got an overload of tropes to make him the coolest (even getting part of Superman's powers, he's given a dragon, secret king bastard son that's so great he renouces his heritage), which feels extremely artificial, and yet his character is flat as a table. This versions of Superman and Wonder Woman are basically caricatures (Superman is nice. Wonder Woman is a warrior. The end). Wonder Woman, who is supposdly normal, having to be told not to be xenophobic or a savage by Batman and the Kryptonians is bizarre. And the plots are as standart as you can get (aliens attack, Justice League has to form to fight them) and the execution, overly convoluted (we need characer making stupid decisions so that we can pretend this is going to be a war between kingdoms that goes nowhere because the threat is something else entirely) and the narration, just dull. I've got my fair share of problems with Taylor's other Elseworlds, but this has to be the dullest one by far. I hope now this has finally ended Yasmine Putri can move on to something else. more

Sautron

Aug 25, 2023

The only good thing I can say about this series is that it ended. Bad characters, bad plotting, bad pacing. Weak dialogue and moments, with the characters speaking in Twitter-speak half the time and mock-Tolkien the other half. Taylor's weakest Elseworld, one of the weaker things DC has put for some time. I hope they don't waste any more time with this tbh because there are a lot more stories (better ones) to be told.