Shadow War: Omega #1

Shadow War Omega #1 provides a wonderful end to a truly satisfying arc. Anticipation, build-up, pay off and aftermath have all been exactly what I wanted. The inevitable collected edition of this arc will be a must-have book, get it reserved by any means necessary! Read Full Review

A phenomenal story arc comes to an end, each issue blew me away, a creative masterpiece that has created a very different looking DC world for the future, I definitely look forward to see what comes next. Read Full Review

After seven chapters and a one-shot, it all comes down to this issue and the finale of Shadow War does not disappoint. Read Full Review

The interesting and well-crafted narrative serves as a bridge between the end of the Shadow Wars and the beginning of the Dark Crisis. I enjoyed the action-packed imagery and dialogue given. However, I was most impressed by the relationship world building between Batman, Talia, and Damian. Read Full Review

It's interesting how Shadow War largely lived up to its billing of a high-stakes vendetta played out in the shadows as a lead-in to Dark Crisis. The overall messy state of how DC will handle Batman's "death during this event while fronting 10 books will be tricky, but at least Williamson is setting up a viable foundation for it. Read Full Review

Shadow War: Omega #1 is the kind of comic crossover finale you respect for how it accomplishes most of its goals while setting up future stories. That's a big reason we get events at all and thankfully this one ends in a way that feels purposeful. Sadly though, it does fall prey to tropes in superhero comics that feel tired. Read Full Review

Shadow War had its moments, but ultimately didn't turn into the must-read event it had the chance to be. While there will be some ramifications from this event, they feel like summary points that'll pop up in upcoming issues. Read Full Review

Shadow War is a pretty messy story with a strangely satisfying third act twist. The long stewing culmination of years of DC stories is Shadow War's best and only card, but may have been played too late. Many of the lead-in and tie-in stories have felt superficial and almost entirely disposable. In conclusion, Shadow War Omega has more good will than I can say for the mixed event as a whole. However, recommending this book depends on your level of investment with the characters involved. If you already were sour on the whole ordeal, this won't change your mind. Read Full Review

While the reveal of the ultimate antagonist for Shadow War was a disappointment Joshua Williamson delivered on intriguing character arcs for Bruce Wayne, Damian Wayne, and Talia Al Ghul. The ties this ending has to Dark Crisis added importance to how Shadow War: Omega concluded this crossover. In the end while it had its fair share of ups and downs Shadow War did create new storylines to look forward to in the future. Read Full Review

It just feels like there could have been so much more to this if we weren't running as fast as we can towards Dark Crisis, which has the result of this issue and event feeling like a lot of missed opportunity. Read Full Review

Overall, this story and the arc had many good points, but unfortunately, the ending does not excite like many stories. This is just a last boss battle that leads into the next event. It is a shame that the excellent writing and development throughout the arc are lost with this ending. It is not forgotten; just put it on the back burner. Read Full Review

Ultimately Shadow War Omega is a scattershot ending to a scattershot of an event, not committing to a story about any of the titular characters, or dealing with the previous series in earnest. Whats clear is this books status as a set-up for Williamsons upcoming Dark Crisis. The crossover as a whole feels like a pit stop to pad time before the universe-altering event and is more interesting in theory, rather than execution. Shadow War Omega is an excellent book to look at, but the story is lacking, and if nothing else, hopefully Segovia will get to tackle a limited series or Black Label book next. Read Full Review

Other than the "shock of the villain revealed, and Deathstoke's death being immediately redacted thanks to a dip in the Lazarus Pit, there's not much here. Although, we do get Damian being less of a prick than usual and a nice moment between father and son (right before, you know, all of the Justice League gets killed in an event that isn't referenced here except being name-dropped in the epilogue). Read Full Review

K-23

Oct 25, 2022

Joshua Williamson has been doing god's work finally thoughtfully advancing Damien where he keeps being reset every time a new creative team handles him. Hopefully this continues with other writers now that it seems Williamson has been handed the keys to current/upcoming DC status. Only knock to this issue was the lack of a compelling reason for Ra's turning himself in.

JRW7

Nov 11, 2022

The cover isn't really that great looking with it having little plot relevance. 1/2 The art is pretty solid throughout with the Dark Crisis preview being my one exception, which is probably just me not liking the art style. 1.5/2 The dialogue is great with anytime Damian opens his mouth in this comic being absolutely golden, with Batman's talk with Damian being especially great. 2.5/2 The story is pretty decent with Geo-Force making more sense with the prologue at the start of the comic and Damian having huge character growth throughout. 2/2 The characters are pretty good, with Damian being especially good. 2/2

UxasIs

Jun 16, 2022

This was a bit cheesy but I found it to be pretty enjoyable and thought it wrapped up the event pretty well

Drasek83

Jul 14, 2022

Decent conclusion to a good event. Spoilers: I’m not familiar with Geo Force, Leviathan, and Checkmate so some of the reveals was lost upon me and didn’t have a big impact.

Stormwrath

May 31, 2022

The art was weak, but the writing was super solid and fun, great ending leading up to Dark Crisis with interesting ideas, connecting what Williamson is doing with the Robin book and Dark Crisis

daspidaboy

May 31, 2022

This was a decent ending. I dont like talia al ghul but i like how they defeated the villain and robin and batman patch up their relationship. Just wish the art was better.

Absolute Z to the 4

Jun 01, 2022

Stephen Segovia is a superb artist, but his pages look rough and unfinished to me in spots, especially the major action scenes. Howard Porter, on the other hand, while not usually one of my favorites, lent an appropriate horror vibe to his five epilogue pages that came across great. I'd like to know how, if Geo-Force can raise a giant rock monster, can launch molten rock (I think?) at the Bat plane, and can repeatedly turn his arm into rock, how is it he is at the mercy of Talia's blade, and is taken down by kicks, first by Damian and then Talia? Is his neck the only vulnerable part of this body? I'd like to see if Respawn can actually respawn himself. I didn't like him particularly, but still it would be nice to learn more about h im and give him more development as a character. Overall, I'd say the crossover was decent. It had some interesting ideas and reveals, was a manageable size, and in the final analysis was a pretty good effort. more

Simargl

May 31, 2022

Shadow War is such a frustrating event. Like most of Williamson event writing, it feels half-baked. I like the idea of Ras dying, I like the idea of Deathstroke getting a second chance at being a father, it's a nice change of status quo. Hell, the idea of Geo-force being the real killer is very cool considering what has been done to Terra and Markovia (lol, I forgot that it even happened in Checkmate. Spy Bendis bored me to death). But those ideas are wasted. The reveal of Geo-force has no build up, so it feels very rushed & pointless. There are zero consequences for Talia or the League. Deathstroke is alive so his death didn't matter. Respawn/Slade was potentially the most interesting thing to come out of the event but fuck that. Ba tman and Damian patching their relationship was probably the only saving grace plotwise. The art is fine, Segovia is better than some previous artists but he didn't bring his A game like on Hellions. Overall, SW is a skippable event that probably won't matter in the long run. more

Comics Code Authorities

Jun 15, 2022

Geo-Force? I can honestly say I'd never have guessed because my interest in this character could fit into a thimble and you could still fit in a herd of elephants with it. So here we have a 2nd rate conclusion to a 3rd rate crossover to see a showdown with a 4th rate superhero in the fallout of a 5th rate Bendis-made disaster. And all for $6. Save your money. Wish I had.... It actually has some promise, but the conclusion was pretty disappointing. Outside Batman's world, I knew nothing about most of this crossover's characters. Maybe Geo-Force will redeem himself. We all know Ra's won't stay dead this time either. Nor will he next time, or the time after that, or the time after..... Geeze, no wonder South Park stopped killing Kenny all th e time. Fictional characters dying then returning has been done to death for years. I wish comic writers would get the message like those on South Park did and stop it already. My only real thought I'd like to share on Shadow War with DC's editors is that if they plan to make a sequel, don't. more

arroniero45

May 31, 2022

I don't like how the script let's Talia Just go without much Consequence despite all of her actions both here and in the leviathan. same with Damian, he still hasn't answered for Killing brother blood and imprisoning people. i just hate how everything has Lost its meaning and Consequences.

SnakeWilson

May 31, 2022

This crossover was one big letdown, full of inconsistencies, boring and unnecessary long. First, let's talk about what they did to Brion here and how it makes zero sense. Terra never died in today's continuity, he has no reason to hate Deathstroke, and what Talia did to him is way worst. Just like in the beginning, this whole crossover depends on inconsistencies and that the reader forgets certain things, but, it also mentions some previous comics. So, it wants you to remember certain things, but not all things that is referencing. This is lazy writing. The way Brion gets taken down is just as stupid as Talia beating Slade in a fair fight. Also, it feels wrong, the fact that Talia kills a man who did nothing wrong to her, shows no remo rse, but does not kill the one who's actually guilty here. Making the message of the comic pointless and empty. Turning Geo-force into a murderer and a villain is stupid enough, it kills the point of character, but how they made it here is even worst. The only moment that could be good, Batman talking with his son, gets thrown away. I find no redeeming aspects here, even the art is weird at some places. About the epilogue now. Another thing that makes zero sense. Did the writer forget that Slade can heal himself from that type of injury? Everyone knows that Slade has a healing factor, he has survived worst things, why would the society feel the need to use the Lazarus pit on him? Oh, yeah, plot. This is supposed to connect to Dark Crisis. It was one of the selling points. But the connection comes only in the last pages. Since we're getting a new writer and a new arc about Slade's origin in Deathstroke Inc., and looking at how this event did with the title, I also fear that DS inc has been thrown under the bus for nothing. Wasted potential. Reminds me of what they did to MJS Thor run for Siege. This could have been great. Make Slade be the one who killed Ra's, he would have reason to, Make Talia ask for Geo-Force's help to take Slade down. Make Geo-force the hero and Slade the villain. Also, don't kill Respawn. Remember the term "woman on the fridge"? Even tho he's not a woman, they just introduced him, to kill him, to give Slade a reason to attack Talia. This is also lazy writing. more

REYNARD

May 31, 2022

The ideas are there, the dialogue isn't. Segovia's art, especially during the Geo-Force sequences, was actually a lot of fun. The first epilogue was super lacking, it looked like fan art. The Deathstroke epilogue had some of the best Howard Porter art I've ever seen. His depiction of Deathstroke's corpse was incredible.

Psycamorean

Nov 06, 2022

Dumb.

Anakin

May 31, 2022

Lol fuck Talia, she was the worst here and she somehow comes out of this event completely unscathed. Destroyed a whole city to appease her greed and insecurity but somehow Geoforce is wrong to avenge the million deaths at her hands. Geoforce did nothing wrong, what he was doing was justice.

Loafy Trophy

Jun 07, 2022

After a relatively strong start, Williamson and the art team just couldn't make the back half of this event work, which led to a lackluster finale. The Geo-Force reveal felt completely tacked on, to the point his entire motivation in this story was ACTUALLY tacked on during a 2-3 page flashback. The pacing in the story was all over the place and events seemed to occur only because the script needed them to. Black Canary showing up at the end of the issue in a Bat-plane for some reason, was among the biggest deus ex machinas I've ever read. And the earlier Respawn stuff just reeks of fridging. The art for most of the issue was fine and Segovia's action sequences were clear and kinetic. Unfortunately the Porter art ranged from weird to ou tright goofy and took me out of the book completely, which was pretty much a problem I had the whole series. The Robin title looked good and everything else was a bit of a struggle. It's really hard to say what purpose this story served in general. Ra's is now dead and Batman and Robin are working together again, at least until Waid splits them up this fall, but it's hard to escape the feeling that DC is just moving the pieces around out of a duty to do so, rather than to tell a fun or exciting story. more