After the release of the first volume a few months ago, THE saga of DC sinks into darkness. The second volume of Batman Metal, the Dark Knights, released by Urban Comics in July, marks a new stage in the adventures of Batman and his family.
The dark side of DC Comics
With this second volume of a series planned in three volumes, the reader continues with pleasure and horror to discover the Dark Multiverse: a universe where Batman looks much more like the Joker than the Honest Vigilante of Gotham. In the first volume, a breach has opened in Gotham and strange characters attack the heroes of the city, Robin and his team of Titans, Nightwing and Batman. This beginning may seem trivial but the Black Multiverse is not yet another parallel universe with a few different rules. DC plans to make this the beginning of the upheaval of its entire superhero universe. New series from this Black Multiverse will be released later.
Although each story is directed by a different creative team, the whole thing is coordinated by the two most prominent writers: Scott Snyder, in his story Court of the Owls, has remade the Batman series a must and James T. Tynion IV took off on Batman Eternal. This second volume does not focus on the action but on a series of episodes of exploration of this new universe. The reader gets acquainted with Red Death, evil version of Flash, Dawnbreaker, a Green Lantern who would choose to destroy hope rather than use it to save others but also the Devastator, the Drowned or their leader, the Batman who Laughs. We learn more about the origins and motivations of each. This volume is a true best of DC. There are talented authors like Peter J. Tomasi (Batman & Robin) and Dan Abnett (renovators of the Guardians of the Galaxy) and well-known cartoonists such as Greg Capullo, Yannick Paquette or Francis Manapul. This multiplication of big names allows a neophyte to discover the richness of the DC house even if it is a little regrettable for the continuity to have such different styles.
The end of Manichaeism
For several years, it has been very fashionable in comics to recompose the figure of the super villain. One gets the impression that the writers refuse the binary opposition of good and evil. It is as if we no longer believe in an absolute evil or good. Superheroes are perverted by their ideal like Cyclops in the Marvel X-Men becoming a fanatic advocating mutant superiority. Villains are touched by good like Lex Luthor joining the Justice League. The fighting then changes. Superheroes are more often at war with each other, as in the movie Captain America Civil War, than against a supervillain. Here, Snyder and Tynion IV find a way to recreate villains in an original way: they are the superheroes who have become evil in another universe. DC superheroes must then stand up to defend their world and their ideas.
The Dark Knights is a gripping extension that allows you to learn more about a universe rich in danger and action. JustFocus will be delighted to present the sequel that will be released in November.
