The following contains spoilers for Static: Shadows of Dakota #2, on sale now from DC Comics.
While heroes such as Virgil Hawkins, better known as Static, have long called the Milestone Universe their home, it has also been the birthplace of just as many superpowered villains. This makes it all the more surprising that the latest threat to Static's world doesn't seem to have any powers to call his own. Instead, this barely-seen enemy has made it his mission to dissect those belonging to Dakota's Bang Babies for the worst possible reason.
Static: Shadows of Dakota #2 (by Vita Ayala, Nikolas Draper-Ivey, and Andworld Design) opened in an undisclosed location somewhere in the eponymous city. There, Adam Evans, aka Rubberband Man, was shredded and stretched as a grotesque form of imprisonment. As it turns out, the one behind it all is the very same person behind the attacks that have been taking place across the city as well as its disappearances. Although Adam's captor isn't seen outright, they make no secret of their plan to unravel the mysteries behind the Bang Babies and all in the hopes of creating their own.
Static's New Enemy is Trying to Weaponize Bang Babies
Out of any event in Milestone history, the Big Bang is easily the one that shaped it the most. Much like what took place all the way back in 1993's Blood Syndicate #2 (by Ivan Velez Jr., Dwayne McDuffie, and James Fry), the latest iteration of the Big Bang was brought about by the use of an experimental tear gas on a group of protesters in Dakota City. This chemical agent was laced with Quantum Juice which, when introduced into an unsuspecting and untested populace, killed many and transformed others into the superpowered Bang Babies they are known as today.
While it was Curtis Metcalf, aka Hardware, who was blamed for the Big Bang, the true culpability lies with his former employer and industry juggernaut Edwin Alva and his company Alva Industries. Thanks to Alva's efforts, that information has been hidden from the public entirely, including those who are now seeking to recreate it. As easy as it might be for Edwin to release what he knows to whoever this largely unseen figure is, that would mean acknowledging his part in the tragic event. However, it isn't impossible for someone to reverse engineer his work regardless, although doing so may be far more trouble than it is worth.
What a New Big Bang Means for the Milestone Universe
The first Big Bang already unleashed abject chaos across Dakota in the days that followed, and while things have reached a relative calm at this point, that doesn't mean they have gotten much better as a whole. Dakota is still suffering from a spate of attacks both at the hands of rogue Bang Babies and the villains who are hunting them, not to mention the explosive exploits of the city's artificially empowered heroes and villains.
Introducing another generation of Bang Babies would be enough to tip the scales in one person's favor for a short while, but that is about the best that they could hope for. The fact that Static's enigmatic enemy doesn't seem to realize that is certainly concerning, yet the idea that they might make things even worse. If they truly aren't worried about collateral damage, then nothing short of total annihilation is going to stop their villainous endeavors. And, considering how untouchable they have been so far, taking them out of the picture probably isn't going to happen anytime soon.