Remembering the dead DC heroes in DCeased: Dead Planet #1 first look

(Image credit: DC)

Return to the undead-ravaged alternate universe of DC's DCeased in a first look at June 30's Dead Planet #1. And in this world, there's an all-new, all-different Justice League (to borrow a phrase from Marvel).

"We may have killed off the Justice League but, at the same time, we carefully created a new Justice League to take their place," writer/co-creator Tom Taylor told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year. 

This version of Earth fell after a corrupted version of the Anti-Life Equation turned many heroes, villains, and others into zombie-like beings. A war erupted, and while there were survivors, they left the planet to find a new home.

"Jon Kent and Damian Wayne were positioned to inherit the mantles of their fallen fathers as a new Superman and Batman. Cassie Sandsmark survived the battle between the Amazons and the Atlanteans to become the new Wonder Woman. Mera also survived this attack, so a monarch of Atlantis is still there as Aquawoman. Wallace survived to be the new Flash. Black Canary was chosen to be the next Green Lantern after Hal’s death. Black Lightning is still around along with his powered daughters, Anissa and Jennifer."

Set five years after the events of the original DCeased limited series, DCeased: Dead Planet finds this new JLA being called back to their Earth - with talk of a cure to this undead disease which ravaged their world.

"Will there be tragedy in Dead Planet? Of course! It’s an undead apocalypse, not a picnic," Taylor said. "But I will say we didn’t create a new Justice League just to watch them all die. There will be despair, there will be heroic sacrifices, but there will also be comedy and triumph mixed in with, you know, all those shocking deaths of beloved heroes."

Taylor returns for this six-issue sequel, along with original artist Trevor Hairsine, inker Stefano Gaudiano, colorist Gigi Baldissini, and editor Ben Abernathy.

Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)