This is the first Batman graphic novel I’ve read in a long time. The team of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo return after their impresive Batman new 52 run. I heard quite a bit about this at the time of its release in 2017. The story revolves around a very interesting premise involving the multiverse (shocker) and a nightmare realm beneath the multiverse where our worst fears have come to pass. From this realm arrive several antagonists that descend into the current universe to cause havoc. It also doesn’t help the Justice League when these antagonists all appear to be some variation of Batman. Dubbed the Dark Knights, they are the fallen heroes from universes where one of Batman’s worst fears have come to pass. Given a lifeline by an evil force called Barbatos, they have descended (ascended?) to our current universe to claim the world as their own in exchange for dominions they can rule over.

While this all seems way over the top the story actually starts off very interesting, and the introduction of the Dark Knights makes for one hell of an image.

This Dark Nights: Metal story arc spans 6 main issues and a score of tie-in materials from other comic story arcs. While the 6 issue story is enough to get the gist of things from beginning to end, the complete (and by far more entertaining) story can only be gleaned by reading the tie-in material. The image below should detail the tie-in comics as well as the order in which they should be read for continuity.

Another thing to be noted is that there is a bit of reading material prior to the events of Dark Nights: Metal which will add a lot more context to what the hell may be going on. It is definitely recommended to pick them up before Dark Knights: Metal not only for clarity in this story but also because those are some of the best Batman stories written in the recent past. They are highly recommended. The list can be found in this excellent article here.

Now for the review. This next bit might be getting into spoiler territory so just be warned before reading on. No major spoilers but still.

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While the buildup was immense and the tie-ins added a lot of depth of the characters, and the state of the world, after the introduction of the Dark Knights, the ending fell flat for me. It felt a little weak the way the justice league persevered. I expected so much more. The story’s arc felt rushed towards the end and I feel this impacted the ending. The only thing positive about this arc are its tie-ins and the art, both of which were amazing, the latter of which I spent an inordinate amount of time just apprecitaing. All in all, I would recommend picking this up if only for the artwork and the Dark Knights.

Rating:

• 6-part series: 3/5 (mostly because of the artwork)
• Entire series (including tie-ins): 4/5

Links:

1. goodreads: Dark Nights: Metal
2. goodreads: Batman new 52
3. Dark Nights: Metal reading order and prerequisite reading