The artwork throughout has been outstanding: I love all the character designs and the overall death metal-inspired aesthetic. Regardless of their Bat-worthiness, the threat these other characters posed to the remaining heroes of the DC universe throughout Death Metal can’t be denied.So far, Death Metal has been hit or miss for me. Daughter of Wonder Woman and Batman, the bloodthirsty character of Kull, The Pearl aka Martha Wayne, Owlman, the evil version of Batman from Earth-3, The Black Fleet consisting of all of Batman’s aquatic vehicles and weapons commanded by the Death Metal version of Aquaman, and even the Robin King, a young Bruce Wayne who never fully made it into Batman-hood (because he himself killed his parents in Crime Alley), are all versions of Batman in a sense that they have twisted and bastardized the crime fighting ideals of a man who puts his life on the line every night into something nearly unrecognizable, becoming monsters and psychopaths in the process. With all of these evil Batmen running around, there are a few that aren’t technically versions of Batman, but still count as they were pulled from the depths of the Dark Multiverse along with the rest to lay siege to the worlds above. Freeze, Bane, and scores of other villains and heroes have each singularly combined with a different version of the Dark Knight to produce even more evil versions of him, with each being more sadistic and wicked than the last.
As seen throughout the event, Etrigan, Plastic Man, Deathstroke, Scarecrow, Metallo, Clayface, Penguin, Red Tornado, Firefly, Prometheus, armored Lex Luthor, the Court of Owls, the Bat Tribe, Mr. Consisting of a bunch of composite characters that might not have proper names but can easily be sorted out based on their costumes and overall look, these hybrid Batmen took cues from other heroes and villains residing in their corners of the Dark Multiverse, and became something more. In a final push to help the bad guys win, the vampire Batman (hailing from Earth-43 aka Red Rain Batman), a Starro Batman, controlled by an evil Starro (duh!), and a handful of unnamed but still “in-costume” Batmen put it all on the line to try and help the forces of evil come out on top ( spoiler: it didn’t work out well for them).
From sight gags, to actual named Batmen, to blink and you missed it mash-ups, to hilarious one-off appearances, Batmanhad a lot of page-time by the end of this crisis (and for good reason), so strap on your utility belts, rev that Batmobile and get ready for a spin around the Dark Multiverse, Death Metal-style. With upward of twenty books total exploring all aspects, angles and corners of the Death Metal event, the sheer amount of evil Batmen populating each book is truly a sight to behold, and now with Death Metal firmly in the rear view mirror, it’s time to look back and make sense of the seemingly never-ending number of Dark Multiverse Batmen. And while the Future State initiative is currently sweeping across all DC books, giving fans original stories for new and old characters alike to enjoy, the lasting effects of Death Metal’s epic finale are still fresh in fans’ minds.
In the aftermath of the massive crisis-level event known as Dark Nights: Death Metal, the heroes and villains of the DC Comics universe have conquered the evil that is The Batman Who Laughs and given birth to a mysterious new future timeline called Future State. Warning: Spoilers for all Dark Nights: Death Metalbooks!
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