The Final Night #1 (November 1996)

The DC Universe is often seen by fans as a bright and shiny universe, one where paragons of heroes stand up against great evil to ensure another bright day shines. But what if there was a literal darkness out there that ensured that worlds would never have a sun shining on them again?

In the DC Universe, such a thing exists. This darkness is called the Sun-Eater. Created by Will Forte and Jerry Siegel (Yes, the same guy that co-created Superman), and debuting in Adventure Comics #305 (February 1963), the Sun-Eaters were weapons created by an alien race called the Controllers. They were essentially a "nuclear option" deployed by the Controllers to destroy worlds they deemed too infected by evil to save. The Sun-Eaters were normally associated with the Legion of Super-Heroes, most famously with the "Death of Ferro Lad" story. 

In 1996, a Sun-Eater attacked the "present-day" DCU, threatening to bring about the DC Universe's...final night. An epic crossover event, the Final Night touched many of DC's titles at the time. Unlike most crossover events, this was not a fight against a powerful villain, but a tale of survival. But how did that tale start? Let's find out in Final Night #1. 

The cover is a Stuart Immonen and a Jose Marzan Jr. piece. It's pretty cool. It depicts six members of the Justice League standing at the Daily Planet during what seems to be a cold night. The facial expressions give the impression that our heroes are in for a rough time. Superman having his cape wrapped around him gives him a sense of vulnerability we don't usually see from the Man of Steel. Which makes sense considering what happens in this event.

"Dusk"
Writer: Karl Kesel
Penciler: Stuart Immonen
Inker: Jose Marzan, Jr.
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Gaspar Saladino
Editors: Alisande Morales, Dan Thorsland
Executive Editor: Mike Carlin

Ironically, for a story titled "Dusk", the story begins with a sunny day in Metropolis. It's bright and shiny. It's a perfectly normal day. People are heading out to work and/or play. Until a spaceship comes a-flyin' in.

Last time we saw a spaceship fly into Metropolis, it contained a kid. Anyway, the ship crashes into a dock, and its lone passenger finds herself with quite the welcoming party.

Naturally, since it's Metropolis, Superman is involved. Here, he's joined by members of the Legion of Superheroes. The purple-haired alien woman points at the Sun, but her language is unknown to Superman. Thanks to the universal translators in their flight rings, the Legion is able to...and they realize this might be what they describe as the "darkest night" which is ancient history from their perspective. Ehhhh, they're a few years off. 

Saturn Girl uses her telepathy to help bridge the language gap. Thanks to this, Earth's heroes learn this visitor is named Dusk...and she has a dire warning. Something called a Sun-Eater is coming. True to its name, the Sun-Eater consumes stars. And since this is the DC Universe, many of those stars have inhabited planets orbiting them. Without the stars and their light and heat, their crops withered. Oceans froze. And entire civilizations were doomed to a slow, cold death. 

Dusk's homeworld was one of those planets. She's traveled from world to world trying to warn worlds, but they've never been able to stop the Sun-Eater. And now it's coming to Earth.

Earth's heroes are gathered at S.T.A.R. Labs. 

Dr. Kitty Faulkner, aka Rampage, reports that a strange black shape is flying through the Solar System. It's on a path directly towards Earth's sun, and it will arrive in six hours.

It lends a lot of credibility to Dusk's story. The heroes discuss ways to stop it, but Dusk is cynical about it. She's seen lots of races employ a lot of strategies to stop the Sun-Eater, but they all failed to even slow it down, much less stop it.

Big Barda and Mister Miracle suggest creating a giant Boom Tube to transport the Sun-Eater to the Source. it could work, but they'll need a way to basically stuff the big cloud into it. They also hatch a backup plan involving all the heroes that can create light and/or heat.

Team Boom Tube (Mister Miracle, Captain Atom, Maxima, Cosmic Boy, Takion, and Dr. Polaris) arrive at the coordinates of the Sun-Eater.

This group gets to work, using their powers and a Boom Tube to create a vortex. They hope it'll suck the Sun-Eater up like a vacuum sucking up dirt. Something seemingly goes wrong. It's here we get a cutaway to a man jumping out of a window of an apartment building. The Spectre strikes again. The Phantom Stranger wants his help against the Sun-Eater. The Spectre tells him he can do nothing to help. After all, if this is the will of God, well...the Spectre has no choice in the matter. He must abide by it. Thanks for nothing, ya green-cloaked jerk. 

Back with Team Boom Tube! They end up vanishing and materializing elsewhere in space. Evidently, the Sun-Eater was messing with the Boom Tube, making it about to go critical, and explode.

Yeah, the Sun-Eater was messing with the Boom Tube due to the Sun-Eater's properties. You see, the Sun-Eater only partially exists in their dimension. So, it's time to unleash the backup plan. Superman and a bunch of other heroes, including the Ray, Fire, Firestorm, and the Alan Scott and Kyle Rayner Green Lanterns (Although I think Alan was going by Sentinel at the time), use their powers to create a second smaller sun, hoping it lures the Sun-Eater away from Sol. 

It seems to work. The Sun-Eater absorbed the smaller sun...but it didn't satisfy it. It's heading back, and it left the sun-creating heroes freezing cold, even drained of body heat. Dusk watches this, lamenting that yet again, another world will suffer a frigid death thanks to the Sun-Eater. Elsewhere, Lex Luthor and his then-new wife, Contessa Erica Portenza, notice the sun going out. Lex calls for his private plane to get them back to Metropolis. As far as the man is concerned, mankind is not going out without a fight.

I enjoyed this comic. It's always fun seeing DC's heroes gather together to face an epic threat like this. What was cool was that we saw the heroes try more than one strategy to stop the Sun-Eater. Dusk and the Sun-Eater kind of remind me of a twisted take on the Silver Surfer and Galactus. Instead of finding worlds for consumption, Dusk tries in vain to warn worlds of a creature that consumes stars. I would have liked to see the heroes try a few more things.

Immonen and Marzen make a nice team on the art. It seems to have, for lack of a better term, a cartoony vibe to it. I'd love to see an animated adaptation of this story. The comic has a nice balance of large panels to show big moments and storytelling. Immonen has been praised for his storytelling, and I can see why in this comic. His work shows some very nice character moments. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2021 trade paperback The Final Night. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get vaccinated and boosted! See you next time!