Comic book fans loved 2019’s DCeased series, taking place in an alternate DC universe threatened by a zombie-like infection. And they loved the movie homage variant covers just as much. The sequel DCeased: Dead Planet continues that tradition, expanding their scope to science fiction and superhero blockbusters, including DC’s own Aquaman film, now re-imagined with a Green Lantern-dominated variant for DCeased: Dead Planet #4.
The Earth of DCeased is changed forever when a corrupted version of the Anti-Life equation infects billions, turning both citizens and superheroes into disfigured, violent versions of themselves. One of the earliest victims was Green Lantern Hal Jordan, who attacked his friends and teammates Green Arrow and Black Canary, forcing the latter to kill him with her Canary Cry. Upon his death, Canary is chosen to become Green Lantern, and eventually reunites with the rest of the Green Lantern Corps as they arrive to battle an infected Superman. Leaving the cursed planet in the care of the Corps, Dinah led the survivors to a new world. But as Dead Planet reveals in its new variant cover… home is calling.
This latest card stock movie cover by artist InHyuk Lee, as seen below, is a clear reference to the first Aquaman movie poster, which portrayed actor Jason Mamoa crouching underwater holding Aquaman’s family trident (or quindent if you want to get technical) while a congregation of sharks, whales and other aquatic creatures back him up. In this cover, Mamoa has been replaced with Dinah Lance who smiles while holding onto the kryptonite sword Wonder Woman made to kill Superman after he was infected. Instead of whales and sharks, Dinah is flanked by members of the Green Lantern Corps which include Guy Gardner, Jon Stewart, Kyle Rayner, Kilowog, and others including the Guardian Ganthet.
The DCeased variant covers showcasing the work of artists such as Francesco Mattina, Yasmine Putri, Ben Oliver and others have been one of the many highlights of this popular series. While covers from the previous series cleverly embraced the horror aspect of the story, the current series has expanded to science fiction or post apocalyptic films such as Ben Oliver’s covers for Dead Planet #1-2 that reference 1982’s Blade Runner or 2010’s Book of Eli. The following covers have taken nods to other DC films such as Yasmin Putri’s V for Vendetta inspired cover for Dead Planet #3 or InHyuk’s Green Lantern tribute to Aquaman, continuing the theme of paying tribute to their inspiration while redefining them within the context of the DCeased universe.
One of their biggest compliments came from DCeased writer Tom Taylor himself, who stated on Twitter that “as the writer, and being pretty proud of the story we’re telling, I’ll… still totally understand if you buy DCeased: Dead Planet for the covers,” With DCeased: Dead Planet #1 already confirmed for a second printing, it would appear that we can look forward to more beautiful artwork along with the kind of top-notch storytelling we’ve come to expect from Taylor and his collaborators.
DCeased: Dead Planet #4 written by Tom Taylor with art by Trevor Hairsine and Gigi Baldassini will be released on October 6th, 2020.
NEXT: DCeased: Dead Planet is Heading To The NEW Gods’ Home
