A review by crookedtreehouse
Dark Nights: Metal - Dark Knights Rising by Joshua Williamson, Dan Abnett, Scott Snyder, Sam Humphries, Peter J. Tomasi, Grant Morrison, Frank Tieri, James Tynion IV
2.0
Updated, as part of a read-through of The Batman Who Laughs:
It isn't difficult for me to see why I reacted so strongly to this the first time I read it. It's not a new or interesting concept, but I think I was a little hard on the overall book because of its resolution.
Each of the first seven issues of this collection are fine. While none of the stories wowed me, they also weren't terrible. They were seven different origin stories for Bruce (or Bryce) Waynses/Batmen who decided to turn on their worlds' heroes in the misguided hopes of saving a different world where they could survive. Each sloppily conceived story is well told by some of the best writers willing to work for DC.
What makes this collection a mess is the final issue, co-written by the eight writers of the previous seven issues. It's awful. The art is beautiful and striking, as it is in absolutely every issue. The story reeks of miscommunication between writers. There is no logic to the plot, no real direction to the story other than OMG SOON BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN! It's difficult to say if the characters act
with any sensical motivations because every character is just a series of bad decisions pointed at a cliffhanger, except Detective Chimp who is used merely as a barometer for how bad things are going around him.
This is a Very 90s idea being written by, again, some of DC's most capable writers. But I'm excited to see what happens with the following series, which has just one writer who will, hopefully, have a more focused sense of narrative.
**********Original Review***********
As an art book, this series is ok. There's a variety of styles, some cool costume designs, and excellent panel layouts.
The writing is terrible.
Every issue is An Evil Batman gains a power of another Justice Leaguer so that he can Evil. What sort of evil does he have plan? What does the World's Greatest Detective want? Ehhhh. Power? Maybe.
There is zero character development, no real explanation for the various Nightmare Batmen (apart from "Dark Matter make bat evil"), no twists in the story. This would have been a three star single issue, maybe four if they managed to cram in all these art styles.
Mostly, this is a seven issue series with less than seven pages worth of ideas in it.
If you love unnecessarily dark Elseworld Batman books, I imagine this one would be okay. Mostly, I'd recommend this for people who like to see how Batman would look with different uniforms and powers. Or, again, fans of stories where the art style changes frequently, and is almost across the board great. Fans of storytelling, character development, or good Batman stories will want to stay far away from this.
It isn't difficult for me to see why I reacted so strongly to this the first time I read it. It's not a new or interesting concept, but I think I was a little hard on the overall book because of its resolution.
Each of the first seven issues of this collection are fine. While none of the stories wowed me, they also weren't terrible. They were seven different origin stories for Bruce (or Bryce) Waynses/Batmen who decided to turn on their worlds' heroes in the misguided hopes of saving a different world where they could survive. Each sloppily conceived story is well told by some of the best writers willing to work for DC.
What makes this collection a mess is the final issue, co-written by the eight writers of the previous seven issues. It's awful. The art is beautiful and striking, as it is in absolutely every issue. The story reeks of miscommunication between writers. There is no logic to the plot, no real direction to the story other than OMG SOON BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN! It's difficult to say if the characters act
with any sensical motivations because every character is just a series of bad decisions pointed at a cliffhanger, except Detective Chimp who is used merely as a barometer for how bad things are going around him.
This is a Very 90s idea being written by, again, some of DC's most capable writers. But I'm excited to see what happens with the following series, which has just one writer who will, hopefully, have a more focused sense of narrative.
**********Original Review***********
As an art book, this series is ok. There's a variety of styles, some cool costume designs, and excellent panel layouts.
The writing is terrible.
Every issue is An Evil Batman gains a power of another Justice Leaguer so that he can Evil. What sort of evil does he have plan? What does the World's Greatest Detective want? Ehhhh. Power? Maybe.
There is zero character development, no real explanation for the various Nightmare Batmen (apart from "Dark Matter make bat evil"), no twists in the story. This would have been a three star single issue, maybe four if they managed to cram in all these art styles.
Mostly, this is a seven issue series with less than seven pages worth of ideas in it.
If you love unnecessarily dark Elseworld Batman books, I imagine this one would be okay. Mostly, I'd recommend this for people who like to see how Batman would look with different uniforms and powers. Or, again, fans of stories where the art style changes frequently, and is almost across the board great. Fans of storytelling, character development, or good Batman stories will want to stay far away from this.