Welcome back, comic fans, to another massive deep dive into the ever-expanding lore of our favorite heroes! Today, we are sinking our teeth into an absolute masterpiece that honors the legacy of Milestone Media while pushing its characters into uncharted narrative territory. We are, of course, talking about the highly anticipated New History of the DC Universe – The Dakota Incident #1. Published under the banner of DC’s Black History Month celebration, this issue delivers an emotional, action-packed thrill ride that fundamentally alters the timeline of Dakota City. Grab your favorite snack, settle in, and let us walk through the full story.
The Future is Now (And It’s Collapsing)
The story kicks off several years in the future of Dakota City. The opening pages thrust us immediately into the action alongside Amistad Ervin. For those who might need a quick refresher on their Milestone lore, Amistad is the son of Raquel Ervin (the iconic hero Rocket) and has taken up the mantle of Beacon, serving as the protégé to none other than Static himself.
Amistad is right in the middle of a chaotic brawl with a crazed, light-wielding villain. Amistad easily handles the threat, proving that he is no slouch when it comes to defending his city. Following the scuffle, Amistad checks in over his comms with his mentor, calling him “Uncle Virg”. Virgil Hawkins (Static) is balancing his heroic duties with his family life; he casually mentions that his wife is eyeing him about dinner and his kid isn’t making things any easier. It is a beautifully grounded moment that highlights how far Virgil has come, growing from a wisecracking teenager into a seasoned mentor and family man.
However, the peaceful banter is abruptly shattered. A sudden temporal anomaly strikes, and Amistad is overwhelmed by agonizing pain. As his reality literally begins to disintegrate around him, Amistad cries out for his family and the heroes who raised him, begging for help from Maker, his Mom, Hardware, and Icon. Just before his present ceases to exist entirely, his advanced suit activates emergency temporal safeguards, violently pulling him into the time stream. Recalling advice from Uncle Virg that the past is the key to solving present problems, Amistad resolves to travel back in time to fix whatever broke the timeline and save his loved ones.
Plunging into the Past: The Golden Year and The Big Bang
As Amistad tumbles through the void of the time stream, he becomes a phantom observer of Dakota City’s history. He watches the era known as the “Golden Year” of Dakota, a time before superheroes filled the skies. During this period, the city’s primary guardian was not a masked vigilante but Edwin Alva, a wealthy industrialist, inventor, and humanitarian. Alongside Alva was Curtis Metcalf, his brilliant right-hand scientific genius.
Amistad witnesses the dark truth behind Dakota’s perceived prosperity. In an attempt to quell the gang conflicts in Paris Island, Alva deployed a special quantum gas. This gas did not just disperse the crowds; it altered the survivors at the quantum level, granting them metahuman abilities. This tragic event birthed the “Bang Babies,” leading to the rise of groups like the Blood Syndicate, who found solidarity in the ashes of the tragedy.
The narrative beautifully captures the complex dynamic between Alva and Metcalf. Metcalf, discovering the depths of Alva’s corruption and his involvement in the secret Supermen Project, confronted his mentor. But Alva, ever the ruthless tactician, framed Metcalf, prompting Metcalf to become the armored vigilante known as Hardware, waging a covert war against Alva Industries. It is a fantastic recap of classic Milestone lore, setting the stage for the massive divergence that is about to occur.
The Point of Divergence: The Murder of Edwin Alva
This is where the comic truly pulls the rug out from under the reader. From his vantage point in the time stream, Amistad witnesses an event that shatters everything: the murder of Edwin Alva. A shocked Amistad declares, “This isn’t part of the recorded history. Not part of my history”. He realizes in real-time that this single, shocking death is the genesis of his timeline’s collapse.
With Alva dead, the delicate, confidential arrangements keeping the peace in Dakota are destroyed. The federal government panics, fearing that the story of Dakota’s superhumans will expose their own dark secrets regarding the Supermen Project. In Washington D.C., a terrifying brain trust convenes: Secretary of Defense Sam Lane, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Joseph Rock, Secretary of Metahuman Affairs Amanda Waller, and the President of the United States—Lex Luthor. Luthor demands that Dakota be brought entirely under his authority by nightfall, setting off a horrific chain of events.
The Suicide Squad and The Blood Syndicate Go to War
Under Luthor’s orders, Amanda Waller deploys a lethal task force directly into the hostile territory of Dakota City. The Suicide Squad, featuring heavy hitters like Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, and Deadshot, is instructed to neutralize any rogue metahumans who resist. The government treats the city not as a community to be protected, but as an infection to be stamped out.
The Blood Syndicate—including members like Fade, Tech-9, DMZ, and Wise Son—refuse to bow down to government dogs. A brutal, explosive street war erupts in the early hours of the morning. Waller authorizes lethal force against her own citizens. During the chaos, Amistad watches closely as Ben Turner (Bronze Tiger) grapples with his conscience, choosing between following orders and looking himself in the mirror.
The stakes escalate astronomically when Captain Atom arrives on the scene. He demands that all resistance stand down under the authority of the US Government. This draws out Icon, Dakota’s powerhouse, who declares that Captain Atom has no authority in his city. What follows is a clash of titans. As Amistad notes, it is a battle between two gods—one fighting for a government, the other for his adopted home. Every punch they throw reverberates through the time stream like an earthquake.
Just as the violence threatens to completely destroy the city by sunrise, the Justice League, led by Superman, arrives to halt the bloodshed.
The Surrender: A Dream Deferred
Superman meets with Icon, bringing devastating news. Luthor has the city’s government in his pocket and intends to entirely prohibit metahuman activity in Dakota. Anyone caught using their powers will be heavily prosecuted. Superman admits the situation is profoundly unjust but places the ultimate decision in Icon’s hands, refusing to let the Justice League wage war against the US government.
The heroes of Dakota—Icon, Rocket, Hardware, and Static—are backed into a corner. While some initially want to fight back and go down swinging against Luthor, Icon and Hardware recognize that further violence will only result in the death of innocent civilians and the total destruction of their home. They are forced into checkmate. To save the city, they must surrender their right to be heroes.
The comic shows the heartbreaking moment where the heroes sign a binding agreement. Agent Steel is assigned to run a D.E.O. office on Cowan Avenue, placed deliberately close to Virgil’s home to ensure absolute compliance. Amistad watches as the timeline shifts into a depressing new reality. Because they signed the treaty, the Age of Milestones ended before it even had a real chance to begin.
In this dark, altered timeline, Virgil Hawkins never fully realizes his potential as Static. Instead of flying through the skies, he buries his face in academic studies as a coping mechanism for the profound loss of his heroic identity. The narrative invokes the beautiful and poignant Langston Hughes poem, “Harlem,” drawing a thematic parallel to how a dream can be deferred or denied. While Augustus Freeman (Icon) and Curtis Metcalf (Hardware) look for alternative ways to protect people, Raquel Ervin (Rocket) refuses to let the dream die completely. She pours all of her boundless energy into raising and training Amistad, preparing him for a future where he can finally bring the dream back to reality.
A New Beginning: Amistad Meets Virgil
The emotional climax of the issue occurs when Amistad is violently ejected from the time stream. He crashes hard onto the pavement, right in front of a much younger, disillusioned Virgil Hawkins. Virgil rushes to his side, confused by the sudden appearance of this armored stranger.
Amistad wastes no time. He frantically explains that everything they know and love is ceasing to exist, and that their current present is hollow, built on a future that will never actually come to pass. He drops the ultimate bombshell on Virgil: Virgil is the key to saving the future.
Virgil, beaten down by the oppressive reality of Luthor’s regime and the D.E.O. occupation, tries to brush the stranger off. He tells Amistad to go bother the Justice League, insisting that he has the wrong guy. But Amistad, carrying the fiery spirit of both his mother Rocket and the legendary hero Static used to be, refuses to let him walk away. He challenges Virgil directly, asking, “So this is who you’ve become? The hero who showed everyone the way? Could’ve fooled me”.
When Virgil defensively snaps back, Amistad stands his ground, stating that he is speaking exactly like the Static he knows would have spoken. Amistad tells him about the hero he was fated to become and the legacy he was supposed to leave behind. This powerful confrontation reignites the spark within Virgil. The narrative text boldly declares that for the sake of his family, for Dakota, and for a better tomorrow, it is finally time for Static to fight back.
The sequence culminates with the massive, triumphant text: A NEW BEGINNING…. The issue then transitions into the extensive credits for the creative teams across the multiple acts, celebrating the incredible writers and artists like Joseph P. Illidge, Valentine De Landro, Stephanie Williams, Carlo Pagulayan, Morgan Hampton, Fico Ossio, and Nikolas Draper-Ivey, who brought this monumental story to life.
