Review: Dark Nights- Metal

Quick Summary

Pros: The entire story is filled with well-written action and suspense. Imagination dominates this event, as old characters are brought back into the spotlight and new characters are introduced. There are plenty of moments here that are just plain fun. The book’s theme is solid. The artwork is incredible and makes every page feel like a visual treat.

Cons: The message here is incredibly similar to the message in Batman: Endgame. The finale is a bit weak in a few places.

Overall: This is a comic book that starts out solid and only gets better from there. It tells a tremendously entertaining story that brings in some of the best aspects of the DC Universe and uses them well. This creates a storyline that is exciting, imaginative, and meaningful. Plus, the entire journey is just plain fun. This combination of positives works out well and makes this a volume that is worthwhile at nearly every moment. Any reader who enjoys DC Comics should give this event a readthrough.

Story

Dark Nights: Metal, by Scott Snyder, is a bombastic and exciting event that engages readers in a nonstop thrill ride from beginning to end. It is filled with action, suspense, and, most of all, pure and simple fun. This is an event that celebrates comic books by showing what they can do and using the medium to highlight both new and old characters. The entire thing is also incredibly creative and ends with a solid message. There are still a few flaws here and there but, in context of all the positives, they pretty much go unnoticed. Overall, this is a wonderful story and a great addition to the history of the DC Universe.

Note: Make sure to view our “Dark Nights: Metal Reading Order” to discover the best way to read the Dark Nights: Metal event and its tie-ins.

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Action and suspense imbue this series from the beginning and help make this such an exciting volume. Readers get to see Superman push his powers to the limit, Wonder Woman attack Black Adam with a mace, and Batman participate in an unorthodox, but very satisfying, team-up with the Joker. Meanwhile, while all of this is happening, readers are constantly aware that the entire Multiverse is being drawn into a world of unimaginable nightmares. This blend of action and tension works well here and makes this book one of the most engaging comic experiences out there.

In addition, the creativity involved in generating this excitement is admirable on its own. In this one event, underutilized and underappreciated aspects of the DC Universe are brought to the forefront in a way that allows them to shine brighter than ever. This can be seen through things like Plastic Man’s return or the use of Dream. Plus, alongside these old characters, an entire barrage of new characters are introduced, primarily through Barbatos’s Dark Knights. All of this helps enhance the overall story and makes the reading experience better.

However, the volume’s biggest positive comes from how unbelievably fun it is, from beginning to end. This is a book where the Justice League pilot machines to make a giant robot, evil versions of Batman mess with all of the heroes, and Batman rides a dinosaur and a dragon that looks like the Joker. This volume is somehow able to be off-the-walls ridiculous in a way that absolutely works. It is a fun and refreshing event that reminds readers how dynamic the world of comics can be.

On the serious side of things, the book also works well thematically. It focuses on the inherent wonder and joy of life, despite the guarantee of death. In this way, the Justice League, full of hope and potential, is able to triumph over Barbatos, whose view of the world is filled with depression and vitriol. The only problem is that this exact same message was used by Scott Snyder in Batman: Endgame (Review), so readers following along with Snyder’s Batman saga will essentially see a rehashed version of something they have already seen. Besides this though, the message here is great and leaves readers with an optimistic view of the DC Universe.

The main flaws in this event come from the finale. Though it is still an epic end to a very cool event, it feels a bit rushed in a few places. Some characters seem to come out of no where and other aspects of the story come together a bit too perfectly.

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Art

Greg Capullo’s work on Dark Nights: Metal is nothing less than spectacular. Within this volume, he presents an array of imaginative new characters, a few awesome redesigns for previously established characters, and some breathtaking settings that match the wonder that can be found throughout this story. The imagination seen here works perfectly with the story being told and helps enhance every part of the event; even exposition is drawn in a way that makes the pages unique and entertaining. Capullo has always been a fantastic artist but this event allows him to unleash levels of talent that he has been unable to fully demonstrate before now. All of this contributes to making this a beautiful collection.

Continuity

Dark Nights: Metal is a massive event with origins throughout the DC Universe. Specifically, this event directly follows the events of Dark Days: The Forge and Dark Days: The Casting, which are collected in Dark Days: The Road to Metal (Review).

This event also has a vast number of tie-in issues. The connections between the tie-in issues and main event issues are explained in our “Dark Nights: Metal Reading Order“. All of the tie-in issues are collected in the following volumes:

• Dark Nights: Metal: Dark Knights Rising (Review)
• Dark Nights: Metal: The Resistance (Review)

The story here continues in Justice League: No Justice (Review). The repercussions of this event also go on to affect the following comics:

• All of the “Sandman Universe” comics, which include:
  • House of Whispers
  • The Books of Magic
  • The Dreaming
  • Lucifer
• All of the “New Age of Heroes” comics, which include:
  • Sideways Vol. 1: Steppin’ Out
  • Damage Vol. 1: Out of Control 
  • The Curse of Brimstone Vol. 1: Inferno
  • New Challengers
  • The Terrifics Vol. 1: Meet the Terrifics
  • The Silencer Vol. 1: Code of Honor
  • The Immortal Men: The End of Forever
  • The Unexpected: Call of the Unknown

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• Batman mentions a fight between Mongul and General Zod. This happens in Action Comics #984, which is collected in Action Comics Vol. 4: The New World.
• The Flash makes a joke about when Aquaman used to have a harpoon hand. He got this in Aquaman (Vol. 5) #0 after he lost his real hand in Aquaman (Vol. 5) #2. Both of these issues are collected in Aquaman by Peter David Book One.
• Batman makes a reference to the Blackhawks following him. This is shown in the “Ends of the Earth” storyline, which is collected in All-Star Batman Vol. 2: Ends of the Earth.
• The map of the Multiverse comes directly from Multiversity.
• Barbatos has a long history in the DC Universe, which is fully explored in our “Who is Barbatos?” article. The elements that are relevant here include:
  • His role in Batman #452-454, which is collected in Batman: Dark Knight, Dark City. This story shows pieces of his history and shows a group trying to summon him.
  • His entrance into the past in Final Crisis, which could be what Hawkman’s journal refers to when it says that the world first saw Barbatos “in a final moment of crisis.”
  • His first fight against Batman in Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, which is referenced a few times throughout this event.
• Dream made his last big appearance in JLA Vol. 3.
• Krona’s quest to see the origin of the universe is first told in Green Lantern #40, which is collected in Green Lantern: The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 2. His role in the creation of the DC Multiverse is detailed in Crisis on Infinite Earths.
• The four metals from Batman’s description of “The Mantling” are from four separate events in Batman’s past.
  • Electrum was from Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls (Review).
  • Dionesium was from Batman Vol. 7: Endgame (Review).
  • Promethium was from Batman Vol. 9: Bloom (Review).
  • Nth Metal was from Dark Days: The Casting (Review).
• Darkseid’s current condition is a result of the conclusion to Justice League Vol. 8: Darkseid War Part 2 (Review).
• Batman mentions Darkseid’s Omega Beams sending him into the past before. This happened in Final Crisis.
• The creation of Batmanium is brought up in this story. It was created in Batman Vol. 8: Superheavy (Review).
• Nightmaster’s proprietorship of the Oblivion Bar was first established in Day of Vengeance.
• The machine in Superman’s Fortress of Solitude is first shown in Crisis on Infinite Earths and then again in Infinite Crisis.
• The blue Superman who appears here is a reference to the “Superman Red/Superman Blue” storyline, which started in Superman #122. This storyline is collected starting in Superman Blue Vol. 1.
• The story of the two brothers sent to “monitor” the universe is further detailed in Crisis on Infinite Earths.
• The character Lucien is mentioned multiple times. This is a character who’s backstory is first expanded upon in The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes.
• The “cosmic being” mentioned by Dream seems to be the villain from Multiversity.
• Plastic Man’s origin is mentioned. This origin is shown in Justice League #25, which is collected in Justice League Vol. 5: Forever Heroes (Review).
• The final chapter shows a few different versions of Batman. These include versions from:
  • Superman: Red Son
  • Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
  • The vampire Batman stories, all of which are collected in Elseworlds: Batman Vol. 2.
• The Monitor seen here is the same monitor from Crisis on Infinite Earths.