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Batman, Batman Who Laughs, Dark Knight Death Metal #1, Dark Knights Death Metal, Dark Knights Death Metal #1 review, DC Comics, Greg Capullo, Joker, Justice League, Metal, NCBD, Scott Snyder, Sjuperman, Wonder Woman
Dark Knights Death Metal #1
Review by Paul Bowler.
DC Comics major, world changing event of the year kicks off in Dark Knights Death Metal #1, reuniting the all-star creative team behind Dark Knights: Metal and Batman Last Knight on Earth, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, for an epic encore that is sure to rock your world and the DCU to the core!
Following in the wake of Year of the Villain and Scott Snyder’s run on Justice League, Dark Knights Death Metal #1 plunges us straight into the heart of a dark new DC Universe. The Earth has been enveloped by the Dark Multiverse, Perpetua is cutting a swathe of carnage across the multiverse, and the Justice League are now almost completely at the mercy of the Batman Who Laughs. Humanity clings on, battling to survive in a hellish, twisted world, while Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman have become separated and continue to fight on against the terrifying horrors of this new reality.
Dark Knights Death Metal #1 rocks right from the outset, quite literally in fact. Scott Snyder weaves an engrossing narrative peppered with intricate exposition that effortlessly draws you into this warped new reality. Wonder Woman is now Queen of the Underworld, the realm which had formally been Themyscira is now a fiery gulag, with cages and pits for those unfortunate enough to have been condemned to its depths by the Batman Who Laughs. Its great to see Diana take centre stage, the banter with her loyal ally — a rather emaciated Swamp Thing – is also brilliantly written by Snyder, and the build up to Wonder Woman’s eventual face off with the Batman Who Laughs leaves you in no doubt that Snyder’s firing on all cylinders here. Of course the one, true Dark Knight is waiting in the wings for his moment to strike, and believe me when Batman makes his move everyone sits up and takes notice.
Needless to say artist Greg Capullo brings every aspect of Snyder’s head-banging action-packed script to life in the most amazing ways imaginable. Capullo’s depiction of the Earth, along with its heroes and villains, warped almost beyond all recognition by the Dark Multiverse is an awe inspiring sight. You will find yourself flicking backwards and forwards through the pages as you try and process the sheer scope and scale of everything Capullo has achieved here, together with the inks by Jonathan Glapion and colors by FCO Plascencia, as Wonder Woman challenges a furious dinobot Bat-Rex, Robin’s lurk like grinning gargoyles on the rooftops, the charge of Batman’s undead strike team will blow your mind, and the Batman Who Laughs sinister delight in the chaos he has unleashed is so palpable it almost seeps from the page.
You’d be forgiven for thinking this all sounds a bit overwhelming, because you’d be right. It is a little. Fear not though, for, if like me you don’t tend to read big comic book events all that often these days, Dark Knights Death Metal #1 does feature an in-depth recap of sorts around the mid-way point, so even if you’ve not read anything leading up to this event, you will be able to jump right in and enjoy it without too much trouble as Snyder has done a superb job in ensuring the big reveal of the new prisoner in the pit provides you with all the backstory you’ll need to bring you up to speed.
Events in Dark Knights Death Metal #1 also build to a thrilling, jaw dropping showdown and cliffhanger that’s so ingeniously orchestrated it will rip your synapses to shreds as it sets the stage for the conflict to come.
The hype and expectation surrounding Death Metal has been phenomenal. Some might argue the Perpetua, Dark Multiverse and Batman Who Laughs storylines have now been milked for all their worth. For me though Dark Knights Death Metal #1 delivers the goods on every level, Snyder and Capullo are on great form, it more than lives up to the hype, and looks set to change the landscape of the DC Universe by the time it concludes next year.
As we begin to take our first cautious steps out of the Covid 19 pandemic lockdown here in the UK its has been nice to enjoy some new comics again. I have to say as well that DC Comics are really knocking it out of the park right now and leading the way with some fantastic new issues and events as the comic book industry begins to restart after the shutdown. Dark Knights Death Metal #1 gets this comic book event off to a fantastic start, and it has all the ingredients that will make it a sure-fire-hit!
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Scott Snyder / Artist: Greg Capullo
Inks: Jonathan Glapion / Colors: FCO Plascencia / Letters: Tom Napolitano
Cover: Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, and FCO Plascencia
About The Author
Hi, I’m Paul Bowler, blogger and reviewer of films, TV shows, and comic books. I’m a Sci-Fi geek, a big fan of Doctor Who, Star Trek, movies, Sci-Fi, Horror, Comic Books, and all things PS4.You can follow me on Twitter @paul_bowler,or at my website, Sci-Fi Jubilee, and on YouTube and Facebook
Sci-Fi Jubilee 
I wasn’t the biggest fan of Metal, but will check this out to see what’s up.
Must admit, I never got around to reading Metal. I was reviewing movies more than comics back when that came out. I did like Snyder’s recent run on Justice League though, so thought I’d give Dark Knight Death Metal a try. I enjoyed the issue, the story was action packed, if a bit OTT, and the art looked amazing. I’ll probably stick with it to see how it turns out, but I doubt I’ll bother with all the tie-in issues though.
Love that you answered the question of whether this can be read as a standalone! It’s been a while since I’ve immersed myself in DC Comics. There are just SO many! I’m a big Wonder Woman fan. 😜
I think it’s always a good sign when an event like this is something you can enjoy as a standalone story. I agree, there are lots of comics to choose from at times, I always advise people to stick to the characters they like best, they you can branch out to other titles and characters if you wish later. I think Wonder Woman is really cool as well, great to see her playing such a major role in Death Metal as well!
Great review Paul. I wasn’t a fan of Metal unfortunately (and I think the Snyder/Capullo creative team are overrated, sorry – although I get why they’re popular) and not at all been hyped for this (more like an eye roll whenever I saw it advertised).
BUT, I did like the Man Who Laughs and the mini series by Snyder/Jock and for the most part, Snyder’s run with James Tynion on Justice League (and he’s still written one of the best modern Superman stories – “Unchained”). I totally agree that the Dark Multiverse has been milked for all its worth but I’m glad to hear you enjoyed this first issue.
I’ll likely check out the collected edition when it goes cheap, I’m always a suckler for a bit of Swamp Thing!
Certainly great to have new comics rolling out, DC have done well to keep things going by continuing to release digitally whilst comic book stores have been closed – did you catch the last issue of Batman?
Thank you, glad you enjoyed the review. I think Snyder and Capullo make a great team, I loved their Batman run, but I never got around to reading the original Metal. I did quite like the all the stuff previously with the Batman Who Laughs ext, and Justice League, but I do think sometime Snyder builds up a good story and then doesn’t always hit the landing – like Batman Last Knight on Earth. Totally agree, his Superman Unchained was brilliant, but the Dark Multiverse and Year of Villain has dragged out a bit. I must admit, it was the presence of Swamp Thing and Wonder Woman that really drew me to Death Metal #1, and I really like how those characters have been portrayed. I will get this series but I won’t bother with all the tie-in stuff. Yes, DC have been doing a great job getting things moving again now lockdown is easing a bit. I did read Batman #92, it was ok, wasn’t that impressed with Punchline though. Think that character has been way over hyped.
Yeah, I feel likewise about Punchline – she’s definitely no Harley Quinn but we’ll see. Definitely a gimmick by DC to sell a boat load of comics. I’m still pretty hyped for the upcoming “Joker War” although I hope it can be followed in the main Batman book and Detective Comics without having to check out other tie-ins.
Sadly I think that’s the case with Punchline, nothing more than a gimmick really, I just can’t understand all the hype around the character. I am really looking forward to Joker War, I think it runs through most of the Bat Book, but I believe its been structured so the main thread of the story plays out in Batman and Detective. I don’t tend to bother with Tie-in issue now either.
I still need a bit more of a break from comics, but this looks awesome.
As there’s been no new comics during Lockdown in the Uk I’ve been reading a lot of old classic comics and storylines (trade collections). Can’t go wrong with the old favourites can you? I did enjoy Death Metal #1 though, the action is a bit OTT, but its really fun and exciting. Cool to see Wonder Woman playing such a bit role in this first issue as well.
Over the top action is never a bad thing in an alternate universe, especially one with the word “Metal” in the title.
Totally agree, this comic really takes the alternative universe route, and runs with it for all its worth. A really exciting issue.
Rips your synapses to shreds! Sounds awesome!
Thanks! It was such an exciting story to read, and that confrontation near the end is mind-blowing. Very clever how they set it up and so cool to see Wonder Woman playing such a key role as well!
Ahhh, it is reassuring to hear such positive thoughts on this one. I look forward to seeing the rest of the issues released and collected now. Thanks for sharing, Paul.
You’re welcome and thanks for commenting. Yes, its a good, exciting story, and it will certainly be a collected edition worth getting. Cheers 🙂
I’ve thought about trying the Metal series, this pushes me more towards it!
I’ve not read all of the Metal series either, this issue made me want to go back and check out some of the other trade collections too. Think I liked about Dark Metal was how you could jump right into the story without knowing much before hand either. Certainly well worth checking out.
Wow. Are we allowed to just look at the pictures?
For sure! This issue has such an awesome cover, especially cool to see Wonder Woman featuring in such a major role in the story. 🙂
I’ve been really impressed with what DC is offering lately, they are hitting it out of the park with their books. The Metal series was a great way of reimagining traditional heroes notably Batman. Not all of the Bat derivatives work but when they do such as the Batman Who Laughs, man they are truly memorable. One wonders what kind of impact Death Metal will have in the long run, but it’s a great ride so far.
Its has certainly been a phenomenal and exciting journey since Metal began. The Batman Who Laughs is another great new character to emerge, and go on to become such a major part of Death Metal. I’m also glad to see Wonder Woman featuring so prominently in this issue. I have a feeling Death Metal will have far reaching implications on the whole DCU by the time its done. Totally agree, DC Comics have been bang on the moment with their new releases, and they are leading the way with consistently excellent titles recently.
If someone is going to mash superheroes and death metal, then the cover artwork is absolutely perfect. It’s cleverly done.
That cover is amazing isn’t it, Wonder Woman and her chainsaw of truth are just stunning! Its a really exciting story as well 🙂