Review: Batman: Lost

Quick Summary

Pros: This issue greatly enhances the overall story in Dark Nights: Metal. The inclusion of Batman’s vast history is a treat for longtime fans. The art is extremely well done.

Cons: Newer comic book readers will, most likely, be unable to appreciate a lot of this issue.

Overall: This is an issue so good and packed with detail that readers will still be coming back to it hours after putting it down. It takes Batman’s history and celebrates it, while also turning it against him. There is a lot here for people who have been reading Batman for a while and even more for those willing to look for it. If you are a big fan of Batman’s past, then this is an issue for you.

Story

Batman: Lost is a strange and chaotic trip down the rabbit hole that is the history of Batman, that also ends up being one of the best pieces of Dark Nights: Metal. It explains and elaborates on Barbatos’s motives and history in a way that respects and references stories of the past. Then it pulls even more of Batman’s history into the mix and tells a story that reads like a love letter to longtime Batman comic readers. Newer readers will likely miss out on a lot of the positives in this issue but will hopefully use it as an opportunity to learn about more of the Dark Knight’s past (see our continuity section below if you are interested in exactly which aspects of his past are referenced here). Overall, this is a great story and a wonderfully executed addition to the Dark Nights: Metal narrative.

(spoilers start here)

The story starts and ends with a older Bruce Wayne telling the story of his first case to one of his grandchildren. However, he instantly realizes that the story isn’t being told like he remembers. We then discover that all of this is an illusion perpetrated by Barbatos in order to deceive Batman.

From there the issue dives headfirst into Batman’s strange and interesting history. Barbatos explains how he influenced Bruce’s life in order to guide him where he is today and claims that all of Bruce’s accomplishments only exist because he let them exist. This goes back to the very beginning of humanity and further explains the conspiracy behind the Court of Owl’s existence. It is an interesting way to give the entire narrative a great deal more weight.

This appreciation for history is possibly the best part of this book as a whole, especially for longtime Batman fans. The very beginning of the issue starts by presenting a meta narrative about comic books in general by stating that “half of them contradict the other. But they still all happened I promise you that.” Readers then bounce around between concepts and continuity from The Return of Bruce Wayne, Dark Night, Dark City, The Court of Owls, and even the very first Batman story Detective Comics #27. By including all of this, Snyder has turned Dark Nights: Metal into more than a superhero comic, making it even more interesting to see where he goes with it.

The issue ends with Barbatos inundating Batman with the imagery and history of the Dark Multiverse. He shows Bruce the horrors that only exist in his deepest nightmares and explains how they could come to life. It is so much that the issue ends with Batman giving up. Seeing this powerful hero reduced to this state is unreal and serves to cement Barbatos as one of the greatest horrors Batman has ever faced.

The only negative to all of this is that the depth of continuity involved here will likely make it difficult for a newer reader to appreciate what is going on. Readers with no knowledge of The Return of Bruce Wayne or Dark Night, Dark City will miss a lot here, enough that it would definitely affect their reading experience. However, this is the tradeoff for making the story as rich in history as it is, and it is a tradeoff I appreciate. DC also did well in designating this as a one-shot because it allows older readers to experience the full depth of Dark Nights: Metal‘s continuity references without scaring away newer readers.

(spoilers end here)

Art

While there are a number of different artists on this issue, none of them provide anything less than fantastic work. However, the actual quality of the art is not even the best part of this issue’s visuals. The best part is how the artists work together and contrast their styles to enhance the story as a whole. One second the art might look very detailed and modern, only to switch to something less detailed and older on the very next page. Typically a change like this would be jarring, but here it actually enforces the narrative because each art change also signals a change in time. This means the art in this issue doesn’t just look good for the heck of it, it looks good to enhance the story as a whole.

Continuity

Batman: Lost is a one-shot issue designed to explain where Bruce Wayne is between Metal #2 (Review) and Metal #3 (Review). It is not necessary to understand the story completely but does provide some insight as to what exactly is happening with the event as a whole.

For more information on the timeline of the Metal event see our “Metal Timeline” right here and our other “Metal Reviews” right here. If you want a brief history of Barbatos, we break down the villain here.

This issue also references tons of stories from other comic books, all of which are detailed below:

• A number of famous Batman stories are discussed and shown at the beginning of this issue. These stories are:
  • Superman/Batman: Public enemies, the first story from the Superman/Batman series. This is currently collected in Superman/Batman Vol. 1.
  • “Daughter of the Demon,” a story from Batman #232 featuring the first appearance of Ra’s al Ghul.
  • Under the Red Hood, the story that saw the return of Jason Todd.
  • The Black Mirror, the last Detective Comics story arc before the universe was rebooted in the New 52. It is also the first Batman story by Scott Snyder.
  • “No Justice”, honestly we didn’t know where this one was from. Tweet as us or comment below if you know the answer!
  • “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate,” discussed below.
  • The “Court of Owls,” a storyline that introduced Batman to the Court of Owls. It started in Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls and extends into Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls.
  • “A Lonely Place of Dying,” the storyline following the death of Jason Todd and the introduction of Tim Drake. This is collected in Batman: A Death in the Family.
  • “Knightfall,” the story famous for introducing Bane and breaking Batman’s back.
  • Hush, one of the most famous Batman comics.
  • Dark Victory, a sequel to The Long Halloween.
  • The Long Halloween, a famous miniseries by Jeph Loeb.
  • “Tower of Babel,” a JLA story collected in JLA Vol. 4.
  • The Man Who Laughs, a story detailing the first meeting between Joker and Batman.
• “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate” plays a big part in this story as it is the first ever Batman story, originally published in Detective Comics #27 and currently collected in Batman: The Golden Age Vol. 1. The details of this case are changed in this issue but these changes are somewhat explained by the narrative.
• Batman’s trip to the past is a reference to Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne.
• The cult ceremony is a reference to Batman: Dark Night, Dark City.
• Batman asks a man falling into the chemical pit “who are you really?” The man claims “you’ve always known.” This could be a reference to Detective Comics Vol. 5: Gothtopia, which implies that this man is the Joker.
• Alan Wayne is shown in this story in a way that clearly relates to his last appearance in Batman #3, collected in Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls.