Even DC superheroes aren't immune to gun violence these days.
Over in Batman, new writer Chip Zdarsky is having Tim Drake-Robin make a quick recovery from having been shot in the neck in Batman #125, Zdarsky's debut issue.
But over in issue #3 of the newly-renamed Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, Gar Logan, AKA Beast Boy isn't recovering as fast or perhaps as permanently.
Shot in the face by Deathstroke (who seems under the corruptive influence of Pariah using the Great Darkness) in Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #1, Gar is going to live according to the DCU's resident physician/superhero Mr. Terrific, but the damage done might be more than physical.
And that seems to be the overarching Dark Crisis ... on Infinite Earths theme.
Gar's Titans family Donna, Roy, Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven, and other younger DC heroes like all three Batgirls, Red Hood, and the Signal gather in the hall of the hospital while Nightwing stands vigil over Gar, and deal with the aftermath of Deathstroke's attack on Titans Tower and Beast Boy's brutal shooting.
The message by series writer Joshua Williamson seems clear - the stakes are different when the younger heroes don't have the Justice League to bail them out of the really tough spots.
Check out a few pages from Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #3, including a subtle callback to Beast Boy's Doom Patrol days, and if you look really close, the first - albeit brief - appearance of the new character Red Canary.
How will Dark Crisis rank amongst every DC Crisis event ever?
