We are finally here! Dark Nights: Death Metal #1 has arrived after months of excited anticipation. DC has been through some serious changes with the sudden firing of Dan DiDio. The Generations one-shots and 5G itself have disappeared from solicitations. In the wake of DiDio’s firing, we learned of DiDio and Snyder butting heads and having genuine heat with each other. The two men clearly did not agree on the best path forward for DC comics concerning Death Metal and 5G.
However, after DiDio’s firing, Snyder came out and said that Death Metal would be even bigger than before. That Death Metal would deal with the entirety of the DCU and its long line of Crisis Events. That Death Metal would seek to reshape the DCU going forward. Snyder’s work on Dark Nights: Metal and on Justice League makes me extremely confident that Snyder is the right man. I have high expectations for Dark Nights: Death Metal #1. Let’s see if Snyder can meet those expectations!
Words: Scott Snyder
Pencils: Greg Capullo
Inks: Jonathan Glapion
Colors: FCO Plascencia
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with a close up of Sergeant Rock in what looks like a cave. Rock gives a tough as nails talk to the reader about how war is hell and it is time to go kick some ass.
We then get a map of the DCU. The DCU consists of the Arkham Wastelands, The Fall of Captain Atom, Castle Bat, The Hellscape (formerly Themyscira), and Megapokolips.
We slide over to The Hellscape. It is confirmed that this is the “real DCU.” We see Wonder Woman using a magic chainsaw to chop up her invisible jet. Swamp Thing appears and tells Wonder Woman that three Bats have arrived with a new prisoner. (Swamp Thing looks emaciated and on fire.)
Wonder Woman says that they have no more room for any more prisoners. We shift to Wonder Woman and Swamp Thing walking past all the prisons housing various criminals from Flash and Batman’s rogues’ gallery. Joker is wearing some Batman logo shaped goggles. Swamp Thing takes them off of him and tells him that the Bat symbol is forbidden for anyone other than “his” Dark Knights.
We zip to Wonder Woman and Swamp Thing meeting with three Batman from alternative Earths. They have a prisoner in a hooded robe. One of the Batmen is the robot Tyrannosaurus Rex from the Batcave that the Batman of that alternate Earth downloaded his consciousness into just before the Batcave collapsed on him. (I love this! What an insanely great concept.) The Batman T-Rex and Wonder Woman engage in some entertaining trash talk. (This really is some entertaining dialogue.)
One of the Batmen tells Wonder Woman that their “Lord” is calling a meeting at Castle Bat and that Wonder Woman shall be there. The Batman then tells Wonder Woman that this criminal is not to be placed in a cell. Instead, he is to go into the Tartarus Pits. As Wonder Woman leads the hooded figure into the Pits the figure says, “Diana…remember…” Wonder Woman is stunned and says, “You?! It can’t be…you’re…”
We shift to the real Batman from our DCU. Bruce talks about how he and his father used to walk through a field outside of Gotham. That during the Revolutionary War, freedom fighters known as the Dead Bats would hide in the tunnels and come out at night and attack the British soldiers. That the Dead Bats would bang drums inside of the tunnels to scare the British soldiers. That the British eventually lit the tunnels on fire and killed all of the freedom fighters. The British called them the Deadbeats.
Bruce said that it used to scare him that so many dead people under the ground of the field. Bruce’s father would tell him that the field and the flowers were a product of the dead men. That they play and walk this field in honor of the dead freedom fighters. Bruce wonders what the Dead Bats would think if they could see Gotham now.
We cut to present-day Gotham under the rule of the Batman Who Laughs and we see his Groblins patrolling the city. We zip to Castle Bat where the Batman Who Laughs is meeting with Harley Quinn and Dr. Arkham who run Wastelands. Bathomet and Aquaman the Commander of the Black Fleet. Wonder Woman the Queen of the Underworld. Batmage. Mister Miracle the guardian of New Apokolips. Mister Miracle reports that Superman has almost succumbed to the Anti-Life.
The Batman Who Laughs reports that Perpetua has destroyed Earth-22’s universe. That now only eight of the 52 universes still remain. That once those final eight universes fall then Perpetua and the Batman Who Laughs will remake the universe as they please. That the assembled heroes at this meeting will all be rewarded with a planet for them to watch over and protect.
Suddenly, our Batman telepathically contacts Wonder Woman. Bruce says that he built his own version of J’onn’s psychic link that was created for all of the Justice Leaguers. Wonder Woman calls it a Bat-Phone to their brains that they can’t hang up. (Ha! Snyder just keeps serving up some real gems with the dialogue.)
Bruce says that Wonder Woman can cut up her invisible jet and then melt it and create armor from it. That the armor would be undetectable allowing her to infiltrate Castle Bat. Wonder Woman says that Bruce’s plan would only save one planet. That they have to get all of the worlds back in order to win. Bruce says that he barely remembers how they lost. Bruce asks if Wonder Woman remembers.
We cut to the Justice Leaguers in front of a circle of light. A hand extends out of the circle of light. The hand then shoots lightning that disintegrates the Justice Leaguers.
We shift back to the Batman Who Laughs asking Wonder Woman if she is lost in thoughts. Batman Who Laughs asks Wonder Woman what secret she is hiding. Batman Who Laughs threatens to send his Bats to run down the last of the Parliament of Trees in the Jungle Lands.
Suddenly, an arrow with a Batman symbol on it flies out of the woods and heads straight for the Batman Who Laughs. Three Groblins jump in and block the arrow from hitting the Batman Who Laughs. We see our Batman standing in the woods as he takes off his Cloak of Erasure that was given to him by Zatanna when they saved her father from Neron.
Batman Who Laughs orders his soldiers to attack our Batman. Aquaman, Harley, and Wonder Woman start battling Batman Who Laughs’ soldiers, too. Our Batman stands his ground and is unafraid of the odds clearly in the Batman Who Laughs’ favor. Our Batman then reveals that he is wearing a Black Lantern ring. (Oh, Hell yeah!) Our Batman says, “Rise.” All of the corpses of the Dead Bats rise out of the ground. And with that, we have a braaaaaaawwwwll!
Batman telepathically tells Wonder Woman that they have to fight Batman Who Laughs like this. Small street battles. Wonder Woman disagrees and says that there is another way. That the new prisoner she got today might know another way to win. Bruce disagrees and says that her plan is too dangerous and that is why they keep losing. That they have to think strategically. Wonder Woman says that they have to fix it all. Find a way back. What Bruce wants is not enough. Bruce says that they have to save what is left.
We see Jonah Hex on the scene. Hex gives Batman a badass skeleton motorcycle. Batman says that Hex is in charge of the zombie Dead Bats. Batman rides off.
We shift to the planet Ossex who is made of living bone. Lobo is digging in the ground and finds a box. A mysterious person radios Lobo and asks him if he found it. That the item is the key to everything. Lobo says that he found it and it is time for the Main Man to liven up this joint.
We zip over to Hell where Wonder Woman is entering the Pits. Wonder Woman tells Swamp Thing that Bruce’s plan is wrong. That there has to be a way to turn it all back. We see Wonder Woman in the Pits and approaching the hooded prisoner. The prisoner pulls down his hood and reveals that it is Wally West. (Oh, man. Everyone’s favorite Ginger-American. Before he was turned into one of DC’s worst mass murderers. And then kicked in the nuts.)
Wonder Woman asks Wally if he remembers how Perpetua defeated the Justice Leaguers. Wally says that he wishes he could erase everything he has done. (Yeah, Wally. We are right there with you. We all wish we could erase what Tom King and Dan DiDio did to you, too.)
Wonder Woman hugs Wally and asks him to tell her how they win. Wally explains how to understand the path forward that they must understand the past. (All right, ya’ll. Grab a seat, because Uncle Scott is about to break out of awesome continuity work.)
Wally says that reality is gathered around two poles. One is Connective Energy. That is represented by energies like the Speed Force, the Emotional Spectrum, and the Forces of Justice. The second one is Crisis Energy. That is represented by energies like the Anti-Life, Chaos Magic, and the Forces of Doom. Crisis Energy looks to shatter connection and make only one moment important.
Throughout the void, there are beings like Perpetua tasked with starting Multiverses. They do this using Connective Energy from the Source. Once a Multiverse is born then these beings die and give themselves to the baby Multiverse.
However, Perpetua started their reality with Crisis Energy instead of Connective Energy. Perpetua wanted to create a Multiverse with no memory. One that would live forever in a self-renewing loop of its own importance. A Multiverse that would prey on other Multiverses and be eternally devoted to Perpetua.
When other beings of Perpetua’s kind (The Lords of the Source) find out about this they sealed Perpetua into the Source Wall. Perpetua raged. That whenever Perpetua could she would whisper to whoever might hear her and would get that person to instigate Crises.
That during the battle with Barbatos, the Justice Leaguers broke the Source Wall and freed Perpetua. Then Dr. Manhattan, who was brimming with Connective Energy, attempted to mend the fractures in their Multiverse to heal the scars of the former Crises. But, Dr. Manhattan’s attempt did not work so the Quintessence gathered the energy and gave it to the Justice League in order to fight Perpetua. The Justice League harnessed the Connective Energy and Perpetua harnessed the Crisis Energy and they battled. This exhausted both Forces in a blast so powerful that it burned out the sun.
The Batman Who Laughs provided Perpetua a conduit to the Dark Multiverse which is where the greatest Crises are forever happening as long as the heroes remember them. This is why Perpetua kept the heroes alive and trapped in her antenna.
Wonder Woman asks if they can re-enter those Crises and harness that energy for themselves and use it to reshape the universe in their own way. To create the First Anti-Crisis. (Love it.)
Suddenly the Batman Who Laughs enters the Pit. The Batman Who Laughs says that he has his own plans independent of what Perpetua has planned. Batman Who Laughs says his Batmen have taken down Swamp Thing. The Batman Who Laughs says that if Wonder Woman follows his orders then he will free her fellow heroes from the Antennae where Perpetua has them imprisoned. Then they will be given a planet of their own where they will be safe.
The Batman Who Laughs says that Wonder Woman cannot out-plan him. Batman Who Laughs says that Wonder Woman is planning on knocking him out and then melting down her invisible jet and making armor from it so she can have a shield to hide behind. Batman Who Laughs says that she will probably then make a weapon out of the invisible jet. Possibly a sword.
Wonder Woman replies that she has already made the weapon. But, it is not a sword. Wonder Woman whips out the invisible Chainsaw of Truth and slices through the Batman Who Laughs.
We shift to one of the Batmen exiting a portal back at Castle Bat. The Batman tells the Groblins that the Batman Who Laughs is gone. That it is time to initiate the Batman Who Laughs’ true plan. The Batman pushes a large yellow frown faced button. (It is the opposite of the Watchmen trademark smiley face button.)
The Batman tells the Groblins to prepare the body for the Final Bruce Wayne. We see a silhouette of a body with the Dr. Manhattan symbol on the forehead.
We cut back to the bunker with Sergeant Rock still giving his “let’s go kick ass” speech. Our Batman appears on the scene and tells Rock that the fight is happening now. The one last fight involving everyone. Together. The camera pans back and we see that Sergeant Rock is just a torso. (Oh, damn. That’s nasty.) End of issue.
The Good: Death Metal #1 is a fantastic read! Scott Snyder exceeded my high expectations with this issue. To be clear, Snyder was assigned a huge task with Death Metal once DiDio was fired. DC was clearly a house divided as DiDio pushed forward his 5G agenda. Snyder willingly stepped up and assumed the heavy burden of carrying DC forward with the expanded role of Death Metal in the post-DiDio DCU.
The expanded role of Death Metal is enough to make most writers quiver and crumple like a paper tiger. DC’s continuity is incredibly complex and unwieldily. Trying to fashion a coherent, streamlined, and logical continuity from DC’s continuity running from Crisis on Infinite Earths all the way to the present is no easy task. It definitely is not an easy task for anyone not named Geoff Johns.
Having said that, if Geoff Johns is not available then Scott Snyder is absolutely the next man that I would have faith in to properly handle DC’s continuity. With Johns gone, Snyder is clearly DC’s No. 1 writer and he deserves that honor.
Death Metal #1 is proof that Snyder can handle DC’s continuity in an intelligent and respectful way that celebrates all that has come before rather than simply rudely flushing everything down the toilet like DiDio and Jim Lee did with the New 52 or like 5G seemed to want to do.
Snyder delivers some excellent continuity work in Death Metal #1. Snyder’s continuity work is intelligent, clear, concise, and logical. Snyder takes what he has done in Dark Nights: Metal, Justice League: No Justice, and Justice League and builds off of that in an organic manner. Snyder then takes Johns’ Doomsday Clock and mixes it into his story in a seamless fashion.
I dig how intelligently Snyder takes various aspects of Doomsday Clock and merges it so well into his story that he has been writing on Justice League. This helps to pull Doomsday Clock closer into the DCU. This is important since that Doomsday Clock has felt like it existed on the fringe of the DCU. Also, by merging Doomsday Clock with Snyder’s Justice League story we get a true big event that feels like it impacts the entire DCU.
Now, what is the most amazing aspect of Snyder’s continuity work on Death Metal #1 is how new reader-friendly he makes this issue. Most big event stories that are steeped in continuity are usually impenetrable for new readers. Final Crisis is my favorite big event of all time. But, I have been reading comics forever and love all the little details of DC’s continuity. New readers probably took one look at Final Crisis and found it utterly byzantine and then threw it in the garbage can.
Snyder deftly pulls off performing continuity work that both appeals to long-time readers like me and brand new readers, too. To be sure, a reader does not have to have ever read a single issue of Snyder’s Justice League or his Metal mini-series in order to understand Death Metal #1. A reader definitely does not need a deep knowledge of all the prior Crisis events in order to enjoy Death Metal #1. Snyder truly has delivered a debut issue to a big event that is equally appealing to both long-time readers and new readers.
Snyder’s attention to detail in Death Metal #1 is impressive. Snyder engages in some fantastic world-building throughout this issue. The impressive world-building also helps to give Death Metal #1 a massive scale. This feels like a truly huge big event story. The world-building starts early with the map of Death Metal’s earth at the beginning of the issue. This is a smart idea that helps to properly set the stage for the story and gives the reader some context as to the various players in this story. The different lands are all cool and interesting.
The highlight of Snyder’s continuity work takes place during the middle of Death Metal #1 when Wally explains to Wonder Woman the origins of the Multiverse. In this scene, Snyder expertly manages to take the past Crisis events and tie them together in a cohesive fashion that makes everything better for it.
Snyder reorganizes the DCU as a Multiverse that exists based on two poles: Connective Energy and Crisis Energy. That all that is good is embodied in the Connective Energy. All that is bad is embodied in the Crisis Energy. This is a simple concept that neatly unifies all of the Crisis events in an intelligent fashion.
The idea of Connective Energy also takes disparate concepts and forces in the DCU like the Speed Force and the Emotional Spectrum and unifies them as coherent and connected building blocks that work together to form the basic infrastructure of the DCU. The Crisis Energy does the same thing with disparate concepts like the Anti-Life and Chaos Magic. This approach wisely takes already existing concepts in the DCU and gives them a more consistent and orderly structure within the DCU. These two energies are also an excellent way to connect all of the Crisis events into one cohesive narrative.
Snyder then uses this new framework for the DCU Multiverse to organically embed Perpetua into DC’s prior Crisis events in a way that is logical and natural. In doing this, Snyder is able to work his continuity changes from his Justice League run into the overall DCU continuity in a manner that is logical and also respectful of the past events.
I love these gentle tweaks that Snyder makes to DC’s continuity and all of the Crisis events. They serve to make the DCU even more interesting and help to tie together all of the various Crisis events into a more compelling overarching narrative.
Another excellent example of Snyder respecting DC’s storied continuity and the prior Crisis events is how Perpetua needs the heroes to remember the greatest Crises in order for Perpetua to continue to receive the power from the Dark Multiverse. This requirement is Snyder reinforcing the importance of DC’s past and the importance of remembering DC’s past and honoring it. That without DC’s history there can be no present-day DCU. This is the exact opposite approach that Lee and DiDio took with the New 52. This is Snyder going out of his way to show that he is not going to commit the same sins as DC did with the New 52.
In addition to excellent world-building and continuity work, Snyder also serves up plenty of impressive plotting in Death Metal #1. This issue presents the reader with a complex story with plenty of substance to digest. Death Metal #1 is an issue that warrants several reads. Snyder wastes no time in quickly installing multiple plotlines in Death Metal #1. Snyder presents the reader with the plotline involving Batman and his plan for guerrilla warfare against the Batman Who Laughs. We get the plotline involving Wonder Woman and her hope to reverse everything that Perpetua has done and return the DCU to as it was before. We also get the plotline involving the Batman Who Laughs’ plan involving the Final Bruce Wayne. And to top it all off, we have the plotline involving Lobo, his unknown benefactor, and the mystery box and what secrets it holds.
All of that is an insane amount of plot progression to load into the debut issue of a big event! Readers who are sick of decompression and stories that deliver little plot progression per issue will be pleased with how Snyder crafts the story in Death Metal #1. This issue is densely packed full of content.
Out of all of the plot lines, Snyder was smart to deliver four big mysteries in Death Metal #1 designed to hook the reader into coming back for more. First, there is the mystery of how Wally and Wonder Woman are going to devise a plan that will defeat Perpetua. I love that Snyder is teaming these two characters together. Wally and Diana complement each other well.
Next, we have the mystery about who is Lobo’s benefactor and the mystery of what exactly is in the box that Lobo found. These are two great mysteries. I will admit that I have never been a huge fan of Lobo. Lobo is a character where a little bit can go a very long way. Having said that, I have faith that Snyder can utilize Lobo in an effective manner that enhances the story rather than detracts from it.
Lastly, we have the mystery of the Batman Who Laughs’ Final Bruce Wayne. The Final Bruce Wayne also has the Dr. Manhattan symbol on his forehead. This is the mystery that has me most excited. I cannot wait to see what insanity Snyder has in store for us with this plotline.
Beyond the plotting and plot progression, I love the construction of the story. I love how Snyder unfolds the story as we make our way through the issue. There are zero wasted panels in Death Metal #1. Absolutely everything serves a purpose.
A good example of this is early in Death Metal #1 when Snyder spent an entire page talking in great detail about the Dead Bats. I wondered why Snyder would be wasting an entire page on what seemed to be pointless information. But, I should not have underestimated Snyder. Snyder was simply putting into place important information to make the surprise reveal of the Black Lantern army that much more dramatic. That is superlative story construction.
On top of the excellent plot progression, Snyder also whips up a story that moves at a lively pace. Death Metal #1 is not your typical meandering and lackadaisically paced modern comic book. Snyder hits the ground running and does not let up on the gas pedal until the end. The story has plenty of life and is full of action. Death Metal moves forward with a clear purpose in mind. I appreciate that Snyder does a nice job balancing action with dialogue-heavy scenes that are focused on continuity building.
Another strength of Death Metal #1 is Snyder’s insane imagination. This has been Snyder’s calling card on Dark Nights: Metal and Justice League. This is why I love Snyder’s writing so much. Snyder is not afraid to embrace the wild imagination that is inherent in the superhero genre. Snyder knows that superhero comics are supposed to be fun and the only limitation to the genre is the writer’s own creativity.
Snyder keeps the crazy imagination going from start to finish in Death Metal #1. We get so much insanely fun and cool moments. We get a giant T-Rex as Batman. We get Wonder Woman chopping up the invisible jet in order to make her Chainsaw of Truth. We get Batman whipping out a BLACK LANTERN POWER RING and using it to command the army of zombie Dead Bats. All of these kickass moments make the reader feel like literally anything can happen in Death Metal. And that is a huge win for Snyder.
Of course, Death Metal #1 is not just strong plotting and pacing on a story focused on world-building and continuity work. Oh, no. Snyder also delivers some excellent character work and dialogue in Death Metal #1. The dialogue is all well crafted. Snyder gives each character their own unique external voice. In addition, the dialogue has a wonderful natural flow to it.
I also enjoy how Snyder is able to sprinkle in the right amount of humor into Death Metal #1. The funny lines are delivered consistently with the characters’ personalities. The humor also fits in well with the situation. None of it ever feels out of place or forced. Death Metal #1 is a serious story so the well-timed comedic relief is an excellent idea by Snyder in order to keep this big event from taking itself too seriously.
Snyder also delivers some fantastic character work. It is obvious that Snyder has a great feel for the personalities of all the characters in Death Metal #1, but in particular with Batman, Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing, and the Batman Wo Laughs.
We should start with one of the co-stars of Death Metal #1: Wonder Woman. I love that Snyder is allowing Wonder Woman to be in the spotlight with Death Metal. Normally, DC’s big events revolve around Batman or Superman. It is great to see Wonder Woman finally getting her moment to be the star in a big event.
\Wonder Woman is a beloved character and part of DC’s Trinity. I firmly believe that readers are excited to see Wonder Woman get the spotlight and that readers have been wanting to see Wonder Woman get her chance to shine. As much as we all love Batman, it really can’t ALWAYS be about the Bat, right?
Batman is DC’s #1 character. No doubt about it. But, Batman is too much of a pessimist and a realist to play the role that Snyder has crafted for Wonder Woman in Death Metal. And Superman? Well, Superman is just too powerful. And like in man big events, Snyder has Superman taken off the table. Superman’s job is to rally the troops and provide inspiration in the climactic final battle.
At any rate, Snyder writes an excellent Wonder Woman. Snyder totally understands that Wonder Woman’s role in DC’s Trinity is to be the source of hope and love. That these are the character traits that define Wonder Woman and make her unique from the other big name heroes in the DCU. Snyder leans into Wonder Woman’s undying hope that they can fight the impossible fight even when heroes like Batman have given up. Snyder leads with Wonder Woman’s love and compassion in how she talks to Wally. At the same time, Snyder shows us the Amazon warrior side of Wonder Woman in how she swiftly dispatches of the Batman Who Laughs. It is all just so perfect.
The other co-star of Death Metal #1 is Batman. Of course. Snyder obviously does an excellent job with Batman. This is a character that Snyder understands very well. I love that Snyder presents Batman as a grim pragmatist who sees guerrilla warfare as the only path to save what is left to be saved. This is so constant with Batman’s personality. Snyder presents Batman as properly badass and tough. To be sure, Snyder gives Batman all of the best lines, too.
I love how much of a role that Snyder gave Swamp Thing in Death Metal #1. I was not expecting this character to have such a big role in this issue. Snyder is obviously a writer who knows Swamp Thing very well. Snyder’s Swamp Thing is one of the rare bright spots of the New 52. In Death Metal #1, Snyder makes Swamp Thing a heroic and admirable character. Swamp Thing definitely makes a surprisingly good sidekick to Wonder Woman.
Of course, we all expect Snyder to write a fantastic Batman Who Laughs. After all, the Batman Who Laughs is Snyder’s baby! This is a character that readers love to hate. I did enjoy how Snyder had the Batman Who Laughs’ very first line of dialogue be about how he knows everyone is sick of seeing him. This is a humorous wink at readers why may be getting tired of this character getting so much of the spotlight over the past few years.
The last main character of Death Metal #1 is none other than everyone’s favorite Ginger-America: Wally West. Look, Barry Allen will always be THE Flash to me. But, I adore Wally West’s character. And I totally understand and respect that for many readers Wally West is THE Flash.
For those reasons, Dan DiDio and Tom King did Wally West’s character dirty in Heroes in Crisis. There is no reason why such a massively important character in the DCU should be treated in such a disrespectful and, frankly, shitty manner like Wally was treated in Heroes in Crisis.
Despite my love for Wally West’s character, I have no idea how his character can ever be rehabilitated from being one of the worst mass murders in the DCU. Having said that, if any writer at DC can pull off a miracle and successfully rehabilitate Wally West’s character it would be Scott Snyder. To be sure, Snyder has a massive task given the seemingly irreparable damage done to Wally by DiDio and King.
Lastly, I have to give some love to Snyder for the appearances of both Sgt. Rock and Jonah Hex. Fuck, yeah! I love both of these tough-guy no-bullshit characters. These are two incredibly unexpected appearances in Death Metal #1! And the stunning twist at the end of Death Metal #1 that Sgt. Rock is just a torso?! What the hell?! I cannot wait to see where Snyder goes from here.
Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion combine to make Death Metal #1 an attractive looking issue. Capullo knows how to deliver pulse pumping action scenes. No doubt about that. But, Capullo also shines in the dialogue-heavy scenes as well. Capullo is able to inject plenty of emotion into this issue.
There are several highlight moments to Capullo’s art in Death Metal #1. The scene where Wonder Woman guts the Batman Who Laughs is fantastic. But, my favorite is the page where Batman reveals his Black Lantern ring and then raises his army of undead Dead Bats. Capullo just nails this moment.
The Bad: I have zero criticisms of this issue.
Overall: Death Metal #1 is a brilliant start to DC’s newest big event. Scott Snyder comes out swinging as he delivers an issue that offers the reader everything they would want in the debut issue of a big event. Snyder rolls out a story that is focused on strong continuity work with a goal to reshape the entire DCU. There is something for everyone. Good action, quality character work, impressive world-building, and impeccable plotting. It looks like DC has another smash hit big event with Death Metal. Death Metal #1 is definitely worth your hard-earned money.
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