Crime Syndicate Reveals the Origins of DC's Most Villainous World
- WRITER
- Andy Schmidt
- Artist
- Bryan Hitch, Dexter Vines, Kieran McKeown
- Letterer
- Rob Leigh
- Cover Artist
- Jim Cheung, Skan, Romulo Fajardo Jr.
- Publisher
- DC Comics
- Price
- 3.99
- Release Date
- 2021-03-02
- Colorist
- Alex Sinclair, Steve Oliff
One of the most surprising titles announced as part of DC's newly launched Infinite Frontier era is a six-issue miniseries focused on the Crime Syndicate of America helmed by Andy Schmidt and Kieran McKeown. Set on the morally inverted world of Earth-3, the Crime Syndicate is made up of the nominally familiar faces of the main DC Universe's biggest heroes, reimagined as authoritarian figures that rule their world with an iron grip. The opening issue of the new miniseries gives each of the Crime Syndicate's members a chance at the spotlight as it explores the previously untold history of the DC Multiverse's most sinister universe.
The debut introduces each of the various members of the Crime Syndicate separately, united to face a common foe that threatens to conquer their world. However, as the group of supervillains set aside their differences to work together, they discover that their alliance may prove too volatile to sustain even with their planet at risk. A backup story by Schmidt and Bryan Hitch provides a dive deep of Ultraman's origins as Earth-3's morally inverted take on Superman as the future dictator arrives on Earth, revealing how his adopted upbringing makes him best suited to live up to his totalitarian destiny.
Schmidt is able to balance the disparate, villainous voices of his eponymous team well, giving each of the main characters their own proper introduction, oftentimes with each vignette opening in media res as the Crime Syndicate members show exactly why they deserve a place on the evil ensemble. Schmidt weaves in familiar elements of the DCU into each of these introductions, subverting them and using that subversion to his advantage to build up how each of these characters differ from their main DCU counterparts. The backup does feel a little less effective than the main story, with Ultraman's adoptive parents' dialogue a bit repetitive and certainly not subtle while the backup story itself doesn't quite have the narrative payoff that it sets up; fortunately, the main feature doesn't suffer from this particular shortcoming.
McKeown, working with colorist Steve Oliff, provides a showcase for each of the individual members of the Crime Syndicate. This includes new designs for many of the villains, in comparison to the last time they all prominently appeared together during the 2013 crossover event Forever Evil, yet each immediately recognizable in comparison to their respective main DCU counterpart. With plenty of action to highlight what each character does best, McKeown's artwork draws readers in as Earth-3 faces an especially devastating threat. Hitch, working with colorist Alex Sinclair, on the backup delivers a reliably good artistic exploration into the early years of Clark Kent on Earth-3 with some sweeping visuals.
Crime Syndicate #1 serves as a great primer for anyone unfamiliar with Earth-3 and its villainous residents while reimagining the alternate world enough to where it still seems fresh and exciting for more seasoned readers. Schmidt has a firm handle on his roster's individual characters and McKeown absolutely elevates the scripting with his artwork.
The backup story is a bit more uneven but certainly not for lack of gorgeous artwork by Hitch who provides a slyly subversive take on the iconic Superman origin story and makes Earth-3's small, midwestern town the unwitting home of the greatest villain it has ever known. While Crime Syndicate's place in the wider Infinite Frontier DCU is still unknown, the miniseries is shaping up to be an entertaining, self-contained adventure.