The remaining heroes of DCeased are battling the undead while Darkseid is scarier than ever and Clark Kent appears to return with a major change in a first-look preview of the series' first issue.
DC revealed a first look at DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #1 at the "Tom Taylor & Tom King in Conversation" panel at San Diego Comic-Con. Speaking at SDCC, Taylor simply said "Darkseid isn't" or DCeased: War of the Undead Gods, referencing the long-repeated "Darkseid is" phrase repeated in a number of DC titles, including Taylor and Mitch Gerads' Mister Miracle run from 2017.
The preview shows heroes such as Supergirl battling undead versions of Orion and other DC Universe Characters. In one panel, Supergirl appears to be overtaken by those overtaken by the infection caused by Darkseid's corrupted Anti-Life Equation.
Elsewhere in the preview, Batman (Damian Wayne) and Wonder Woman (Cassie Sandsmark) are sharing a moment when Green Lanterns John Stewart and Guy Gardner come flying in. A separate page shows Superman/Clark Kent re-appearing with a metallic right arm, seemingly cured after he was infected during the events of DCeased. With Jon Kent by his side, the two battle enemies in space alongside the Green Lanterns before making their way onboard to what appears to be Brainac's Skull Ship.
DCeased: War of the Undead Gods is the final chapter in Tom Taylor and Trevor Hairsine's zombie saga within the DC Universe. The synopsis for the first issue of the series reads, "What began as a battle for Earth has become a war for the galaxy as the epic final chapter in the massive DCeased franchise is here! The emergence of a reborn, undead Darkseid in DCeased: Dead Planet sets the stage for the most devastating conflict yet for Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman! As the Anti-Life Equation spreads into the cosmos, the survivors of Earth prepare for the coming apocalypse and realize their only hope could lie in the most powerful surviving hero from the first DCeased series... The bestselling creative team of Tom Taylor and Trevor Hairsine return for their third and final installment in War of the Undead Gods!"
Created by Taylor, Hairsine and inker Stefano Guadiano, DCeased first released in May 2019. The series takes place shortly after Darkseid accidentally unleashes a corrupted version of the Anti-Life Equation onto Earth, which then causes a massive zombie outbreak. The first DCeased saga sees a number of Justice League heroes -- including Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman -- fall victim to the infection, leaving a new team of heroes such as Jon, Damian, Cassie and others to pick up their mentor's mantle.
DCeased was followed by a sequel, DCeased: Dead Planet, in 2020, along with several spinoffs and one-shots, including DCeased: A Good Day to Die, DCeased: Unkillables and DCeased: Hope at World's End. DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #1 features cover art by Rain Beredo and variant cover art by Francesco Mattina, Dan Mora, Sun Khamunaki and Kael Ngu. The issue releases Aug. 9 from DC.
Source: DC