TITLE: Dark Dominion Issue #1
YEAR: October 1993
COMPANY: Defiant Comics
Created by Jim Shooter
Developed by Jim Shooter and Steve Ditko
Written by Len Wein
Penciled by Joseph A. James
Inked by Mike Barreiro, Bob Downs and Charles Yoakum
Painted by Tim Perkins
Lettered by George Roberts
Edited by Deborah Purcell and Ed Polasky
For Jim Shooter, creating great stories and bringing in talent was his forte and he did so in the ’90s with Defiant.
Problem was, Marvel was on his back and a lawsuit was filed against Defiant for releasing “Warriors of Plasm”. But that was not going to stop Shooter, as his comic book company Defiant, has no doubt lived to its name and standing its ground and wanting to be the best when it came to independent comics. From special edition tin sets, t-shirts and hard-to-find releases, they were off to a good start.
And in October 1993, Defiant released the first issue of “Dark Dominion”, a comic created by Jim Shooter and developed by Shooter and Steve Ditko.
While Ditko worked on #0 (released as a trading card set and binder), he decided not to continue on the book, but Shooter was able to bring in Joseph A. James, Mike Barreiro, Bob Downs and Charles Yoakum but also writer Len Wein, which no doubt gave the book the edge (for those not familiar with Wein’s work, he co-created Swamp Thing and X-Men’s Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Storm and Colossus).
In my book, Len Wein is among the departed comic book legends and the quality of his work will be missed.
“Dark Dominion” is set in Manhattan and the city is where there is dark and light and for Michael Alexander, he is able to turn into light and enter an alternate world occupied by demons manifested by the fears of humans.
Michael Alexander is the author of a book titled “Dark Dominion” and the first issue, many come to him seeking help, but he tells them he’s not a healer but tries to help them understand that they must conquer their fears.
While at a McDonald’s, a man starts going crazy with a knife and hurting an innocent, Michael switches to light mode and in this alternate dimension, he sees monsters on the man, which he quickly kills the monsters on him. But while in this mode, he sees a woman looking at him.
As Michael goes back to human mode, he meets with Mercy, a homeless woman who happens to know about the alternate world somehow. She takes him to a dark area and are attacked by a monster and turns to light and defeats it. But this time around, he sees the woman who was looking at him and she is taken by monsters.
He goes after her and defeats the monsters that hurt the woman, but it was all a ploy by Chasm. Chasm is a being that can turn to light but works with the monsters and has made Manhattan his home because of the fear of the people he can tap into.
And while Michael shows off his heroics, Chasm threatens to kill Mercy, which leaves Michael switching back to human mode and knocked unconscious by men working for Chasm. Michael is taken to a steam hole in which he is thrown there to die.
Of course, I doubt they would kill off the main protagonist, with many more issues to go.
Speaking of issues, “Dark Dominion” lasted for only ten issues before Defiant had to cease publication but I have to say, this was a very good comic book and I can’t wait to read more issues.