'Dark Nights: Death Metal' #1: Perpetua just killed the most complicated Superman of all time
Spoilers for 'Dark Nights: Death Metal' #1
Scott Snyder's masterpiece, the highly-anticipated 'Dark Nights: Death Metal' has finally begun. The epic crossover kicked off with 'Dark Nights: Death Metal' #1 and it dropped a lot of big reveals including the destruction of an important universe in the DC Multiverse.
Mark Waid and Alex Ross's 'Kingdom Come' story is one of the most influential takes on the DC universe. Not only did it provide an interesting perspective on heroism but it also gave us the most complex version of Superman ever. The 'Kingdom Come' Superman was the greatest hero of his world before losing his faith in humanity. Since then he sort of walked the line between messiah and dictator before eventually regaining his faith and becoming a hero once again.
Now in 'Dark Nights: Death Metal' #1, it is revealed that Perpetua, the evil mother of the multiverse, has destroyed Earth 22, the universe where the 'Kingdom Come' world exists. In so doing, she has now erased this popular version of the Man of Steel from existence. As revealed in the issue, there are only eight universes left, with more falling each passing day. It's only a matter of time before Perpetua manages to eliminate the entire multiverse and remake it in her own image. While all this is going on, the mainstream universe's Superman has strangely been absent from the action. While it was revealed that he is a prisoner in Apokolips (now called Megapokolips) and being subjected to the Anti-Life Equation, we haven't seen what he is actually up to.
Considering there's a pretty good chance that soon, the main universe Superman might become the only one in the multiverse, we can't wait to see him again. Hopefully, he will be back as the story continues in 'Dark Nights: Death Metal' #2. Here's the synopsis for the upcoming issue: "Get ready to scream! Wonder Woman roars across the horrifying Dark Multiverse landscape in the world’s most demented monster truck, with Swamp Thing riding shotgun! The two arrive at the ghoulish cemetery base of Batman and his army of zombies, but can the former friends stand each other long enough to form a plan and take back the planet? Plus, what’s Lobo doing in space?"
'Dark Nights: Death Metal' #2 will arrive in stores on July 14.