Review: Dark Nights: Metal #1

Quick Summary

Pros: The story and concepts here are handled very well and are incredibly interesting. The action here makes it feel like a summer blockbuster. Longtime fans will be happy to see even more classic characters return. The art is excellent.

Cons: For some, the over the top action in this issue may be a little too much.

Overall: This is a well done comic in general and a fantastic start to Dark Nights: Metal. Readers will be pulled into the story’s complexities without even realizing it because they will be too focused on how fun everything is. This is a story that all comic fans, new and old, can enjoy and something that will surely leave its mark on the comic landscape.

Story

If fans were worried that Dark Nights: Metal would not be able to live up to the tremendous hype it has generated, they can stop worrying now. Dark Nights: Metal #1 not only delivers on everything its two prequel issues promised, it brings even more to the table. It tells the story of a compelling mystery while simultaneously introducing a brand new corner of the DC Universe. It is deep while still being approachable, full of action while still being complex. It also ends with a final twist that should leave everyone dying to read more. If this is any indication as to the quality of the rest of this event, we are in for one wild ride.

(spoilers start here)

This issue starts with the Justice League on an alien planet, forced to fight in gladiator style battles for the amusement of a crowd. Although this portion of the story is generally unrelated to the rest of the plot, it provides a bombastic opening and sets the action heavy tone that is expected from the rest of this arc. It also gives a little bit of action to an issue that is otherwise very exposition based. Some may consider the battle here a little over the top, but I personally loved it and thought it was appropriate in order to convey the fun and lighthearted tone that Snyder and Co. were going for.

From here we start to delve into exposition. Challengers Mountain reappears and Lady Blackhawk (a.k.a. Hawkgirl) shows up to explain what is going on. She tells the league that there is a Dark Multiverse out there which poses a threat and that it plans on invading our world through Batman.

All in all this is incredibly interesting, yet surprisingly easy to grasp. It’s a testament to Snyder’s writing that he is able to introduce such complex layers to the DC Universe as easily as other writers introduce far more mundane concepts. It is also done in a way that feels completely natural. Before reading this, I was worried that the introduction of the Dark Multiverse would feel forced and end up being a cheap way to introduce a new line of comics. Yet this book is anything but forced. If this is the start to everything Metal has to offer then everyone has good reason to be excited.

The rest of the issue goes about wrapping up loose ends from The Forge and The Casting while also delivering one last twist for the book’s conclusion. This twist, the appearance of Dream, is probably the most shocking moment of the entire issue. This is a character who has not really appeared in comics since the late 90’s, yet is coming back for what has, so far, been a great event. If the rest of the issue wasn’t good then I would be worried about the handling of a Sandman character. Yet the quality present here (and a tweet from Gaiman indicating his approval) dispels these worries and leaves me with nothing but excitement.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Greg Capullo’s return to the world of DC Comics is nothing less than spectacular. His artwork is as unique and beautiful as ever and gives this issue a unique “feel” that matches it perfectly. In particular, his depictions of the League in Gotham were great. It made Challengers Mountain feel even more foreboding and intimidating that I had thought possible, especially for an inanimate object.

In addition, FCO Plascencia deserves a lot of credit for the colors in this issue. The colors alternate from bright and colorful to and dark and mysterious when they need to be. It makes the gladiator fight portion of the story feel more like fun action, while the Gotham portion of the story can feel like a grim mystery. Plascencia sets the tone perfectly for this book.

Continuity

Although this is the first issue of a brand new DC Comics event, it is still preceded by two prequel issues. Dark Days: The Forge and Dark Days: The Casting should really be read before this in order to understand what is going on here.

The story started here will continue in Dark Nights: Metal #2.

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

• Batman mentions a fight between Mongul and General Zod. This happens in Action Comics #984, which will be 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 loses his real hand in Aquaman (Vol. 5) #2. Both of these issues will be collected in Aquaman by Peter David Book One.
• Batman makes a reference to the Blackhawks following him. This happened in the “Ends of the Earth” storyline, which is collected in All-Star Batman Vol. 2: Ends of the Earth.
• There are two pictures on the wall at Blackhawk Island that are not explained by The Forge or The Casting.
  • The first is of a man flying with a star on his shirt. This appears to be Will Payton, a hero from the 80s who went by the name Starman.
  • The other is of a man standing next to Red Tornado and a couple of other robots. These robots are the Metal Men, who first appear in DC’s new continuity in Justice League Vol. 5: Forever Heroes.
• The map of the multiverse in this issue comes directly from Grant Morrison’s Multiversity.
• The history of Barbatos in the DC Universe is an interesting and complex one.
  • He hinted at as a legend in Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth.
  • He was initially unleashed, into the past, by Darkseid 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.”
  • Darkseid unleashing him lead to his big appearance in Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne.
  • He also appears in Batman #452-454, which is collected in Batman: Dark Knight, Dark City. This comic has large connections to what happens in Dark Nights: Metal, as summoning Barbatos has huge implications in both.
• The character who appears on the last page of this issue made his last big appearance in JLA Vol. 3.