Invasion of evil Batmen! A Dark Multiverse was introduced in Dark Days: The Forge – the prelude to DARK NIGHTS: METAL.
DC Comics shared what coming for DC’s heroes in a series of one-shots with the major event:
Looking at the teasers, Batmen are coming to fight Justice League icons?
Evil versions of the Dark Knight will terrorize Earth this September, as DC teased early details on a series of seven one-shot comics connecting to DARK NIGHTS: METAL. Each one-shot story centers on a different, corrupted version of Batman spawned from the Dark Multiverse to wreak havoc on Earth.
“With names like The Red Death, The Murder Machine, The Dawnbreaker, The Drowned, The Merciless, The Devastator and The Batman Who Laughs, it’s pretty clear that these creatures mean business and prove just how dangerous the Dark Multiverse will be for DC’s heroes,” said Patrick McCallum, DC Entertainment Executive Editor.
The terror begins on September 20 with BATMAN: THE RED DEATH #1, by Joshua Williamson (writer) Carmine Di Giandomenico (artist), followed by BATMAN: THE MURDER MACHINE #1, written by Frank Tieri with art by Ricardo Federici on September 27. Writer Sam Humphries and artist Ethan Van Sciver will team up on BATMAN: THE DAWNBREAKER #1, on sale October 4, with Dan Abnett and artist Philip Tan collaborating on BATMAN: THE DROWNED #1 October 18. The month concludes with Peter J. Tomasi and Francis Manapul on BATMAN: THE MERCILESS #1, on sale October 25.
Two additional one-shot titles, BATMAN: THE DEVASTATOR #1 (November 1) and THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS #1 (November 15) arrive the following month.
But here comes the RESISTANCE!
The presence of these dark characters will infect some of DC’s Super-Villains, who are ready to take down Gotham City once and for all but DC heroes stand against them. “Gotham Resistance,” is a series of four crossover stories beginning with TEEN TITANS #12 written by Benjamin Percy with art by Mirka Andolfo (on sale September 13), NIGHTWING #29 by Tim Seeley and Paul Pelletier (on sale September 20), SUICIDE SQUAD #26 by Rob Williams and Stjepan Sejic (on sale September 27) and concludes in GREEN ARROW #32 by Benjamin Percy and Juan Ferreyra (on sale October 4).
”With the combination of an event comic helmed by two of the most talented creators in comic history a legion of evil Batmen and crossover titles that show just how deeply this event impacts the DCU, fans will know now more than ever that DARK NIGHTS: METAL is something not to be missed,” said McCallum.