Story by Brent Jago
DC has blown the roof off the comic book world with the long-awaited, majorly hyped debut of the six-issue event series Dark Nights: Metal.
Dark Nights: Metal follows Batman, deep inside one of his greatest cases ever; one that he’s obsessively been trying to solve, which all focuses around a single object: The Nth Metal.
The mystical metal from the planet Thanagar has granted many metahumans in the DC universe their powers and abilities. Little does The Dark Knight know that with every step, he comes closer to new enemies that mirror himself in dark and horrifying ways – all set in motion by a being that has been planning this confrontation since the dawn of humanity.
Straight off the bat, Dark Nights: Metal is unlike any other Batman story you have ever read. It’s big and it’s bold, and it’s a story that encompasses the entire width and breadth of the DC Universe… and maybe even beyond. But do you know what it is most of all? It’s fun. It is straight up, silly, hair metal fun and the scope of this story is huge. The best word to describe it would truly be: EPIC.
Metal is brought to us by the award winning creative team behind The New 52 run of Batman, beginning with fan favourite duo of writer, Scott Snyder and artist, Greg Capullo, as well as inker, Jonathan Glapion and colourist, FCO Plascencia.
You really can tell that the entire creative is having fun with this, especially Snyder. The team has never been better, but every great book has to start with a great concept and story and you can really see Snyder grinning from ear to ear as he wrote this story. It’s like he’s tapped into everything a 10 year old could want out of a Batman book – from all the giant robot fights, to the Justice League in a gladiator pit and incorporating lesser known characters from the DC universe that Snyder has clearly always had an affinity for. This is a true passion project, but one that’s being handled by one of the greatest comic book writers of our time.
Dark Nights: Metal #1 (which is one of the coolest titles ever, btw), is a success in every way, but while it does slowdown in the middle for some exposition, this is a necessity and one that helps a great deal to give this story the huge scale Snyder intends.
While you don’t need to read the prequel books, Dark Days: The Forge and Dark Days: The Casting (Snyder said so himself), it might be a good idea as you’ll get a lot more out Metal #1 if you do.
This series is really fantastic and has been well worth the wait. The reteaming of The New 52 creative team is pure magic and this series is nothing like they’ve done previous.
It’s a rollercoaster of a book – just strap in, throw your hands in the air and go for the ride!
Pic via DC Comics
