Review: Justice League- Death Metal
Quick Summary
Pros: The volume successfully addresses Justice League plotlines that went unaddressed in the main event. Nightwing and Detective Chip’s personal stories are great. The artwork is positive all the way through.
Cons: The action and excitement within the volume is just alright and is a bit undercut by the conclusion.
Overall: This volume is alright in some ways but great in others. The main narrative is action-packed but underwhelming when it comes to the conclusion. However, the characters make up for the slack by providing character-driven drama that works in conjunction with their previous appearances. This volume is definitely worthwhile for fans of earlier plotlines from the Justice League series or who really enjoy Nightwing and Detective Chip but isn’t the best event tie-in on its own.
Story
Justice League: Death Metal, by Joshua Williamson, contains an average main storyline but achieves some serious success when it comes to the characters. The volume continues the narrative from Scott Snyder’s run on the Justice League series in a way that gives some satisfying closure to plotlines surrounding Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, and Lex Luthor. It also contains great, character-driven storytelling starring Nightwing and Detective Chimp. The problem is that the action and drama within the main narrative are just alright, which makes it a bit harder for this collection to stand on its own. In the end, this is a volume that will really appeal to fans looking for closure regarding the Justice League series or fans who simply want to see more Nightwing and Detective Chimp.
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One of the biggest disappointments in the main Dark Nights: Death Metal event was the fact that it barely addressed a ton of character-driven plotlines from Scott Snyder’s run on the Justice League series. Hawkgirl’s resentment toward Lex Luthor, Martian Manhunter’s personal turmoil, and Lex Luthor’s moral struggle with Perpetua were relatively unaddressed by the main event. Here, in Justice League: Death Metal, these factors finally receive some of the attention they deserve.
I really enjoyed seeing these characters grapple with their individual personal issues. The narrative has them all overcome some of their problems and the finale has Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, and Lex Luthor reach a bit of an understanding between each other. In addition, more character-driven drama is added through the inclusion of Nightwing’s successful attempt to lead a version of the Justice League and Detective Chimp’s successful attempt to persevere in a life filled with despair.
Outside of this, Justice League: Death Metal also tells a moderately entertaining action story. The volume has plenty of thrills and excitement, as the League faces some seriously powerful enemies. However, I felt like the drama within this portion of the narrative was a little undercut by the volume’s conclusion, which wrapped everything up a little too quickly and a little too neatly. It still ends up being a decent story but doesn’t stand on its own quite as a well as other tie-in volumes from this event.
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Art
The artwork in Justice League: Death Metal is positive all the way through. Both Xermanico and Robson Rocha produce detailed and creative work. The detail makes everything feel real and gives the work additional tension. The creativity allows the awesome new character designs, the wild locations, and everything else about the comic to stand out as unique and different. On top of this, Romulo Fajardo, Jr.’s colors hit the perfect tone for the work and help connect the work of both pencilers. Overall, the visuals in this volume look good and make this a better read.
Continuity
Justice League: Death Metal is a tie-in to the Dark Nights: Death Metal (Review) event. It directly continues some plotlines from Dark Nights: Death Metal #3. For more details see ComicBookWire’s “Dark Nights: Death Metal Reading Order“. Technically, it continues the Justice League (Reading Order) series from Justice League: Galaxy of Terrors, however, it does not reference that volume.
The narrative here mostly picks up again in Dark Nights: Death Metal #5. For more details see ComicBookWire’s “Dark Nights: Death Metal Reading Order“.
The full Justice League series continues in Justice League: Endless Winter (Review).
This volume also references stories from other comic books, detailed below:
- This entire volume makes a number of references to Scott Snyder’s run on the Justice League (Reading Order). This series provided the prelude to the entire Dark Nights: Death Metal (Review) (Reading Order) event. Specifically, this volume references:
- The Justice League’s initial contact with the Totality. This is depicted across Justice League Vol. 1: The Totality (Review).
- The world choosing “Doom” in the war between the Justice League and the Legion of Doom. This happened in Justice League Vol. 5: The Doom War (Review).
- Perpetua (Reading Order) rejected Lex Luthor (Reading Order) in favor of the Batman Who Laughs (Reading Order) in Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen (Review).
- Nightwing’s recent memory loss is brought up. He lost his memory due to an incident in Batman #55, collected in Batman Vol. 8: Cold Days (Review). The impact of this incident was initially explored across Nightwing #50-56, collected in Nightwing: Knight Terrors (Review). He regained his lost memories in Nightwing #74, collected in Nightwing: The Joker War (Review) (Reading Order).
- Nightmaster died in the Dark Nights: Metal (Review) (Reading Order) event.
- Starfire (Reading Order) and Cyborg’s (Reading Order) appearance in this series immediately follows up on their appearance in the last issue of the Justice League Odyssey series (Reading Order). This final appearance is collected in Justice League Odyssey Vol. 4: Last Stand (Review).
- Justice League #57 references one of Lex Luthor’s plans. This plan is shown in Dark Nights: Death Metal: Infinite Hour Exxxtreme #1, collected in Dark Nights: Death Metal: The Multiverse Who Laughs (Review).
- Justice League #57 references the last time Martian Manhunter communicated with Lex Luthor telepathically. This happened in the final issue of the Justice League: No Justice (Review) (Reading Order) event.