Dceased: War of the Undead Gods

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Surprisingly Happy Ending: While DCeased was always more upbeat and positive than other zombie stories, Dead Planet is the only one that ends on an unambiguous victory for the good guys. The heroes manage to cure everyone who was infected, even including Jonathan Kent sr., the AMAZO army is defeated, and so is Trigon. Earth is ready for resettlement. While a lot of heroes paid for it with their lives, this is definitely a happy ending. Self-Harm: The first thing an Zombie Infectee does once the infection takes hold is claw at their faces, the big, bloody gashes on their face an easy indicator for them. The first issue reveals that Cyborg, thought to be dead after Wonder Woman ripped his head off, is still alive. Orifice Invasion: The undead Plastic Man does this to both Blue Devil and Zatanna by forcing his way into their mouths. Blue Devil is killed by having his eyes and brain forcibly pushed through his head. Zatanna had her lungs filled with Plastic Man's body to prevent her from speaking her spells, but was saved by Devil before he died. It's also something of an antithesis to Final Crisis. Both stories involve Darkseid discovering the Anti-Life Equation and unleashing it on Earth through technology, infecting both ordinary humans and superhumans alike. But where Final Crisis was ultimately an optimistic story about hope triumphing over despair and ended with the possessed being cured and Earth restored, DCeased is a much bleaker work which ends with Earth's inevitable destruction and many beloved characters irreversibly dead or corrupted (although it's not without a "Ray of Hope" Ending either).

In A Good Day to Die, Big Barda, Mister Miracle, Booster Gold, and Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) are forced to fight their old teammates Fire and Ice, both of whom have become infected. The Immune: Turns out anyone with a Healing Factor will be able to survive the corruption and can return to normal after a while, as Deathstroke found out a day after his infection.Dude, Not Funny!: In Issue #6, when the decision is made to evacuate what's left of humanity away from Sol, Guy Gardner jokes that this might look a little bad on the Corps, losing a sector and all. Dinah chews him out over it, but he justifies this by stating that he's scared right now and being his normal asshole self is the only way he can cope. Anachronism Stew: The starting point of the series depicts a universe that subtly blends continuity details from both the pre- and post-Flashpoint DCU. Issue #5: After slowing the spread of the infection considerably by destroying the internet and securing safe havens across the globe for the survivors, the remaining heroes' efforts are undone when Martian Manhunter infects Flash, who then proceeds to kill/infect thousands more within seconds. Superman manages to destroy him, but in the process becomes infected as well and turns while trying to flee Earth. Uncertain Doom: In the final issue Harley and Ivy decide not to board the Ark and remain on Earth. While Ivy had managed to create a stronghold with her green, the fact that the Infected Superman ends up absorbing and destroying the sun means they likely won't be surviving much longer.

Things go From Bad to Worse in the fifth issue with the deaths of Martian Manhunter, Lex Luthor, The Flash, and Superman.

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Like a Son to Me: It's clear that Alfred feels this way about the entire Bat Family. He explicitly calls Batman his son before killing him once he's taken over by the infection. Before leaving Wayne Manor, he refers to Batman, Nightwing, and Red Robin as "[his] boys." And it is only right that it was Damian Wayne who was the one to figure out what needed to be done. Throughout the majority of the DCeased trilogy and spinoff titles we’ve seen Damian’s growth be a sub-plot in this franchise. We’ve seen him deal with losing his entire family and use that to grown beyond the trained assassin to a team player not just defined by his personal tragedy as he became Batman. Damian’s plan was a catalyst for a lot of great character moments throughout DCeased: War Of The Undead Gods #8. Cassie as Wonder Woman calling out Ares and playing into his warrior pride was one of these great moments. Far too often Taylor forgot about Cassie in this story as she was relegated mostly to being one of the heavy hitters but nothing more, especially compared to the development Damian and Jon got. This along with the talk with Damian were all long overdue character moments that left you wishing Cassie had more of these moments that would’ve made these scenes even better. Kryptonite Factor: Issue #6 opens with Wonder Woman forging Kryptonite into a magic sword to kill an infected Superman.

The story takes many cues from the Zombie Apocalypse genre, focusing on a corrupted, technological version of the Anti-Life Equation that, instead of brainwashing the masses, turns them into ravenous, rage-filled undead that will stop at nothing to destroy any living persons, including superhumans. Now the heroes of the DC Universe must stop the threat before all is lost, but when superheroes are among the infected, can anything stop them?

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Antagonist in Mourning: Poison Ivy expresses sympathy for Batman II/Damian when he tells her Batman I/Bruce died. Changed My Mind, Kid: Mister Terrific's group approaches John Constantine for help, but he refuses and goes to hole himself up at the Oblivion Bar. He changes his mind later, playing a pivotal role in dealing with the interfering Waverider. Metaphorgotten: Played for Laughs; Vandal Savage uses the survival of a thought-to-be-extinct species of tree lobster as a metaphor for himself and his group of survivors. The Creeper immediately starts treating "The Tree Lobsters" as a sort of team name, complete with t-shirts, pendants, baseball caps, and a theme song. Know When to Fold Them: In Issue #6, the infected Superman realizes he can't fight the entire Green Lantern Corps and thus dives into the heart of the sun to absorb it in a last-ditch effort to spread as much death as possible. In turn, Ganthet realizes there's no way they can stop him and opts to get humanity to safety as Superman's actions would ultimately kill all life in Earth's solar system and put the virus to sleep.