Title: Dark Nights: Death Metal.
Series: Dark Nights #2.
Writer(s): Scott Snyder.
Penciller(s): Greg Capullo.
Inker(s): Jonathan Glapion.
Colourist(s): FCO Plascencia.
Epilogue Artist(s): Yanick Paquette & Bryan Hitch.
Epilogue Colourist(s): Nathan Fairbairn & Alex Sinclair.
Letterer(s): Tom Napolitano.
Publisher: DC Comics.
Format: Hardcover – Deluxe edition.
Release Date: December 10th 2019 (first published 2009).
Pages: 240.
Genre(s): Comics, Science-Fiction.
ISBN13: 9781401295165.
My Overall Rating:
Previously in the Dark Nights series:
Dark Days: The Road to Metal by Scott Snyder.
Dark Nights: Metal by Scott Snyder.
It all started when Batman was driven by an insurmountable determination to solve one of the greatest mysteries of the DC Universe. Culminating into the multiverse cracking open and unleashing an enemy that no one was prepared for, it is now time for the stories to wrap up in a spectacular fashion as the fate of the universe is once again in the hands of these heroes who will have to think outside the box if they are to survive their final revolution. The massively epic crossover event introduced by writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo now comes to an end with their last rodeo presenting a cataclysmic and reality-bending finale where the last survivors of a familiar world go up against an ever-growing powerful foe to save the universe from extinction.
What is Dark Nights: Death Metal about? With the Batman Who Laughs unleashing the Dark Multiverse onto Earth’s heroes, their reality is now twisted to his mercy and nothing can prepare these heroes of the past for the hellish landscape that is brought upon them. Although the legendary trinity (Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman) are all separated and have their own fair share of chaos to handle on their own, Diana Prince, however, does not plan to give up just yet as she hurdles her way across the defeated and powerless universe to rally these heroes once more to defeat the Batman Who Laughs before he bends and forges a brand-new multiverse to his liking. Not without dependable allies by her side, she will have to face the truth at the heart of this universe if she’s to overcome this calamity.
“And I will not let it stand. Today, we can reject our fate. We can reject death itself and give this universe a second chance. But only if we work together. Are you in?”
— Scott Snyder
If you were starting to think that writer Scott Snyder was going overboard with his theological and mythological constructs, allow this latest story to prove you right as he doesn’t hold back in his desire to expand the DC Universe in unprecedented and bizarre ways. Bombastic, ludicrous, and unapologetic. The events that unfold in this seven-issue story arc are ones that set its roots in uncharted cosmic and divine territory, leaving no room for the unversed reader as the narrative draws upon the extremely rich and vast DC lore to ruthlessly portray a chaotic, eccentric, and borderline insane universe. This time around, there is no room for logic. Everything is founded on emotion and instinct. Where wars were once won through strategy, this time around, the answer lies in passion, counter-intuition, and affection.
While there was an underlying interest in Wonder Woman’s character that slowly took more emphasis in the narrative as the Dark Nights saga evolved, this latest story now puts her front and center in what initially seemed like a universe built solely around Batman’s character. Nonetheless, the entire DC Universe is involved in this grand finale and they all bring with them an indisputable amount of history and resilience in an effort to take down the most powerful villain that the DC Universe has ever seen yet. Despite the gravity of the crossover event, they also bring to the table an uncanny sense of humour that does make you wonder if their desperation has pushed them to madness or if writer Scott Snyder just wanted this epic destruction to go out with some silliness.
“It’s only when we fear the truth that evil rises. To know that all history and every human life is part of one story… is to know that we all matter. That everything we do matters. That truth connects us, because it is love, and it binds us together…”
— Scott Snyder
There’s, however, little that can be reproached in the art department. Artist Greg Capullo brings his A-game in an effort to illustrate the epic, vivid, bloody, and action-packed adventure. His character designs are flawless in that they embrace the berserk state of the universe. From the Swamp Thing to Superman, they all possess a style and demeanour that represents the troubling and anarchic times in which they are. The underlying theme of “heavy metal” is also fully resounding both in style and substance as a sense of massive, distorted, and aggressive storytelling is privileged through words and art. Add in the phenomenal inking by Jonathan Glapion and colouring by FCO Plascencia, and you’ve got yourself a stylish, vivid, and explosive artistic vision to go hand-in-hand with the brutal and imaginative story by writer Scott Snyder.
While this story-arc should put an end to this legendary creative team’s Dark Nights project, it now leads up to the next chapter in the DC Universe, starting with the Infinite Frontier story and followed by the grand slate of Future State titles. If anything, this series has paved the way to an ever-expanding universe where just about anything is now possible.
Dark Nights: Death Metal is a high fantasy finale serving as a love letter to the DC Universe by fully embracing its quirky, cosmic, and expansive scope to crack open worlds of possibilities for heroes and villains.
Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy for review!
Roars and Echoes 
Hm, awesome and interesting review Lashaan. As I’ve said before I wasn’t the biggest fan of the original Dark Nights Metal series but I will eventually check this out to satisfy my curiosity and to keep up with events in the DCU. I didn’t check out any of the Future State titles as there were just too many, so plan to get the collected editions of the ones I’m interested in (I’ll also wait for Infinite Frontier to get collected).
Scott Snyder can be a bit “too” metal for my tastes, but I did enjoy his JL run (and I love Superman Unchained). For some reason I’ve struggled with Greg Capullo’s art…in my mind I know it’s “good” but there’s a cartoonish quality to it that doesn’t gel with me.
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Thanks, Chris. I personally thought that we had more than enough with the first Dark Nights event and his Justice League run. I’m keeping up with this sequel just so I can keep on reading the upcoming DC stuff, including Infinite Frontier and Future Slate, both I’ll also be waiting for collected editions for those. I do hope you have a good time with this whenever you get around to it. It’s definitely going to be super wild…
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I’ve had the entire Dark Metal series collected for a while now and not got round to reading it yet. Personally, I’m not really a big fan of the multiverse stuff in DC, I don’t like it when Batman is taken out of Gotham and everything goes a bit sci-fi – one of the reasons I never really enjoyed Grant Morrison’s run (well, and the terrible writing…!) but Snyder wrote my all time favorite Batman run with the new 52, so was hoping to love this… I’m not sure, I’ll get round to it at some point, but currently making my way through the No Man’s Land saga…
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Hahahah well, you won’t be surprised to see that Snyder goes very Morrisonesque in his Dark Metal run and everything is exactly what you seem to dislike (multiverse-centric, high fantasy, etc.). As a huge fan of his New 52 Batman run though, I tend to stick around for anything he writes but clearly, he’s been going hard with his psychedelic imagination nowadays! 😀 Hope you’re having a blast with the No Man’s Land saga though! Thanks for reading, sir.
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Everything is founded on emotion and instinct.
Definitely not my thing then. Plus, I was scrolling through your little pictures at the end and saw a Joker Robin? That is just wrong on so many levels that I wouldn’t be able to get past that.
I do continue to be impressed at how well you’re staying with these sprawling storylines.
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Ah yes, I think you’d find this quite insane. Anything anyone would think they’d know about these heroes will be challenged but at heart, they’re still who they are, and I guess that’s what Scott Snyder was going for.
Hahah those Joker Robin things are indeed born from all this Dark Nights stories, they’re the Batman Who Laughs’ little minions and they don’t really talk until this story introduced the Robin King. 😛 Yeh. It might indeed be too crazy for your taste! 😛
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I don’t think I have heard abut “Batman Who Laughs”. That name only made me smile. Great review!
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Hahaha he has popped up a couple of times in the past in my reviews, there was one graphic novel that was entirely centered around him too. 😀 Thanks for reading, Yesha.
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This is high praise! And I agree the art is amazing!
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Ohhh! It’s been a while since you’ve said the art looked good. 😉 Thanks for reading, Sophie. 😀
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At this point I find things that are too over the top hard to swallow. Of course, the definition of “too over the top” is a bit hard to pin down. But I do really wonder if this is just the sort of thing my younger self would have loved. 🙂
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Ah yes, “over the top” is something that Scott Snyder and Grant Morrison do a lot, the former having really ventured there with his later stories. I’m open to these ideas but I need them to make sense in terms of “world-building” hahah
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And I think you hit on a key point regarding the definition of over the top. For me I can often accept and enjoy crazy and wild stories that some would consider over the top, but if it just doesn’t seem to make sense within itself, or becomes far too unbelievable (again, within itself) such that I can’t suspend that disbelief, that’s when it becomes over the top (in a bad way) for me. But I do think the line is flexible and what I like one day I may dislike another and vice versa depending on mood. 🙂
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I like how the cover art seems to fit with the theme.
Focus on Wonder Woman. Ehhh…, how cliche. I’m glad to hear that the ending wasn’t all about her, though.
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Ahhh, you should see all the variant cover art that is intentionally drawn under the whole heavy metal theme. Quite rock’ish! 😀
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