'Dark Knights: Death Metal' #1 Review: The most fun you can have with a multiverse-spanning crisis
Spoilers for 'Dark Knights: Death Metal' # 1
By: Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo
Inks: Jonathan Glapion
Colors: FCO Plascencia
Letters: Tom Napolitano
At first read, it's hard to know just how seriously one should be taking 'Dark Knigts: Death Metal,' given that it's quite possibly DC Comics' largest scale event ever. Then you remember that it contains a robo-T-Rex Batman who is upset that his tiny arms can't throw Batarangs and everything gets a lot easier. Despite its widened scope and its Grand Unifying Theory of every DC Crisis ever, 'Dark Knights: Death Metal' benefits from being taken at face value as pure, unadulterated fun.
For those who are entering the event fresh, don't worry - the beginning of the series is just as confusing for those who've been following the story ever since 'Dark Knights: Metal.' When we last saw the Justice League that's featured in this event, they had lost Earth to Perpetua, the surprisingly evil creator of the DC Multiverse and collectively entered a door through which they hoped to find the means of defeating her once and for all. As we see this issue, that attempt apparently failed and Earth has been turned into a nightmare version of itself, where a variety of evil Batmen run things under the leadership of the Batman Who Laughs. Each of these bizarre Batmen has been assigned a DC hero who are also forced to comply with Perpetua's wishes, as she attempts to destroy the Multiverse and replace it with one dedicated to chaos and Doom.
Despite the stakes, this first issue has a lot of fun with its concepts and there are a great many. Wonder Woman with an Nth Methal chainsaw. The original Batman, with a skeletal motorcycle befitting of a Hellish landscape. Joker Dragons, goblin Robins, and a T-Rex Batman are some of the more tame offerings that this issue brings up. The first issue, at least, reads a lot smoother than the continuity mess that both 'Dark Knights: Metal' and Snyder's run on 'Justice League' ended up becoming - the exposition is heavy, but not overwhelming. 'Dark Knights: Death Metal' wants you to sit back, and enjoy the ride, instead of making you work to understand it and it's the best that the 'Metal' saga has been in a long while.
The series benefits from not trying to take itself too seriously, with jokes at the B-Rex's expense and the Batman Who Laughs snidely asking readers if they're tired of him yet. The series doesn't need to be taken seriously for it to be cool and it delivers some of the most jaw-dropping, epic moments in DC History and this is just the first issue! It's Wonder Woman who takes center stage this time, taking the spotlight away from the two more famous members of the Trinity. She's the perfect protagonist for a series of this caliber - an unrepentant warrior for a world that's gone to Hell.
Through all the moments of fun and undeniable cool, there is some very smart writing laid beneath it all. There's a balance between the silliness, the grandiose, the meta and the seriousness that's been missing from the saga. All of this is ramped up by the artwork - Capullo's designs are even more breathtaking than the promotional materials we've seen leading up to this issue. His redesign of Batman's costume in particular manages to stand out even in an issue of wildly imaginative Batman designs.
Death metal as a musical genre isn't necessarily for everyone. It's fast-paced, it's intense, it screams ever louder for more, more, more. 'Dark Knights: Death Metal' #1 is just the same, promising that the wild events of the issue are only the beginning - but as the music, if you can learn to embrace it, it's one of the most memorable, fun experiences you can have.
The next issue of 'Dark Knights: Death Metal' releases July 14, wherever comics are sold.