I enjoyed this a lot more than I originally expected, since I'm not terribly familiar with the more recent storylines that led up to this point. It is something of a crossover/alt history heavy version, which means I'm going to have to like it at least a little, but it explained enough of what was going on that I didn't feel like I'd just been dropped into the deep end of an ongoing story. Even a basic knowledge of the main characters is sufficient. It also wasn't as Dark & Heavy as some of the stuff I've seen recently, which surprised me, too. Obviously, there's some heavy and vaguely unpleasant stuff, but nothing that's going to give me ongoing nightmares.

Metal was a great run and I continue to talk about it to anyone who will listen. The resulting effects on the entire DC continuity, as well as making the multiverse cool again, made all the difference.

This is a wild story from one of the best recent Batman writers that also serves as a launchpad for one of the more ambitious comic book arcs I've read recently. As with most Snyder/Capullo stories, it starts with a big idea--what if Bruce Wayne hadn't become Batman, and had become another member of the Justice League instead? Of course, they had to add one more twist; all of these alternate Batmen...are evil! That concept lets Capullo go wild with art and give us some great Batman mashups--Batman/GreenLantern and Batman/Flash stand out in particular, but really all of them are great designs. As for the story, it does occasionally feel overstuffed, but that's part of the work's aesthetic. Dark Nights never stops, or even slows down; it's constantly ramping up and topping the impossibility of the previous issue with something even more unbelievable. There were certainly references and cameos that, as a recent returnee to DC Comics, I didn't catch on the first read, but leaving room for a second or even third read is a great move on the creative team's part. It's no wonder Dark Nights has given rise to so many follow-on series, given how chock-full it is of new territory to explore.

The master that is Scott Snyder has done it again. Pair him with Greg Capullo and a true piece of comic perfection is born. These two are my dream team.

And while I admit (and got into a twitter war with both Scott and Greg over this) that Metal is a horribly laughable title for a comic, the comic itself its nothing short of a masterpiece. The artwork is as rich and vivid as the storytelling... completely engrossing. I'd challenge any hardcore Batman fan to put this trade down without finishing it one sitting. I couldn't walk away.

And the ending, the catastrophe... the consequences. I'm still in awe of how well this was executed! Snyder writes Batman like no one else can.

Once again, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo bring it in a stellar event collection that brings in the Justice League to untangle Batman's problems (with some Hawkgirl and Hawkman to boot).

I don't often read comics, and this series reminds me of why. Hard to follow, and very chaotic. I didn't get much out of the story, though I'm sure fans who are used to this format would enjoy it more.

Holy Metal, Batman! The story and art in this book is awesome! The Dark Universe is coming and the Earth will sink into darkness if our Super Heroes can’t save it. This book pulls out all the stops and uses all the DC Super Heroes in a nonstop fight to save our universe.

Fun story if you're looking for something different in the Batman universe. Though you might understand the story better if you check out the other books in the Metal series. Otherwise, an entertaining read.

Dark Nights Metal is yet another DC Event. Whenever DC is in a sales slump, which is pretty much always, it conjures an event.

Mongul has a new War Moon, but even better, he has some trendy vibration-domination boots. The Justice League has to battle some bots in an arena, so Wonder Woman wisely places them in Aegea Formation, which is a fancy way of saying “make a circle.” After they turn the bots into a Transformer, the art gets really strange and then the Justice League is somehow in space.

Meanwhile, there’s a new mountain in Gotham City, which has probably made a mess of the real estate market, not that anyone would want to live in Gotham. The League is trying to figure out the mountain when Kendra Saunders invites them to vacation with her in the South Pacific, where they visit Blackhawk Island, which is sort of a shrine to Hawkman. After some yada yada about Nth Metal, we learn that Hawkman and Red Tornado and the Challengers of the Unknown have gone on a Mission to the Unknown and nothing has been heard from them since except a lot of screaming.

Anyway, a beast from the dark multiverse (the flip side of the regular multiverse) and an evil whatever called Barbatos are planning the mother of all invasions, using Batman as their target. This involves some muttering about the Judas Tribe and Mantling and the Strigadae. All of this, and a bunch of heavy metal, is designed to turn Batman into a doorway. Take notes and buy a study guide if you want to figure any of this out.

So the Justice League chases the Bat-family around, leading to a Swamp Thing cameo and the best art in the volume. Shortly thereafter, the art deteriorates, although Baby Darkseid is kind of cool looking. Then Superman fights Metal Batman, because what would a DC epic be without superheroes fighting each other? Somewhere during that battle an explanation of the entire plotline emerges that might best be described as preposterous. But it’s an epic, so that’s to be expected.

Starro from the League of Bad Ideas for a Villain shows up. So does the Sandman, whose library of dreams is on fire, threatening to put an end to stories, which would be very bad for comic book publishers who are woefully short of good stories. No wonder they put Superman on the case. But wait, there’s more. Lady Blackhawk. Black Adam. Martian Manhunter. Black Manta. And, of course, the Joker.

Highlight of the volume: Plastic Man, appearing first as a plastic egg and later as himself. That’s classic. DC needs more Plastic Man. I also enjoyed the revelation that Thanagar is built on Zombie Star Gas. I caught a whiff of it from time to time while working my way through the volume.

Other goodies: Earth 53 sends monkeys to the fight, including Batmonkey, Detective Chimp, and a monkey who dresses like a pirate because pirates are fun and so are monkeys? And after all this fretting about the ninth metal, it turns out that the tenth metal is the new ninth metal.

By the end … well, the end is just a lot of blathering, an attempt to sort of pull a story together that never made much sense, like when Morgan Freeman makes a speech at the end of a movie to explain what happened to the audience. Like most DC epics, this one is more hype than substance. DC writers do their best at making a big story by telling a small story really well. DC writers who start out trying to do a big story nearly always get lost. That’s what happened here. And sadly, the epilog sets up a bunch more stories that will be equally silly.

Some of the writing is cheesy (“If you’re really Bruce Wayne, there must be some good in you somewhere”) and true to form, some of the art appears to have been drawn by artists who have never seen the characters (just go ahead and make up your own Superman, it’s not like anyone has actually seen the guy before). Plastic Man, however, is well drawn, and Wonder Woman usually looks good. About half the time Batman looks like a can opener wearing a bat suit.

If you want an event that includes pretty much all the heroes and villains of the DC universe (even ones you may not have seen for quite some time), then this is the book. The plot spans the multiverse and, not surprisingly, involves needing to save everything. My problem with the book was that the story was convoluted and the art throughout felt crowded. Putting so many characters and so much action on almost every page was too much. There are certain hardcore fans who will love it, but it's not for anyone who's a casual DC reader.

Dark Nights Metal Deluxe Edition screams intensity from the moment one picks it up and views the cover art. Drawn in an art style reminiscent of classic metal album covers, the beloved Trinity flies directly forward, clad in metal armor, with Batman, torch in hand, riding a Joker Dragon. (Yes, a Joker. Dragon.) I personally love the epic fantasy adventure flavor of this cover; a dragon, armor, heroes boldly soaring into battle, no doubt to once again brave some dire peril and save the universe from total darkness and destruction.

This DC event is loud and heavy and truly rocked my socks off. I have never read anything quite like this before, and yet it gave me a story familiar and oddly comforting. It is a classic and timeless story, but the utter untamed creativity of its telling refreshed me. One of its writers, Scott Snyder, tells us his personal thoughts on this in the preamble, “In the end, METAL is a lot of things — it’s about those moments when you find yourself face-to-face with the worst versions of yourself, moments when all looks like doom — but at its heart it is a love letter to comic book storytelling at its most lunatic, and a tribute to the kinds of stories, events, that got me through hard times as a kid and as an adult. It’s about using friendship as a foundation to go further than you thought you could go…[W]e tried something different with it, something ours…”. Truly, I am a sucker for this stuff. I never tire of a tried-and-true hero adventure story.

However, before you run off and buy this beautiful thing, I must note that this tale requires some decent knowledge of the DC Universe. While it is possible to read this blind and still enjoy it, many aspects may prove confusing. This event has some preparatory comics such as Dark Days: The Road to Metal, which I did not get to read in its entirety, so I do not believe those are absolutely necessary, but no doubt helpful. The decent knowledge of the DC Universe I am referring to is: knowing what the Speed Force is, knowing that Batman has a contingency plan to kill any member of the Justice League (well, now you know), knowing the significance of the word “crowbar”, simply knowing Hawkman’s backstory, etc. Some of this knowledge is merely a treat to add to your reading experience, and some of it is quite essential. Also, there are many, many references to past DC events and rare characters, and even a classic Vertigo character (I particularly loved this character’s role in the story). So, if you are new to the epic DC Universe and need a place to begin, I would highly recommend the current Rebirth relaunch; simply pick your favorite character, and start there.

I must encourage the reader to do something that seems self-evident, but a gentle reminder is nevertheless helpful: pay attention. You’ll find nods to metal music and riffs on the genre, both in dialogue and panels throughout. Watch carefully, and you’ll be rewarded with a smirk.

As I mentioned before, the art style honors its subject matter: metal. Most of the comic utilizes gritty, detailed pen work (line shading, crosshatching etc.). Many panels of this work could be slapped on an album cover and be at home. (I was particularly impressed with the absurd level of gruesome detail in the dark army and the main Big Bad). Backgrounds are meticulously drawn; behind furious action sequences we see mountains crumble, smoke and fire enveloping the world, lightning splitting the earth, and oh yes we know the gravest peril is afoot and doom is upon us. As impressed as I am with this art style, what delights me the most is that it is dropped and replaced with cleaner lines, and bright yet soft colors at appropriate moments in the story. The brilliant contrast transforms the story and the experience as a reader.

Tension and twists pervade the story from beginning to end. We ride the lightning all the way through, in a dark with so many unknowns. We explore truths, uncover mysteries, discover friends, and discover ourselves. We muster our hope and we lose it when it all fades to black, and then find hope again. We have no idea how our story will end, or who will be with us, or if we survive, or what is to come. This volume ends neat, but it does promise more.

If you have a love affair with the DC Universe, this is a must read, if nothing more than to see your beloved heroes being the badasses they have always been in epic metal armor. I would also recommend this if you have an affinity with fantasy literature and classic hero-stories. What’s more, this story has exceptional re-readability, for there are plenty of gems to dig out with each read. If all of this fits for you, I’d say this volume gives you your money’s worth.

This was very... busy. And convoluted? Yeah, that's a good word for this book.

Bad guys doing bad guy things ("today, we take over the world!", a la Pinkie and the Brain), and good guys doing good guy things ("here we come to save the day!"). And through it all, groan-inducing dialogue on both sides, and hard-to-read red-on-black font throughout.

The last few pages of this mess tell us (again) that this crisis, like all the ones before, have changed the DC universe in ways we can't imagine. Because, why not?

Dark Knight Metal is such an intense DC
universe event. I've never seen our heroes, and some villians, have such a hard time. I really liked the different versions of batman. Each has a power that mimics the Justice League. Like Red Death is a speedster like the Flash. Only she uses the speed force for evil. You get the picture. So the batmen work for Barbatos, the supreme ruler of the dark universe. The guy totally reminded me of the grim reaper. He was the real deal. So he basically brought hell on Earth. The Justice League and other fighters are no match for his army. I was surprised that the likes of Wonder Woman was having a hard time. She"s an Amazonian princess warrior. Diana kept on fighting. You gotta respect her drive.
So superman travels to the dark universe to save batman. Unfortunately it was a trap. They needed Superman not batman. Eventually the duo make it back to our universe. Using 10th metal armor. Our heroes were able to stop Barabtoes and his army. It was the coming together volton like matter that save the day. I liked the throwback to voltron and power rangers.

This is an event in the DC Universe. A dark event that has Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the Justice League fighting and losing against Barbatos to keep the Earth from sinking so far into darkness that there is no return. Every time, they think they are making progress, the seem to fall further into a trap. It reminds me of reading the Lord of the Rings books in that everything seems to be darkness and despair until light shows up at the last moment. The question then arises, what does Batman's new plan have in it? And will it turn out to be as hard on the Earth as his last one?

So, when I read Road to Metal I was very confused. With this TPB, the Metal Story (or most of it) was a tiny bit less confusing.

I guess that DC multiverse has a dark backing (I won't go into how much a finite 52 worlds in the multiverse annoys the scientist side of my brain, or why in the world DC is so obsessed with the # 52).

And I guess Batman is the key, or Superman is the key, or Kendra Saunders is the key, or something Atlantean is the key?

I just think that in a lot of ways the Metal story line was just too complicated. They started with too many strings, and yes, they did bring them together by and large, but, if they'd had five instead of twenty strings I think that reading the TPBs would have been much more enjoyable.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to DC Entertainment.

I'm not usually one for "comic events." This one, however, got to me in the end. The premise, as I said in the book leading up to this event, is a bit esoteric. As someone who is not a regular reader of DC series it was a little hard to get into and follow. Ultimately though, the book was about relationships. The relationships between the heroes. Relationships between heroes and villains. Relationships between the people behind the costumes and masks. The ending was different than a couple of the previous DC events, and I found that to be a good thing. Overall, I enjoyed this book a good bit.

Batman opens a door to the Dark Multiverse where his worst fears have come true. The Justice League must help repel these dark versions of Batman or all is lost. This is an important title for the DC Universe as it makes some significant changes to what comes next, but it is dense and filled with continuity. It is for longtime readers and may be difficult for new readers to jump into.

I found that I am not a fan of the Metal Batman series. It is not something that I enjoyed and felt that the characters were not as developed as they are in other series such as those by Frank Miller

The main book of the series, it's the main storyline. To me it felt like the whole story was missing something, like only part of the story was there, and it was. I enjoyed the story I loved how complex it seemed to be how Scott Snyder tied in past events to all converge into this one massive story the only problem is that it feels like it's a truncated version of itself. It feels like it should be bigger and longer and the ending really wrapped up fast, it made me pause and think, "Really that's it?" I did love the art, Greg Capullo does not disappoint.
Kendra explains that the Court of Owls has been manipulating the whole thing and Barbatos has been behind them from the beginning, the beginning of time basically, to get Batman to do exactly what they want him to do. Batman, nonetheless, feels like he's the only one that can handle the upcoming evil and then he disappears, assumed dead and Superman is the only one that knows he still alive and needs the help from the Justice League to get him into the Dark multiverse to save Batman. I've never been a fan of Kendra or Carter and I was just underwhelmed with their part in the story.
This by itself is good, it's even better if you read the tie-ins.

I loved how much of DC's history has been folded into this. Elements going back through most of DC's cosmic events all the way back to Crisis make an appearance. Unfortunately, if you haven't read DC comics for 30 years you may be a little lost. I cheered for some of the characters Snyder brought back who've been absent since Flashpoint. Snyder really opens the DC universe for some new stories at the end of this.

Greg Capullo's art! Holy shit, he just went all kinds of crazy with all those character designs. The Dark Knights were Batman seen through the prism of heavy metal album covers.

The pacing was off in the last half of the book. Lots of story elements were glossed over in a couple of panels. Maybe they are covered in the spin-offs, but this is how DC packaged it, so that's how I'm reading it. This series would have been better had it been expanded to 8 issues. I still don't get the importance of these metals. Snyder did a very poor job of explaining why I should care about them.

All in all, a pretty great event. I also like how it didn't break the flow of the monthly books and kept itself kind of self contained.