Dark Nights: Metal is a rollicking good superhero story, demonstrating Scott Snyder and company's abiding love for the DC Universe's characters and history. It's hard to argue with the breadth of characters that Snyder gets on the page and the deference he pays to both DC's Big Three characters and the core members of the Justice League. I appreciate the extent to which Metal stands on its own, but for me the most heartening aspects of this book were the ways in which it nods to the contemporaneous present of the DC Universe, and its role as a raucous prelude to Snyder's new Justice League title.

Metal is successful and auspicious in leaps and bounds. The chaff of those angst-ridden Infinite Crisis days is totally melted away here as Snyder has Superman, trying to reason with Batman, demand, "It's me. We're brothers." Much in line with Snyder's Justice League partner James Tynion's Rebirth Detective Comics, these are heroes who know they're heroes, who act like heroes, who respect their long history of working together just as much as the audience does, and bless you Scott Snyder for letting them show affection for one another (even as Superman is shaking Batman and Batman is actually Clayface).

Metal also offers a parallel storyline for Wonder Woman as coordinator (and chief warrior) of the League's other forces. Not for the first time, Diana's uncomplicated leadership seems the best the League has. The odd side-teamings of hero pairs whets my appetite for Snyder's No Justice -- Aquaman with Deathstroke, especially, offers a lot of laughs.

As well, as a continuity wonk I was wholly delighted by the book's final pages, which tease the storylines one could find almost immediately in Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman's books (and which, with the collection release, one can now immediately find in recent back issues). This is the kind of thing I think most events don't do because it doesn't age well, referencing instead perhaps some miniseries continuance of the event itself, but Metal's act is uniquely generous, an act of gentle marketing almost unheard of in comics. And that Snyder singles out the historic Leaguers, reaffirming them as cornerstones of the DC Universe, is also nice. In this way too, Snyder and Metal affirm in act what they preach in story, this message of "we're all in this together," and I don't think anyone doubts that the reported magnanimity of the new Justice League line is sincerely felt by its creators.

Among my favorite parts of Dark Nights: Metal was the final seven-page confrontation between Batman, the Batman Who Laughs, and the Joker. I felt very comforted by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, and Batman in a dark cave facing off against a villain, a sequence surely meant to evoke the climaxes of Snyder and Capullo's seminal Death of the Family and Endgame. Metal is a lot of things, many of them good and many of them portending good things for the future, but among them was a chance to have the Snyder/Capullo band back together, and this sequence delivered that in spades.

Noisy.

Nonsensical.

Overblown.

Fun...?


I just finished DARK NIGHTS: METAL: THE DELUXE EDITION, and I have almost no words with which to describe the plot to you. Did I understand it...? Eh, vaguely. The story itself is all bluff and bluster, but, like a good summer blockbuster, the fan service and spectacle of the whole thing was enough to win me over.


Once again, writer Scott Snyder characterizes Batman as a kind of rich, dangerous Dennis The Menace: His curiosity, and his unwillingness to listen to anyone, even his closest friends/allies, ends up endangering the entire multiverse and everyone in it.


The story, such as it is, is basically the literary equivalent of one of those "Magic Eye" pictures...it's a complete, senseless jumble that coheres briefly if looked at from jussssst the right angle; But look at it directly, and it falls apart.


Batman has supposedly been tracking down clues to some ancient mystery involving Nth Metal, which leads him on a series of incomprehensible quests that end with him opening the doorway to a dark dimension, which is filled with vaguely sketched evil Batmen, and lorded over by Barbatos, who wants to drag The Earth down into his dark dimension. Why? Why not? (Stories like this bother me, because there really is no threat to anyone. If Batman had just minded his own business, none of this bad shit would have happened. Which makes Batman, essentially, the villain of the piece.)


As I said earlier, I have almost no clue what the Nth Metal had to do with anything, who most of these evil Batmen were supposed to be, why the evil Robins walk around saying "Crow, crow!", how The Challengers of the Unknown fit in, what The Metal Men had to do with anything, why Plastic Man is stuck in the form of an egg, why Darkseid is a baby, or why and how baby Darkseid can be so cute. All I know is this: There were enough fun things going on that I was able to set my brain aside and just enjoy it. As the great Tommy Maitland might say, "We are just here for funsies!"


Fun things:

Zatanna.

John Constantine.

The underwater team-up between Aquaman and Deathstroke.

Cast members from the late SHADOWPACT series.

This guy:

Batman and Superman going all Frodo and Sam in their own Mount Doom.

The callbacks to CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, the well that DC just can't stop going back to.

The unshakable strength and determination of Wonder Woman.

The huge, widescreen action scenes.

Ra's Al Ghul, Vandal Savage, Shazam, Black Adam, Starro, Swamp Thing with a bow tie, the tomb of Arion...I could go on and on. This collection is like a travelogue of DC history, faces, and places. Longtime readers will have a ball. Jeez, The Sandman appears, and plays a pivotal role. And Snyder makes Hal Jordan funny, and gives him a personality. Amazing.


The bad...? I have just given up on following DC continuity. Is this supposed to be the first appearance of Hawkman? How about Plastic Man? I know Hawkman had a "New 52" book, but has that been retconned out of existence with "Rebirth"...? Why is Plastic Man an egg...? (They actually explain this, but it made no sense to me at all.) I had no clue, still have no clue, and decided that I don't, and shouldn't, care. I read this collection, had fun with it, and that should be enough. This book is batshit crazy fun. End of story.


DC Comics provided a review copy that ran 184 pages, and Amazon is listing the hardcover as having 215 pages, so...there should be stuff in here that DC didn't let me see. Thanks, DC! I assume it is some combination of variant covers and original art.


DARK NIGHTS: METAL: THE DELUXE EDITION earns a solid seven out of ten Bat-demons:🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇

I received an ARC copy from Net Galley, what follows is an honest review.

I did not know what to expect from this. I have not read many of the modern comics. I am a reader of comics but back in the 60's and early 70's. I know a lot has changed, that from time to time the comics need to reboot otherwise, Superman and the gang would be in their 80's or 90's.

I have known of the multiverse from the Arrowverse shows on CW. That took me as no surprise. I was not ready for a demonic dark universe. That caught my attention.

It was probably better that I read them all at once. I am not sure I would have lasted reading them in their original form, spread out over many months. It most likely would not have kept my interest over that long of a period.

We know the story of the heroes. So there is nothing new there. What was new was the dark multiverse. Out of it come our nightmares. How can we prevent it when it comes to take over our plane of existence.

Recommended to any who enjoy comics, though with all the death, preteens and below might be affected.

'Dark Nights: Metal: Deluxe Edition' by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo is a big epic DC comics event. The graphic novel feels like it's missing things at times, but it was still a fun ride.

Going back years to other epic events, Scott Snyder has pulled together a big event that has some ties to all kinds of things. This book starts with some sort of JLA gladiator event that didn't make much sense to me, but after this, the book settles down.

The story deals with Carter Hall's (Hawkman) diary. We find out there is a bad guy that will use Batman to open a portal to unleash bad stuff. Batman knows this and has taken countermeasures, but he's human, so he screws up. This unleashes bad versions of Batman from other worlds, and the JLA is stuck fighting them off. They get some help from some lesser used characters like
Mister Terrific and the Martian Manhunter.

It's a big story, and it feels like parts of it are not included here. It also feels like it builds and builds and builds and then ends pretty quickly. I did really like it, but it was a bit confusing.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

hank you to DC and Net Galley for the opportunity to read Dark Knights: Metal in exchange for an honest review.

This isn't one of the very best Batman stories I have read, but I thought it was a lot of fun! I liked a lit of the art and it featured a good amount of characters without being overcrowded with them.

I would recommend this to fans that want something a little different than other bat books.

My thoughts:
This collection follows Dark Days: The Road to Metal and is both a conclusion and a segue for more to come. This is for readers that can see this as a new DC movie because although it doesn't have an end, the appeal of heroes who tap into the sense of goodness and hope darkness comes through. When the more suicidal heroes want to give up, the more stable heroes bring them back. That is what makes the "comicverse" and these heroes immortal over generations of readers.

I apologize to the writers and the publisher for mixing worlds and heading to Marvel for inspiration but the quote is so appropriate to this book and gets to the heart of the message:

It is easy to feel hopeful on a beautiful day like today, but there will be dark days ahead of us too. There will be days when you feel all alone, and that's when hope is needed most. No matter how buried it gets, or how lost you feel, you must promise me that you will hold on to hope. Keep it alive. We have to be greater than what we suffer. -- Gwen Stacy, The Amazing Spiderman 2
Description:
The New York Times bestselling BATMAN writer and artist team of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo re-unite in the epic event graphic novel DARK NIGHTS: METAL!

The Dark Knight has uncovered one of the lost mysteries of the universe...one that could destroy the very fabric of the DC Universe! The dark corners of reality that have never been seen till now! The Dark Multiverse is revealed in all its devastating danger--a team of twisted, evil versions of Batman hellbent on destroying the DC Universe!

With appearances from heroes, villains and faces long forgotten, DARK NIGHTS: METAL will examine every choice a hero doesn't take and every path they don't walk, and open up worlds that are forged by nightmares.

Together on a single title for an outstanding fifty issues, Snyder and Capullo's award-winning stories BATMAN VOL. 1: THE COURT OF OWLS, BATMAN VOL. 3: DEATH OF THE FAMILY and BATMAN VOL. 7: ENDGAME turned generations of Batman fans into a global horde of Batman superfans. With DARK NIGHTS: METAL, Scott and Greg will build on this strong foundation and broaden the scope of their storytelling to encompass the full expanse of the DC Universe.

An advanced digital copy provided by Net Galley and the publisher for an honest review.

This storyline was so good. Probably the greatest DC event since Crisis. Great story telling and artwork. Highly recommended read.

Nightmare Batman from Dark Multiverse crosses over into Multiverse . lots of violence . the story seemed a little chaotic at times but all in all enjoyable

In this history of DC crisis crossover events, Dark Nights: Metal is likely to stand out as the one which most freaked out the readers. Metal takes elements from the history of the DC universe, literally upends them, adds fresh perspectives, and then pushes them through a meat grinder of terror and villainy. Dark Nights: Metal is not for the faint of heart, an success has an unexpected look when it is--as it must be--snatched from the slavering jaws of apparently certain and irrevocable defeat.

The effort to tie together strands from various previous DC books into the bigger "Metal" knot was fine, a little blurred line between "that was intentional from day one" to "J. Michael Straczynski, please write me a Gwen Stacy story." But like too many event comics, the effort to raise the stakes so often (The very fabric of the universe is in peril! Even worse than it was last summer!) ultimately means that nothing is at stake. This effect is magnified when your current event is revealed to be just a stepping stone to the next event. When that's your goal, by the end of the "blockbuster," all you've done is devalued the book in your hands.

At least the prelude to this event was a small pair of one-shots and not three or four whole trades by itself. Because this is lame. I've never been a fan of event stories, but this one is neither here nor there – I couldn't like it, I was far too easily distracted, and there was nothing to rile against either (well, some unreadable fonts, twattish editorial interruptions, and some right chicken gumbo speechifying about a brain, but that might be too much of a spoiler). The very definition of meh.

Dark Nights: Metal was billed as the ultimate event from DC Comics. Certainly, the book is filled with every hero and villain in their stable. In addition, there are a multitude of Easter eggs and call outs (literally—they are in little yellow boxes) to other DC Comics. Maybe the buildup made me expect too much…but I didn’t enjoy the plot very much.

It appears that 52 universes within the multiverse are not enough for DC. Underlying the multiverse is a dark multiverse ruled by Barbatos. There are also a bunch of metals that are not on the periodic table that will be used to create a door into it. Around that point in the book (25%), I decided that this was not the book for me but maybe a physicist that has also read every single DC Comic will like it. I usually love Scott Snyder’s complex plots but this one was a bit much. I read the prequel first and I cannot imagine how confused I would have been if I had not.

Despite, or possibly because of, the crazy plot, the artwork was great! I don’t want to give away any spoilers but some of the League are in for some sh*t and the art definitely goes there to illustrate it! So 3 stars for the plot (and this big Scott Snyder fan has to cringe a bit to write it) and 5 for the art averages to 4 stars!

Thanks to the publisher, DC Comics, and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

But the sixth or seventh time someone says something like “It’s what we call a Phased Presence, built on zombie star-gas” I would think “Oh. Because of course it is.”
The series was every bit as explosive and world-encompassing (and sometimes goofy) as I’d been told, but it’s a pretty deep wade for anyone who isn’t a regular DC reader. Greg Capullo’s art, though, makes it worth the work.

Full review at http://pixelatedgeek.com/2018/06/review-dark-nights-metal-deluxe-edition/

This is a non-stop fun ride into a world in danger of sinking into a dark multiverse. The horsemen for this apocalypse? Batman's worst fears come to fruition. The Justice League and a large cast of DC characters are setting out to save the world from the dark multiverse poised to swallow it up.

It's dark and gritty but balance with interesting twists and character reveals that keep it light enough to enjoy without being bummed out.

3 stars
This story was one that was WAY too convoluted for me. For those that are up to date with this series, maybe it would be more impactful. But for someone who occasionally picks up a comic book, the story didn’t flow.
I give 3 stars for the artwork. Some of the work was so detailed and lovely. I would suggest working on certain of the fonts – I could hardly read the words from the dark characters.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher, DC Comics, for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I liked this comic much better than the first in the event. Everything tied together and didn’t have your brain going in a million different directions. Action-packed scene after action-packed scene, Snyder left me wanting more after each one.

Carter Hall, aka Hawkman, is once again our narrator, but we finally understand the reasoning behind his “diary”. We find ourselves back in the dark universe of Batman. Honestly, he is kind of depressing in this event. He is still hiding things from the rest of the Justice League on his journey to find the Nth metal. But is Batman being used by the powerful god Barbatos to create a portal to Batmen?

Batman, being his selfish self in this event, gets lured into a trap and it’s up to the Justice League to save him. Clark Kent, aka Superman, to the rescue. Kent comes to find an older Batman (I’m still curious to know how Batman aged and then was his good ol’ self again later. Some clarification would be nice). While the Nth metal is the goal, will new discoveries be uncovered to depict a weapon in disguise?

Probably the best lesson learned from this comic is that true friendship lasts. No matter what wrongs were made, the Justice League has each others’ backs. And I love the tie-in of the characters (Aquaman and the Flash make my knees weak).

One thing I wish I could change…I wish there was more Joker and less Hawkgirl…I don’t know if anyone else feels this way, but the whole time I was thinking, “Shut up, Hawkgirl! You act like you’re the smartest, but how many times have you died?!” Although I love the Joker, the Joker Dragon was a little much, I have to admit.

What will happen next with the Dark Knights? Will the Jusice League be able to stop them with this new metal?

The expected publication date is June 12, 2018.

ARC from Netgalley.
Carter Hall (Hawkman), the conflict between 4 tribes (Wolf, Bird, Bear, Bat) that has existed since the beginning of time, the existence of "divine metals", and Batman's investigation in to how all three contribute to the DC Universe is the underlying plot drive for this story. It does require some knowledge of DC (and even some Vertigo! yay!) and both its recent and long-standing history.

Here, we begin with the Justice League returning back to Earth to find Challengers Mountain dropped in the middle of Gotham. (Even as versed in DC as I am, I had to look up "Challengers of the Unknown". This group of 4 adventurers investigates sci-fi and paranormal things. They have no superpowers, and give off a Jonny Quest / Scooby-Doo vibe to me.) Inside the Mountain, they meet up with Kendra Saunders (Hawkgirl) who tells them of Barbatos and the existence of the Dark Multiverse. She also speaks about Batman, who has been prophesied to be exposed to five divine metals, which would open the Dark Multiverse and allow invasion, him having been marked when he was sent on his journey through history from being shot by Darkseid's Omega Beams during Final Crisis. Batman steals Hawkgirl's Nth Metal and runs away.

The whole Justice League searches for Batman and when they find him, he reveals that he has already been exposed to the foretold divine metals in a process called mantling. Exposures: Electrum from the Court of Owls; Dionesium during his fight with Joker in "Endgame"; Promethium from the resurrection machine used after that fight; and the Nth Metal. In an attempt to escape the last metal, Batman steals Darkseid, who has been reduced to a baby. He aims to use Darkseid's Omega Beams to go back in time again and prevent Barbatos from meeting him. Unfortunately, he is tricked by the Court of Owls exposed to the last divine metal: batmanium (Really DC?). This causes him to exchange places with seven dark versions of himself from the dark multiverse who are basically him plus the powers of another Justice League member he killed: Red Death (Dark Bat-Flash); The Drowned (Dark Bat-Aquawoman); Dawnbreaker (Dark Bat-Lantern); The Murder Machine (Dark Bat-Cyborg); The Merciless (Dark Wonder Bat-man); The Devastator (Dark Superbatman); and the seriously creepy and yet awesome (one of the best new Batman characters in years) The Batman Who Laughs (Dark Bat-Joker).

Doctor Fate and Steel come to play here, leading the Resistance, and gathering intel on how to stop Barbatos and his Dark Knights. Everyone divides up into different teams, all looking for Nth Metal, which Cyborg discovers is their weakness (See Gotham Resistance storyline). Superman, however, goes into the Dark Multiverse to find Batman and restore him. The two of them fighting side by side are being completely overwhelmed by Dark Supermen, but they get rescued by Daniel Hall, The Sandman himself, who takes them to a library in The Dreaming. (So excited to finally Sandman coming back!) Daniel explains the history of the Multiverse to them, telling about how there is not only a Monitor and Anti-Monitor, but also an Over-Monitor (also called Forger), who is in charge of watching over the future. Batman and Superman head off to the Forge of Worlds, to find Tenth Metal.

The battle rages on back on Earth, heroes and villains alike fighting against the Dark Knights. Even when Batman and Superman return with Tenth Metal weapons and armor, they still have difficulty winning. Only when, in a completely crazy turn of events, Joker teams up with them, does the tide finally turn in their favor, his insanity and manic attacking being unable to predict. Barbatos is destroyed, only The Batman Who Laughs escapes, all other Dark Knights are destroyed, and they use the power of Tenth Metal to pull Earth out of the Dark Multiverse. This has a huge consequence though..... The Source Wall is destroyed. (If you didn't gasp at that, go back and read the stories of Green Lantern for the past 10 years.) This opens up to a whole new possibility for enemies, and we see the blueprints for the "Hall of Justice".

When you combine this graphic novel with the 3 others: Dark Days: The Road to Metal, Dark Knights Metal: The Resistance, and Dark Knights Metal: The Nightmare Batmen, you get the full chronological picture of the storyline, which is how I read it. I wonder how this will affect both Justice League and Batman titles, but am more interested to see how the Green Lantern titles fair with the Source Wall being gone. Overall, amazing story, well paced and plenty of action and fun.
Strong Recommend.

Dark Nights: Metal has been shaking the comic book industry for months, so naturally I knew I had to read it; if nothing else so that I could recognize its influence when I see it. Fans have been going crazy about this series, and I’ve been hearing snippets about it left and right. If you’ve somehow managed to avoid the Dark Nights hype than consider me impressed.
This series was brought to us by Scott Snyder (Batman Court of Owls, American Vampire, Wytches, Swamp Thing, Batman Death of the Family), Greg Capullo (Batman Court of Owls, Batman Death of the Family, The Creech, Batgirl Death of the Family), and Jonathan Glapion (Batman Court of Owls, Justice League, The Multiversity, Batman Death of the Family), which does partially help explain some of the hype. Love him or hate him, you’ve got to admit that Scott Snyder does a great job in getting Batman talked about.
Think of Dark Nights: Metal as Batman taken off of his leash. The series has always felt like it wanted to have the ability to go darker (I mean, look at the obsession with the Joker, which should be telling enough) but here it finally gets to run around and be just as crazy and dark as it always dreamed of. It also dips very heavily into the multiverse, so fans of that will be pleased.
The whole focus of this series is in the name: metal. Or rather, specific metals. As it turns out there are metals that have been controlling the pattern of things, and slowly but surely Batman has been intentionally infected with all but one of them. And before you ask, no he wasn’t the one doing it. Somebody else was smart enough to figure out how to play Batman. That should really speak volumes in and of itself.
We have many favorites from DC getting together here in order to stop a greater threat. I don’t think they all truly understand what is at stake, but to be honest there were times where I could say the same for myself, so it’s all good. Superman and the rest of the Justice League are trying to do everything in their power to stop this world ending event (no exaggeration) while Batman is stubbornly insisting he can handle this himself…that actually sounds about on par for the course.
There are dozens of other cameos as well. In fact there are so many, from the obvious to the obscure that I’d miss some if I tried to list them all out. Let’s just say that both villains and heroes make appearances in this series.
Most of the hype (that I’ve heard) has revolved around the alternate Batmans shown in this series. If you haven’t heard about them I promise I won’t give anything away. Let’s just say that there are one or two of them that really steal the show. Seriously, I’m not sure whether Joker would proud or envious. I’m also not sure which emotion would be more dangerous for Joker to be feeling…
To be honest, while I really did enjoy this series, I do feel like I was let down a little bit by it. I think all the hype and talk raised my expectations to an unfair level. That obviously resulted in my slight disappointment in reading this. I still think it had a lot of great points, and I can see how it could influence DC writing for the better…but I also wish there had been more. Perhaps if they slowed down the pace a little bit; had taken more time to get through the story being told? That might have done it, but I’m not sure.
I am looking forward to see how this series ends up affecting the rest of the DC world. I’ve been hearing hints of this series or that series being influenced by the themes and topics of Dark Night. I hope they’re accurate and live up to the quality shown here.

This was everything I had hoped it could be, but it seemed to rush thru way too fast. I know the probably saved some of the material to make up other trades. Also the rock/metal theme was cool but the font was hard to read in some of the panels as the fonts were too jagged and small to really make out what was being said without having to squint at it. Hope the rest of the series is as good or better than this.

I got an ARC of this book.

This was a bit better than the prequel, but it still felt like a disjointed mess. The plot is difficult to decipher, which only gets harder the further into the story you get. The ending was a bit much. It was rushed and no real resolution was reached. Instead it was like "well, the whole universe might kill us now, lets party". I was just underwhelmed. The story was a one or two star for me. 

The writing was just awful at times. There was a line that made me laugh because it was just so bad. It was something like "we are all a little bit metal". I was already done with the story being anything worth my attention, but then little gems like that made me lose what little faith I had left. It might have gone unnoticed if there were multiple notes from the author using the devil horns hand sign repeatedly throughout the book. It just felt like they were trying way too damn hard. 

The art was amazing though. I was blown away again and again by how wonderfully dark the story was. The art needed a stronger story and stronger writing. There were panels were the art was gorgeous and then it was such bad lines in it that it really detracted from any enjoyment I could have and took a lot of power away from the scenes. I would love prints from this artist of all the villains. They were so twisted and wonderful. My favorite was The Batman who Laughs, but how his story line ends was, again, weak. Joker had a few lines, but they weren't a Joker I could recognize. They were flat. 

This book left so many open lines for the author to go for squeals and spin offs that the story felt woefully incomplete.