Review: Dark Nights: Metal #2

Quick Summary

Pros: The story is a nonstop barrage of action and unexpected twists. The depth and importance of this event is even greater than before. This issue does a great job in setting up the future of the series.

Cons: Nothing significant.

Overall: If you thought that Metal was going to take a break after its mind-blowing opening, you couldn’t be more wrong. Issue #2 is dramatic, thrilling, and host to one of the most interesting stories in recent comics history. It is a great continuation of the current storyline and is something that is guarenteed to get fans even more excited for the next issue.

Story

Often times the second issue of an event comic series is a more relaxed and calming affair. Dark Nights: Metal #2 ignores this tradition and instead turns the volume up to eleven. It is an action packed thrill ride that gives fans all of the Justice League/Batman moments that they desire while also exposing a surprising amount of the plot. This is simply a fantastic comic book that somehow manages to be a deep and thoughtful journey, while also being just plain ol’ fun.

(spoilers start here)

The issue starts with the entire Justice League trying to find out where Batman is hiding. However, Batman does not want to be found and thus uses his Bat-family to lead the team on a wild goose chase through the forest. This Mad Max style motorcycle chase sees League members slowly picking off fake versions of Batman in their efforts to find the real one. Overall, it works as an extremely exciting way to start out the book and guarantees any reader that they are in for one crazy ride.

Up until this point, the book has been all action with little exposition. This changes significantly as Superman grabs the real Batman and forces him to explain himself. Here we learn a lot about what is going on in Metal and how exactly this entire story came to be. The twist though is this captured “Batman” is not the real deal, something punctuated by Superman literally punching a hole through his stomach. The facsimile turns out to be Clayface so no real damage is done, but the moment was an enjoyable shock to read.

The exposition here isn’t just well done though, it is also interesting on its own. We see the exact mechanisms that Scott Snyder has utilized to bring about Metal and discover that they go back to some of his first Batman issues ever. Realizing how far back this story stretches adds a significant level of gravitas to the event and even raises its importance to the overall DC mythos. It also is a nice callback to earlier DC stories, giving longtime fans a little something extra to enjoy.

With the Batman masquerade in the past, the story moves on to show what the real Batman is doing. He has journeyed to an ancient tomb with a plan to sacrifice himself in order to stop Barbatos. Before he can do so though, he is ambushed by members of the Judas Tribe and used to summon Barbatos. Barbatos and his league of evil Batmen arrive, kill the members of the Judas Tribe, and seem to almost kill Superman and Wonder Woman. (For more information on Barbatos see our “who is Barbatos?” breakdown here).

All of this proves to be a crazy and unexpected finale that perfectly leads into the next issue. It is clear that Snyder and Co. have a plan for this series and are going about it in just the right way. I am personally more excited for the continuation of this series than anything I’ve read in a long time, and I’m sure others are too. Metal #2 is, quite plainly, an amazing comic book in an amazing series.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Greg Capullo continues to stun with anything that he does. In fact, his work here might be some of his best yet. It is detailed, imaginative, and perfectly captures the “metal” vibe that the comic was going for. Without spoiling anything, Superman attacking Batman, a baby version of a popular character, and depictions of the Earth as a whole look brilliant and add to the story significantly. Simply put, Metal would absolutely not be the same without Capullo’s artwork to guide it along, and that is a very good thing.

Continuity

Dark Nights: Metal #2 is the second issue in the Dark Nights: Metal series. This series is also preceded by two prequel issues. This means that in order to understand this story, fans should read Dark Days: The Forge (Review), Dark Days: The Casting (Review), and Dark Nights: Metal #1 (Review), in that order.

For more information make sure to see our DC Metal Timeline right here.

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

• Krona’s quest to see the origin of the universe is first told in Green Lantern #40, which will be 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.
  • Promethium was from Batman Vol. 9: Bloom.
  • Nth Metal was from Dark Days: The Casting (Review).
• Darkseid’s current condition is a result of Justice League Vol. 8: Darkseid War Part 2.
• Batman mentions Darkseid’s Omega Beams sending him in the past before. This happened in Final Crisis.
• Batman also mentions meeting Barbatos when he was sent to the past, this happened in Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne.
• The creation of Batmanium is brought up in this story. It was created in Batman Vol. 8: Superheavy.