Like a sword drawn to strike, DARK NIGHTS METAL #1 unleashes big character comebacks, massive action, shocking revelations and twisted mysteries tied to the Dark Knight’s past and future.
Did you see that jaw-dropping return? Which one?!
BATMAN The New 52 team Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo are reunited. The dark magic is back and this time the duo have the entire DC Universe as their arena. That’s still not enough for this epic story unleashing a Dark Multiverse and going back to their Batman run.
We know an army of evil Batmen will attack.
Dark Matter will follow METAL with new books.
Here are the biggest shocks and awes and what it could mean for the future of the DC Universe:
Before we continue here’s a SPOILER ALERT!
If you have not read DARK NIGHTS METAL #1 stop reading now and run to your local comic book shop!
Seriously.
OK.
Here it comes:
DARK DAYS: THE CASTING & THE FORGE brought back a diverse roster of previously missing characters including Mister Terrific, Plastic Man, The Blackhawks with references to The Outsiders, The Challengers of the Unknown, The Immortals and revelations from the lost journals of Carter Hall aka Hawkman.
Like THE CASTING, THE FORGE we learn more of Hall’s recollections starting with the first page set 50,000 years ago. In the Age of Stone there were three tribes: Wolf, Bear, Bird followed by a dark tribe with the symbol of The Bat!
According to the journal the fourth tribe led to the Age of Metal.
This week’s epic packed a punch of surprise cameos:
Superman Villains: The present day action shows the Justice League fighting in the gladiator games on Mongul’s Warworld in metal from an array of villainous sources from across DC history. One of the viewers is Toyman, Mongul’s slave forced to watch.
Birds and Bats.
Lady Blackhawk revealed! Kendra Saunders! The young woman who became the second Hawkgirl leads the League to Blackhawk Island, warning of an invasion centuries in the making. Saunders reveals the island was Hawkman’s base and the power of Nth Metal and the mysterious substance’s hidden history with the Challengers of the Unknown (who were joined by Red Tornado) and the Blackhawks.
Red Tornado awakens to the name of evil.
The android is silent in a tube on the island base as Kendra reveals the Multiverse map, more of the Dark Tribe known as an enemy of birds. Barbatos is the name in the text but there’s another word Wagon aka Wayne. Kendra turns on the team revealing she lost her wings as Hawkgirl to join the Blackhawks to destroy Nth Metal. Red Tornado is unleashed warning “he’s coming for us all!”
The Doctor is in…this issue.
Doctor Fate reveals premonitions of a dark army: the Batmen of the Dark Multiverse set to be unleashed.
The final surprise?
Dream! Yes, the Dream of the Endless co-created by Neil Gaiman! How will the beloved star of SANDMAN guide Batman on his quest to unlock the secrets of the Dark Multiverse and Nth Metal?
Bat vs Bird was a major theme of Snyder and Capullo’s first BATMAN arc: The Court of Owls.
Given the hints of an ancient rivalry between tribes including Bird and Bat – are we on a collision course for a war between Batman vs Hawkman?
BATMAN: ENDGAME hinted as the Joker’s possible immortality but is the Dark Knight eternal?
Snyder reveals the Owl/Bat rivalry tied to the origin of Gotham City.
Are Batman and Hawkman reincarnations of an ancient Bat vs Bird war tens of thousands of years on from the beginning of the DC Universe?
By Editor