Dark Nights Metal: Ridiculously Awesome
Dark Nights Metal really has no proper descriptor for it other than “Metal.” It’s as if Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo made a comic from Iron Maiden album covers, but with DC superheroes. No, even better: it’s like they blasted an Iron Maiden album while slamming their favorite action figures together.
You might think I’m being facetious and dismissive with that statement. But, honestly it’s a fantastic read. Dark Nights Metal is fun, exciting, engaging, and absolutely awesome. It’s without a doubt the best event comic of 2017, and definitely worth checking out for all comic fans. For DC Fans, this is a must buy.
Written by the Doom Commander
Scott Snyder crafts an epic tale that kicks off with the Justice League in gladiatorial combat against giant robots. Then it goes from there into a large mythical conspiracy going on in Batman’s world. No spoilers in this review, but Snyder is pulling from all of DC’s continuity to make this story. Particularly with Hawkman’s origin and history.
(But if you’re interested in spoilers…)
Snyder may love Batman, but all the Justice League members shine here too. There’s great witty dialogue between them all. Each one feels unique, specific, and utilized well too. It’s the New 52 Justice League team, and it’s great to see them all together again. This story also feels huge in its scope. We start with the League fighting in space, go back to Gotham (which has a new mountain), and then end up on Dinosaur Island where they discover something called the Dark Multiverse.
While this first issue gives readers all the information they need, it’s advisable to pick up the prologue issues Dark Days: The Forge and Dark Days: The Casting for some more context. However, Dark Nights Metal remains focused on its narrative, its characters, and its heavy metal aesthetic.
Art of the Pain Bringer
Speaking of heavy metal aesthetics, Greg Capullo’s reunion with Scott Snyder will be the big draw for most fans. Capullo’s pencils have incredible detail and convey a lot of action. The character designs are great and distinct from each other. The fight scenes are energetic and frequent and live up to the scale that Snyder imagines, which is how an event comic should be. It’s great to see these two back together again, and hopefully we’ll see more from them in the future.
Joining Capullo on the Dark Nights Metal art side are Jonathan Glapion on inks and FCO Plascenia on colors. Both compliment Capullo’s art brilliantly. Plascenia in particular shines with his colors. While there is a dark aesthetic in some of the pages, the colors are usually very striking and detailed. Very much reminiscent of a Jack Kirby comic (like New Gods, or Kamandi), but with a stronger contrast. The art is damn near flawless, and worth the price of the series.
Time to Rock Out
This book is absolutely the event series to read. It’s just awesome, plain and simple; and has one hell of a hook for fans. It’s Kirby meets Iron Maiden. The heavy metal fantasy we never new we wanted. The kick off for a DC event series that could easily be the biggest event the company has ever had. If you love DC Comics you need to read this book. It is required reading.
And if you need further convincing… Batman rides a fucking dinosaur in it!
That alone makes it a must buy.
