Salvation Run

(DC, 2008)
™ and © 2007 DC Comics, Inc.

The powers-that-be have finally had enough of the constant criminal activity of Earth’s super-powered villains. The rampage of Black Adam, as depicted in 52 and the death of Bart Allen in Flash: The Fastest Man Alive have prompted a clandestine faction of the government to exile these costumed rogues to a faraway world where they must cooperate and establish their own civilization or die in the process. Flash’s Rogues Gallery are among the first of the forced emigrants as well as some D-list characters like Meanstreak and Hellhound, but they are soon joined by big guns like Luthor and the Joker. Since cooperation is not a quality that is normally associated with these Type A personalities, peaceful coexistence seems as unlikely as it was on Earth.

The forced exile of a troublemaker, absent of due process, seems to be an idea whose time has come. In the previous year, Marvel published Planet Hulk in which The Illuminati, (Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Namor and others) decided the Hulk should be exiled to a different planet for the good of everyone. DC’s employment of the same concept is an unfortunate coincidence. This seven-issue mini-series is the legacy of Suicide Squad, (especially due to the presence of Rick Flagg and Amanda Waller), and a precursor to Final Crisis.

— George Haberberger

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