Dark Nights Metal #6 (of 6)

    With this issue we finally reach the end of the interminable Dark Nights Metal series.

   Thank goodness!

   The series had an interesting start but just kept getting more mired down in the dark and dismal story of... some kind of invasion from a dark universe that threatened to wipe out all life on Earth.

   Luckily, the Justice League members manages to find the McGuffins they need to fight back, and... well, you can sort it out.

   It all seems to be aimed at achieving two goals: restoring one or two long-lost heroes (and if you thought their origin was confusing before, wait till they try to recap this crazy quilt of a series); and getting the Justice League back together and chummier than ever.

   As I've mentioned in past reviews, this series certainly isn't aimed at me - it's almost entirely dark and dismal and sad. The convoluted story makes little sense, but then, I didn't read any of the spinoff titles. (I believe an event should stand on its own, though I admit it's rare that this happens.)

   So the series wraps up with strong art and an impenetrable story. Not a great combination.

   As a wise person once said, your mileage may vary.

Grade: C+

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Dark Nights Metal #5 (of 6)

   Congrats to the creative team of Dark Nights Metal for managing to craft a story that's almost completely impenetrable.

   (Perhaps that was the goal, given the title.)

   I admit that I'm reviewing under a bit of a handicap, since I've only been reading the Dark Nights series, and none of the spinoff issues (much to the consternation of my comics shop owner), so I'm no doubt missing important elements along the way.

   The story spooling out here involves DC's big guns - Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Green Lantern, along with a few others, all searching for... something. Different exotic metals that are important to saving the Earth from an invasion of evil armor-wearing Batmen.

   It involves the Nth metal, which allowed Hawkman to fly, and apparently that hero and Hawkgirl are involved. Of course, doom is closing in and there's no hope for our heroes to save the day.

   Until next issue.

   Look, this just isn't aimed at me. It's dark, hopeless, grim and gritty, and there are only a few writers who have been able to make that sort of story work - and this one isn't getting it. The art is great, but the story is a brick.

   It just feels like a weak attempt to merge comics with heavy metal music, and it's just a bad fit.

   For me.

Grade: C+

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Dark Nights Metal #3

   I was planning to skip this Dark Nights Metal mini-series.

   The whole "Dark Multiverse" / Heavy Metal thing just looked too dark for my (admittedly middle-of-the-road) tastes.

   But curiosity got the best of me, so I picked it up - and now I regret it.

   That's because it's become exactly what I expected: dark, depressing, placing the DC Universe in the throes of a terrible, dystopian existence that promises lots of death and destruction along the way.

   This issue actually focuses on Superman, so you'd think it would be a bit more uplifting - but no, it never really rises out of the muck.

   The art and story are skillful and disturbing, and if you like this sort of thing more than I do, here it is.

Grade: C+

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Dark Nights: Metal #2

   Dark Nights: Metal is doing a good job of setting up a mysterious new menace, and certainly benefits from some terrific, dynamic artwork by Greg Capullo, but there's a problem here.

   The story by Scott Snyder leans hard on similar stories from that team's run on Batman, especially the story that had Batman fighting the entire Justice League.

   The members of the League are trying to stop Batman, who has obtained a terribly dangerous weapon (though it seems to me that the mysterious weapon doesn't fit into current DC continuity - but it's all such a jumble, I could easily be wrong).

   Like the previous story, we see scene after scene of Bruce outwitting and outmaneuvering the world's most powerful heroes, all in an attempt to stop a danger that threatens the world.

   I'm not sure which is more annoying - that Bruce can outwit his team so easily, or that the members of the League wield godlike powers, so (for example) Superman can hear anyone's heartbeat in the world.

   The story may be a bit derivative, but it is a well-crafted comic and manages to end on a heck of a cliffhanger.

   So there's that.

Grade: A-

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Dark Nights: Metal #1

   I was planning to skip this event, for two reasons: it looks very dark, which gets a big "eh" out of me; and I'm definitely feeling event fatigue.

   But then I saw the spoilers about a certain character showing up, one who hasn't been seen in quite a few years - and I caved. (Since we don't do spoilers on this site, I won't be naming that character for you - but the rest of the Internet is happy to fill that need.)

   So I can tell you that Dark Nights: Metal lives up to my expectations - and exceeds them in some ways.

   Yes, it's certainly dark, as Batman continues to explore an ancient mystery around the threat of a Dark Universe and the Metal that is somehow connected to it and the superpowers in the world.

   On the plus side, the story references (or includes) quite a number of characters who've been largely ignored for some time now, including Hawkman, the Blackhawks and the Challengers of the Unknown (though they only play small parts so far).

   The story also offers some new insights into the DC Universe, with threads about immortals, Hawkman's Ninth Metal and competing tribes dating back to the dawn of mankind.

   But it's also a bit muddy, as we get flashes of story without a clear idea as to where it's all going. What did the opening adventure with the Justice League have to do with the rest of it? Since when do the Blackhawks involve themselves with mysticism? What's up with the mysterious new landmark in Gotham?

   We trust, of course, that we'll get answers in the issues to come, but the series isn't giving us much to go on - I have to think that new readers would struggle to make sense of this.

Grade: B+

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