Scan barcode
A review by crookedtreehouse
Dark Nights: Death Metal: Deluxe Edition by Scott Snyder
2.0
Scott Snyder is a much better writer than you'd guess from reading this fanfic level comic. This is essentially a disappointing and brooding marriage of an Elseworld tale and the very worst Grant Morrison Explains The Universe comic.
There's a metal, see, and it's magic, and it's all tied into that time that Batman got sent back in timebecause of Final Crisis, right? But it's also, like, PlasticMan's origin? And, like, also Hawkman's? And ok, like, so, like, all of The Justice League has to....hmmm...work together, right? Because there's a Batman, YEA, an EVIL BATMAN. HE'S BATMAN AND THE JOKER AT THE SAME TIME. WOW. But, like, he has an army of other evil Batmen who are trying to be good, but they're selfish, so, they, like are willing to destroy other worlds to save their own, ok? And one of them is Batman AND The Flash And one is Batman AND Green Lantern. And one is Batman AND Aquaman. And, like, we don't see them too often or give them much character development, because that would be hard. Instead, like, BOOM BOOM POW POW POW, right? But also, the whole origin of the universe, and this giant wall that's been protecting the universe from, ummm, I don't know what, but it's REALLY important. And then dark matter and anti matter and dark anti matter and anti dark matter all have to be, ummm, balanced because it makes the metal...stronger? And Batman is old for some reason, and Superman gets all depowered but then OOOOOOOOOH he gets repowered. I don't know forget about that stuff. Then, uhhhh, AND THEN MONKEYS SHOW UP!!!! Wait, forget about the monkeys. The monkeys don't matter. OH, but Hawkman is bad, but ummmmm then maybe he isn't? That doesn't matter, either. SO, LIKE, THE JOKER SHOWS UP and he and Batman ARE A TEAM fighting the Batjoker, who's like, "WOAH, I can't figure out how to fight both of you at once. Ahhhhhh. Maybe I'm dead, but probably not. Ahhhhhh." And that's the origin of The Hall Of Justice.
I imagine that was the pitch to this complete mess of a story. I think without [a:Greg Capullo|166639|Greg Capullo|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1504948380p2/166639.jpg]'s art, and Scott Snyder's name on the cover, this series would have been cancelled after three issues.
It's even colelcted poorly, as it contains one of the same issues from the [b:Dark Days: The Road to Metal|36268471|Dark Days The Road to Metal|Scott Snyder|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1527103214l/36268471._SX50_.jpg|57924171]. The worst issue from that collection, naturally. The one that should have been called Five Writers In Search Of An Idea.
This was really a chore to read, and it's definitely making me rethink my goal of reading all The Batman Who Laughs books, but they keep making them, so ... maybe they get better?
I recommend this to people who enjoyed 80s Venom stories, readers who are really into Spawn. Basically, if you like cool moments over logical stories told clearly by competent writers, this might appeal to you. But if you read comics because you love stories, this is almost definitely something to pass on.
Both stars are for Greg Capullo's art.
There's a metal, see, and it's magic, and it's all tied into that time that Batman got sent back in timebecause of Final Crisis, right? But it's also, like, PlasticMan's origin? And, like, also Hawkman's? And ok, like, so, like, all of The Justice League has to....hmmm...work together, right? Because there's a Batman, YEA, an EVIL BATMAN. HE'S BATMAN AND THE JOKER AT THE SAME TIME. WOW. But, like, he has an army of other evil Batmen who are trying to be good, but they're selfish, so, they, like are willing to destroy other worlds to save their own, ok? And one of them is Batman AND The Flash And one is Batman AND Green Lantern. And one is Batman AND Aquaman. And, like, we don't see them too often or give them much character development, because that would be hard. Instead, like, BOOM BOOM POW POW POW, right? But also, the whole origin of the universe, and this giant wall that's been protecting the universe from, ummm, I don't know what, but it's REALLY important. And then dark matter and anti matter and dark anti matter and anti dark matter all have to be, ummm, balanced because it makes the metal...stronger? And Batman is old for some reason, and Superman gets all depowered but then OOOOOOOOOH he gets repowered. I don't know forget about that stuff. Then, uhhhh, AND THEN MONKEYS SHOW UP!!!! Wait, forget about the monkeys. The monkeys don't matter. OH, but Hawkman is bad, but ummmmm then maybe he isn't? That doesn't matter, either. SO, LIKE, THE JOKER SHOWS UP and he and Batman ARE A TEAM fighting the Batjoker, who's like, "WOAH, I can't figure out how to fight both of you at once. Ahhhhhh. Maybe I'm dead, but probably not. Ahhhhhh." And that's the origin of The Hall Of Justice.
I imagine that was the pitch to this complete mess of a story. I think without [a:Greg Capullo|166639|Greg Capullo|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1504948380p2/166639.jpg]'s art, and Scott Snyder's name on the cover, this series would have been cancelled after three issues.
It's even colelcted poorly, as it contains one of the same issues from the [b:Dark Days: The Road to Metal|36268471|Dark Days The Road to Metal|Scott Snyder|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1527103214l/36268471._SX50_.jpg|57924171]. The worst issue from that collection, naturally. The one that should have been called Five Writers In Search Of An Idea.
This was really a chore to read, and it's definitely making me rethink my goal of reading all The Batman Who Laughs books, but they keep making them, so ... maybe they get better?
I recommend this to people who enjoyed 80s Venom stories, readers who are really into Spawn. Basically, if you like cool moments over logical stories told clearly by competent writers, this might appeal to you. But if you read comics because you love stories, this is almost definitely something to pass on.
Both stars are for Greg Capullo's art.