In 2025, DC created a definitive history for its comic book universe. This New History of the DC Universe clarified which stories were still canon. It also explained how characters created for other universes, like Static and the other Milestone Media heroes, fit into the current timeline. This history is being retconned yet again, with the New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident exploring an untold tale of the Dakotaverse. It is a story with major ramifications for many characters, including, surprisingly, Lex Luthor.
This new history is related trough the eyes of a superhero called Beacon. A hero of the future Dakota City, Beacon is the protege of Static and son of Rocket. The character was originally created for the Batman/Static: Beyond miniseries. This version of Beacon, however, is firmly set in the modern DC Universe up until he becomes unstuck as something starts altering the timeline.
Traveling into the past to assess the damage, Becaon observes the history of the modern Dakotaverse. He sees how an experimental gas triggered the metagene of multiple protesters under the guise of pacifying gang members. This “Big Bang” gave rise to multiple people, also known as “Bang Babies,” developing superpowers. Beacon also observes the rise of Dakota City’s heroes, including Static, Icon, Rocket, and Hardware. However, things change after the events of the classic Milestone Comics run, leading to an incident Beacon does not recall.
How The Dakota Incident changes DC history
The titular Dakota Incident is revealed to be the murder of billionaire tech magnate Edwin Alva; the main villain of the Dakotaverse. His body was discovered by Hardware, whom Alva framed for the fallout of The Big Bang. While inspecting the crime scene, Hardware confirmed the “accident” that created Dakota’s metahumans was nothing of the kind. Indeed, Alva had been part of The Supermen Project, a secret American government program to create superhumans that they controlled. In short, Dakota City and The Big Bang were a testing ground.
The threat of discovery swings the American government, then under the control of President Lex Luthor, into action. He orders the Suicide Squad into Dakota City ahead of a military invasion meant to subdue every metahuman in the city as a potential suspect in Alva’s murder. The heroes of Dakota resist, getting unexpected assistance from the Justice League.
Once the fighting is over, Luthor agrees to a ceasefire. However, this comes at the cost of outlawing the use of superpowers within Dakota City. Beyond confirming that Lex Luthor’s presidency is still canon in the new timeline, this also offers a canon explanation for why Dakotaverse heroes seemingly just vanished.
New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident #1 also retroactively confirms a student/mentor relationship between Static and Black Lightning. Indeed, Jefferson Pierce is established as having worked with all the Dakotaverse heroes before becoming Lex Luthor’s Secretary of Education. This creates an official link between DC’s first Black superhero to headline a solo series and the Milestone Comics characters.
New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident #1 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
