As I’m recording this, the final issue of Dark Nights Death Metal just came out, and I just wanted to take a few minutes to talk about the Lantern content in this event, because most of it is really cool, and a lot of people might not have even seen it since it mostly happens in tie-in issues. But before we get to those, I want to address the answer to a question I had back in my video about all the different times Batman has worn a power ring, since Death Metal features Batman using a Black Lantern ring. It seems the reason Bruce is able to wield this ring is because he’s dead, and has been for the entire story of Death Metal. He died during the Justice League’s first battle against Perpetua, which I believe happened off-panel in the space between the end of the Justice/Doom War and the first issue of Death Metal…if I’m wrong about that and I just missed a one-shot somewhere, please tell me, because I’d love to see how that fight played out. But yeah, Batman is a Black Lantern. We still have no idea where that ring came from, or why he’s still in control of himself while wearing it, but I’m willing to forgive that since a big part of Death Metal is just having fun with all the different pieces of the DC Universe, in a way that’s different from what we usually get out of these big events. Why is Batman a Black Lantern? Because it’d be cool, and he could command a zombie army. That’s basically it, and it kind of works.
The only other thing worth mentioning from the main Death Metal mini series is the fact that Alan Scott and the core members of the JSA are among the first heroes to join Wonder Woman’s cause, but they don’t do much after that. Everything after that point is just Lanterns mixed into group shots whenever there’s a gathering of heroes, or a big fight scene. The real substantial stuff comes in the form of three tie-in issues: Dark Nights Death Metal: Multiverse’s End, Dark Nights Death Metal: Rise of the New God, and Dark Nights Death Metal: The Last Stories of the DC Universe.
Multiverse’s End is a story about the Earth Lanterns splitting up and leading teams of heroes from across the Multiverse on missions to the few remaining Earths, with he goal of rescuing the innocent people trapped on these Monitor towers, feeding power to the big bad. And that gives us a good opportunity to check in with some characters we haven’t seen in a while, and inject some levity into this doomsday scenario…especially Kyle’s bit, he really doesn’t like being assigned to the vampire planet. Death Metal overall is a lot sillier than its reputation would let on, and it makes sense that you wouldn’t expect that if you haven’t been reading it, but this issue has the luxury of being removed from the darkest and most intense parts of the story, which lets it serve as a reminder that things aren’t totally grim and hopeless, though those feelings are still creeping in, and for very good reason.
The group we spend the most time with is the team of Guy Gardner, Captain Carrot of the Zoo Crew, and Kid Flash from Kingdom Come. And I’m not joking when I tell you that this team is great together…Guy’s tough exterior doesn’t sit well with Kid Flash, who’s barely holding herself together between the knowledge that her entire universe is gone, and the fact that she can hear the screams of every dead Flash calling out to her through the Speed Force. But Captain Carrot keeps them both grounded, by reminding them both how important it is for people to have heroes, and that there’s still hope as long as they don’t stop. It’s a really, really great moment that gets even more powerful once you realize the pain Captain Carrot is pushing down because the others need him to be inspirational, because both the people in need of saving and the heroes trying to save them need a symbol. I swear, put these three characters in a book together made by this creative team, and I will jump at the chance to read it. The creative team, by the way, is James Tynion IV and Juan Gedeon, and these two know how to really get to the heart of these characters in an emotionally intense way that’s helped a lot by cartoony artwork softening the blow of writing that would otherwise be pretty traumatic, while also being perfectly suited to the super evil antics of Owlman.
I should mention that my favorite part of this issue is the fact that Owlman hates the Batman who Laughs, and all the nightmare Batmen, because HE’S supposed to be the evil Batman, and all these other losers are ripping off his gimmick.
The only other thing I’ll point out about this one is that if you want a nice, concise rundown of just what the through line is from Dark Nights Metal to Justice League to Dark Nights Death Metal, Owlman sits John Stewart down and makes him explain it. It’s a pretty good explanation that’s drawn beautifully, and a nice way to cut through event fatigue and get perspective on this whole thing. And it ends with the Lanterns evacuating everyone onto a space ship to take them somewhere marginally safer, which actually leads directly into the next issue we’re going to talk about: Dark Nights Death Metal: Rise of the New God.
This one’s pretty short. It’s the final eight pages of the issue, and shows six of the Earth Lanterns pooling their willpower to punch a hole in the universe big enough to drive a space ship through, because the Multiverse itself is collapsing around them as they fly to the main DC Earth.
The tone of this issue is very much a continuation of what we saw Captain Carrot’s team deal with last issue: everyone’s lost so much, and fought so hard for so long against odds that seem impossible even by super hero standards…only now it seems worse, because everyone finally has a calm moment to let it all sink in. And even after John rallies everyone to push harder than they ever have before, achieving something they never thought would work, an even bigger challenge is waiting for them on the other side. What they hoped would be a victory was just one more leg of a marathon with no end in sight. But John knows that it isn’t over as long as they still have the will to fight, which is why he tells the other Lanterns to gather the passengers and start handing out Green Lantern rings. Because in the face of this crisis, we may not be capable of very much alone…but as the last few pages just proved, the combined will of many can achieve amazing things.
This is a very short, very powerful story about how strong we are when we work together…that sometimes, things only seem impossible because you’re focusing too much on what you yourself can do, or what the group you’re part of can do, when all of you could achieve so much more by cooperating with everyone. And while that may be too idealistic to last forever, it’s absolutely a necessity when faced with an extreme threat to all of us that none of us can stop on our own.
This is also the first time we’ve seen all of these characters together in two years, and it’s great to see them bounce off of each other like this. Credit goes to the creative team of Bryan Hill and Nick Virella, they didn’t have very many pages to work with, but they managed to achieve a hell of a lot with the space they had. It’s the first time I’ve seen a gathering like this where Simon and Jessica didn’t feel like the new guys. Other than John very much being put in a leadership role, this story treats all of these Lanterns as equals, one big group of peers working together to solve a problem because just one of them wouldn’t cut it. This is how I always think about these characters anyway, so it was really refreshing to see that reflected in a DC comic for the first time in a while. And I’ll echo what I said about the last issue: give me a book where this team gets to play with this entire cast, if they can keep up this level of quality it’d be great.
Lastly, I want to talk about Dark Nights Death Metal: The Last Stories of the DC Universe, an anthology that takes place the night before the final battle against the Batman Who Laughs and his army of nightmares. Everyone is gathered, and are as prepared as they’re ever going to be, so the issue is about how you spend what may very well be the final night of your life. What you do, who you choose to spend time with, and what you come to realize about yourself in those last fleeting moments of rest.
Hal breaks off from the others to go visit the grave of his father, and then the abandoned hangers of Ferris Aircraft, both standing as monuments that remind us of the lives we can never get back. Both reminders that you can fly as high as you want, but eventually you’ll fall.
On his way back, Hal passes over the Valley of the Rainbow Rings, a place filled with the rings of Lanterns who died fighting the Nightmare Batmen across the Multiverse, each ring a monument to a life cut short. But that’s not all Hal finds there. He also finds Sinestro…and unlike Hal, who wandered there by accident, Sinestro came with a purpose. He realized that tomorrow may be his last stand, and he doesn’t want to die defined by fear. He came hoping to find a Green Lantern ring with a spark of power left, a chance to end his story the same way it began. And despite at first being furious at the thought of it, Hal realizes that the time for old grudges is over. With this much darkness in the world, we have to choose to bring more light into it. So he helps Sinestro cast off fear, and become a Green Lantern one more time.
The creative team this time is Jeff Lemire and Rafael Albuquerque, and when you read all three of these issues together, their story really does feel like the final, quiet, tense moment we’ve been building to across all three of these one-shots. The strain is finally getting to everyone, and even the most strong-willed among them has begun to realize that this may be the end. They have every intention of giving it their all, just like always, but they’re starting to accept that they may not walk away from the coming fight, and it changes them. The look on Sinestro’s face as he goes to leave, having been denied his final chance to wear the ring and uniform that meant so much to him…there’s a sadness to him that I’ve never seen before. He’s not even angry, he just realizes he lost his final chance to get back something precious.
All three of these stories work amazingly well together to from an overarching, deeply personal narrative about how to deal with an overwhelming sense of dread and hopelessness. They endorse the power of a positive outlook, and remind us that we’re far stronger together than we are apart, messages that fit perfectly with the mentality of the characters as they prepare to go to war for what could be for the final time, while also being a pitch perfect commentary on the real world we’re currently living in. Everything Scott Snyder’s done with Justice League and Death Metal are heavily influenced by current events, and I really appreciated seeing so many other creators continue that through these one-shots, using the Green Lanterns as an example of us at our best.
So there we go, that’s all of the Lantern stuff in Death Metal. And while I’m kinda disappointed there wasn’t more of it in the main book, I kinda like the fact that the Lanterns got so much room to breath and do their own thing in these tie-ins. We had the chance to sit with them, and experience slower paced, character-driven stories that the core Death Metal book would not have time for. If you skipped any of these books, I highly recommend checking them out, especially if you can find them at a discount. ESPECIALLY Last Stories of the DC Universe…even without the Lantern stuff, that’s one of the best DC comics I’ve read all year. If I had the time to make a “Top 10 Comics of 2020” list, that issue would make the cut easily. In fact, let me shout out the creative team of Gail Simone and Meghan Hetrick for their work on the Green Arrow/Black Canary story in this issue, because it gave me what’s easily my favorite page of a comic book all year. I love this, it’s exactly what I needed in my life.
Also if you really like the Flash, read Speed Metal. It’s the unofficial final issue of Joshua Williamson’s run on the Flash that’s been going since Rebirth started back in 2016, it does everything for the Flash family that these issues did for the Lanterns, and it’s the most satisfying Wally West moment in a very long time.
So that’s it for Death Metal…or the Lantern parts of it, anyway. I gotta say, as events go, this thing was super fun, and way different from what I expected going in. It plays with allegory harder than anything I’ve read in a very long time, and should make for a super interesting re-read now that I can engage with everything it has to say without worrying so much about the plot.
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