Bats vs Birds. A Batman sidekick’s true destiny revealed. The Joker – the hero?
DARK DAYS THE CASTING is the second of the one, two punch before DARK NIGHTS: METAL – the six part epic unleashing an army of evil Batmen from the Dark Multiverse. That’s no spoiler. It’s been out there. But how these really Dark Knights got unleashed is the revealed in this week’s massive issue.
The action picks up with Joker locked in the Batcave, Batman on a global hunt, the most journals of Carter Hall/Hawkman and the mysterious metal wrapped in the hidden history of the DC Universe.
Before we break this down, reveal our big burning questions and what this means for the future of DC here’s a SPOILER ALERT!
If you have not read DARK DAYS THE CASTING stop reading now and run to your local comic book shop.
Seriously.
OK.
Here it comes.
In DARK DAYS THE FORGE we learned Batman has a Wayne Black Site in Atlantis he kept secret from Aquaman, was keeping Plastic Man in stasis on the moon and is hiding a cosmic level mega weapon in a vault in Superman’s Fortress of Solitude.
The Guardians sent Green Lantern on a mission to Earth to investigate a major disturbance. Hal and Duke Thomas eventually found a cave within the Batcave holding the Joker prisoner.
Carter Hall’s journal gave us glimpse of alien ships made of Nth metal crashing in Egypt, Bat symbols in ancient sites, Nth metal tied to some of the weapons of iconic DC heroes.
Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Jim Lee, Andy Kubert and John Romita Jr pick up the action leading up to the big threat of METAL.
It starts and ends with mystery men in red robes.
In Carter Hall’s journal we see Hawkman and Hawkgirl confront these robes figures in what appears to be an Egyptian temple with the powerful Nth metal forged into a sword. This shadowy cabal is referred to some familiar DC names and also the Immortals (an upcoming DC Metal title.)
The revelations continue with Hawk tribes. A demon who takes the sigil of a bat.
“Birds and Bats, forever at war.”
We see visions of the Blackhawks, The Challengers of the Unknown seeking to uncover the secret of the metal then an explosion and a massive demonic face with a seemingly third eye.
Batman continues his world tour with Wonder Woman joining Bruce in Greece as he invades a temple in search of a weapon created by Prometheus. Bruce confesses to Diana he’s actually afraid of what’s coming.
Wonder Woman reveals a crisis is coming and the Gods have left Earth. Diana gives him the sunblade, a fiery sword created by Prometheus with what the God called the Eighth Metal to guide him on the rest of his journey.
Batman heads to Arizona to crack open a vault with the sunblade then calls for Black Lightning and The Outsiders. Batman’s covert ops team was revealed in the previous issue. Batman learns this was a Cadmus base and a warning from Dubbilex that this metal he seeks is cursed before being attacked by…
Talia Al Ghul!
Talia reveals she’s out to claim a mysterious dagger made of this metal that her father spent decades trying to acquire. Bruce convinces Talia to trade the Ninth Metal dagger for the Eighth Metal sunblade. She agrees and also refers to an assassin known as the Silencer. (A character who will star in a new DC METAL series.)
This Ninth Metal dagger belonged to…
Shazam!
Back in the Batcave Hal Jordan and Duke Thomas are taunted by Joker as they try to learn why he’s there as a prisoner.
The Joker hints to the events of The New 52 Era in which his face was carved off, his assaults on Batman’s allies in DEATH OF THE FAMILY and reveals how he was resurrected after dying with Batman in ENDGAME. The Metal was in the pool under Gotham City that brought the rivals back. This is where Joker saw an ancient symbol – “the Bat behind the Bat.”
Joker’s mindgames unleash Duke’s anger (remember Duke’s mother is insane after being poisoned by Joker is ENDGAME.) Duke’s attack releases the Joker from his energy statis cell.
Joker, Duke and Hal duke it out as the Clown Prince of Crime reveals he’s really the hero trying to stop what’s happened before and utters a HUGE revelation.
Duke was chosen to be Batman’s sidekick not to be the new Robin.
Duke and his mother are Meta. Metahuman.
Are all DC’s Metahumans a result of Nth Metal in their bodies?
Enter Batman with the Shazam dagger. Duke’s body reacts. Surrounded by the artifacts he’s been collecting and an strange energy signature, Batman has a horrific vision.
Thousands of miles under Gotham, we see lava and robes figures saying the “final seal is broken” and “The Dark Days Are Over…The Dark Knights Are Coming. And with them, the True Father of Batman.”
METAL #1 by Snyder and Greg Capullo arrives August 16th.
By Editor