Tom Taylor and Yasmine Putri’s Dark Knights of Steel took the comic book world by storm when it first debuted, and it’s not hard to see why. Reimagining the DC Universe’s heroes and villains in a medieval format was a big draw to both DC fans and to lovers of high fantasy (as someone who grew up on Justice League Unlimited and the Lord of the Rings films, I fall squarely in both camps.) So how does Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter aim to draw in its audience? Two words: Viking Deathstroke.
Yes, Slade Wilson is reimagined as a Viking warrior in the world of Dark Knights of Steel, and Allwinter sends him on a mission across the high seas to stop a mysterious beast. But when Wilson reaches his destination, he learns of this “beast’s” true nature – and how it could potentially shake the eternal winter that’s fallen over his kingdom.
The first thing you need to know about Allwinter is that it manages to stand on its own. While references to the events of Dark Knights of Steel are made, this is an entirely different story and an entirely different Deathstroke. Writer Jay Kristof shows a Slade who has grown disillusioned with warfare, and by extension those who use it as an excuse to slake their bloodlust. “Blood and honor, they cried,” he muses on one page. “As if these isles were not already drenched with the first. And drained of the second.”
The second major element of Allwinter is the artwork from Tirso; it’s entirely in black and white, to represent the harsh winter that has stricken the land. Tirso doesn’t let a monochrome color scheme stop him from depicting intensely violent scenes, with Slade leaving trails of jet-black blood in his wake. The biggest and bloodiest battle comes when he faces off against a kraken. I won’t spoil details, but Tirso draws a conflict that is every bit as epic as you’d expect.
Allwinter ends with a backup story from Taylor, Riccardo Federici and Arif Prianto that jumps to another period of time, and features Jonathan and Martha Kent as its protagonists. It’s a beautiful looking story because of Federici’s artwork and Prianto’s lush colors, and an engaging one because Taylor is able to tap into what makes the Kents the kind of people you’d follow into battles. Overall, Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter #1 continues to be one hell of a medieval mashup.
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