Dark Nights: Metal is a 2017 comic book crossover storyline written by Scott Snyder and art by Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion and FCO Plascencia, published by DC Comics.  The story involves Batman discovering a dark multiverse that exists beneath the core DC multiverse. His investigations eventually result in him releasing seven evil versions of himself from the dark multiverse, led by the dark god known as Barbatos, who plans to unleash darkness across every Earth.

Plot:  The story is framed around the journals of Carter Hall (Hawkman) who’s discovered the Dark Multiverse and Batman’s release of it.  The story is pretty damn dark and twisted and there’s a lot of action.  Much like any good story, the series does have layers and it gradually unfolds as the plot progresses under Snyder’s watchful and skillful eye.  The story is a slow build but when the Dark Multiverse is opened the ball freaking drops.  The Justice League members go through hell and high water as the stakes keep rising from Earth’s destruction to the destruction of the multiverse.  One of my favorite subplots is how Batman’s theme dates back to the early days of Hawkman and Hawkgirl.  The later issues showcase the escalation of the conflict coming up to a grand climatic battle of the ages.  The story does come to a satisfying conclusion with the heroes celebrating but preparing for the next threat.  It’s a good story that manages to take the DC Universe into some pretty dark directions.  (5 out of 5)

Characters:  The characters are freaking sweet, with a lot of depth and personality.  Everyone is feeling the effects of this new threat and grinding with them as they struggle just make you connect with them even more.  Batman is just as stubborn as ever and it’s because of this stubbornness that the world is thrown into chaos.  Though the story feels like a Batman story at the end of the day, there’s a focus of the other Justice League members as well.  Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Hal Jordan, Cyborg, Hawkman and Hawkgirl all are important and contribute the efforts of saving the day.  I like seeing them pushed to their limits. Other heroes featured are Mr. Terrific, Plasticman, Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Green Arrow, Red Tornado, Kendra Saunders, Doctor Fate, and the list goes on.  But the real highlights of the story are the new antagonists, the Dark Knights, who’re basically the dark versions of the Justice League but Batman themed.  Led by The Batman Who Laughs, the group consist of The Red Death, The Drowned, The Dawnbreaker, The Murder Machine, The Merciless, and The Devastator. Each of the Dark Knights have their own interesting personalities and tragic backstories. The Batman Who Laughs, The Red Death, and Dawnbreaker are my favorites.  The group is lorded over by the dark god Barbatos who’s cool but doesn’t have much personality. Still, the characters are great.  (5 out of 5)

Art Style:  Good storytelling wouldn’t be as effective if the art direction isn’t on point.  However, the artists definitely step up to the plate giving Snyder’s words vision.  The artwork is beautiful and has depth with a good bit of detail.  Thumbs up to Greg Capullo and his collaboration with artists Jonathan Glapion and FCO Plascencia. There is violence and it is pretty damn graphic with tense fighting, chaos and destruction, and the gory, violent deaths. The Batman Who Laughs and his demonic Robins just look plain creepy. (4 out of 5)

Writing:   Two thumbs up to Scott Snyder.  If he was going for dark, he did it.  One of the darkest tales of the DC Comics brand.  Snyder just does a great job of taking DC to a dark place taking advantage of DC’s roster of heroes outside of Batman.  I can honestly say that I liked the dialogue and pacing as well.  Conversations feel authentic and true to the characters.  Even the dialogue of the villains was actually really good.  The Batman Who Laughs has the best quotes if you ask me.  Things jump off rather quickly and Snyder does take a few liberties with the continuity for some of the characters and it isn’t necessarily bad.  Despite some of the changes, Snyder does show he knows the characters, staying true to the source material (well, as close as he can).  One of the most memorable scenes is during the final climax where the Justice League clash against the Dark Knights, and all of creation is at risk, and Batman goes to confront The Batman Who Laughs.  He proves formidable but things turn around when Batman teams up with the Joker.  What makes this great is seeing that a Batman/Joker is ending the world and a Batman teamed up with a Joker is trying to save it.  Hell, I really liked the Dark Knights.  I think they were interesting characters, though tragic, with understandable motivations (at least in the beginning) with cool personalities and awesome abilities. If you like good writing, Snyder brings his best. (5 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, Dark Nights: Metal is one of DC’s finest storylines.  I had few problems with the overall package though I wished Barbatos was a more interesting main villain.  There’s a great story, great art direction, a ton of good characters, great writing, great bad guys, and tons of action and violence.  It’s a creepy series, it’s a dark series, it’s a violent series, and this what makes it a great series.  The crossover definitely takes the franchise in a new direction and I like how Snyder wasn’t afraid to think outside of the box.  Dark Nights: Metal gets 5 out of 5.