Written by: Scott Snyder
Art by: Greg Capullo
Inks: Jonathan Glapion
Colours by: FCO Plascencia
Letters by: Steve Wands
Cover by: Greg Capullo
Published by: DC Comics
Spoiler warning!
It was really hard to put into words what I thought of Metal #2. Hell, I felt that way about #1, which is why my review was a little bit all over the place. The more I thought about it though, two words eventually came to mind.
Crazy.
Fun.
I’ve said for a long time that Valiant Comics is doing large scale events right, in that the main story is self contained, there are real consequences, and the tie-ins didn’t require a lot of knowledge of the main series. Scott Snyder seems to have taken a page from that model. Metal is tight, it clearly has an impact, and isn’t just out of nowhere. This is probably the best event DC has done in twenty years.
The Justice League knows Batman is in over his head. They chase him down, encountering false leads and imposters, until Superman and Wonder Woman track him to the tomb of Prince Khufu- Hawkman’s first incarnation. There, Batman reveals that for the entirety of Snyder’s Batman run, the worshippers of the dark god Barbatos have been priming him to become a living portal into the Dark Multiverse. Except mid-conversation they learn that they’re not in Khufu’s tomb. They’re in Hath-Set’s, another worshipper of Barbatos, and the Hawks’ immortal enemy. And thus they’re ambushed, and left defeated as Barbatos and his Dark Knights emerge from the Dark Multiverse.
Snyder’s story brings the right sort of crazy here. The whole story is just a massive chase, with the Batman Family themselves leading the Justice League through the swamps of the Amazon. Once it slows down and finds the Trinity alone, the story stays no less crazy, incorporating Baby Darkseid (Baby-Seid?) and Batmanium into the narrative. And the best part of it all- it all works. It’s a testament to Snyder’s work that it just goes of nearly seamlessly. The only downside is that it almost feels like a little too much in a few moments. Overall though, WOW.
Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion turn in the work of their careers. I’ve said a few times that I hope this entire creative team ends up on Justice League, and this issue is proof of concept for that. There is nothing Capullo can’t capture here, from small moments with Zatanna and Constantine, the big chase with the League and the false Batmen, and the issue-ending two page spread debuting the Dark Knights. All of it is intense, engaging, and spot on.
This is absolutely a must-read issue for any big DC fan.
Overall: 8.5/10
Tony Thornley is a Mormon geek dad, blogger, Spider-Man and Superman aficionado, amateur novelist and all around awesome guy. He was born and raised in Utah and has been reading comics since age five. His first comic series was GI Joe and he was doomed from there. You can follow him on Twitter @brawl2099.
