Dark Nights: Death Metal has taken over the DC Universe, and here’s what you might’ve missed in the penultimate chapter to DC’s crossover epic.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal #6, by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia & Tom Napolitano, and the Dark Nights: Death Metal – Last Stories of the DC Universe special, on sale now.
Since Dark Nights: Death Metal and its predecessor lean heavily into musical motifs, Dark Nights: Death Metal #6 is something of a downbeat prelude. In terms of trivia, Easter eggs and minutiae, there’s not much new in this issue. Many of the characters have already been introduced, the plot is minimal, and overall it largely sets up Death Metal #7’s finale. However, there’s still a good bit to cover in Death Metal #6, so we’ll kick things off by running down the usual details and roll calls.
Dark Nights: Death Metal #6 was written by Scott Snyder, penciled by Greg Capullo, inked by Jonathan Glapion, colored by FCO Plascencia, and lettered by Tom Napolitano. Jared Blando is credited as cartographer, while Darran Robinson designed the publication. The associate editor was Andrew Marino and the issue was edited by Marie Javins.
‘Twas The Fight Before Christmas (Pages 1-3, 8-9, 16-17, 20)
In light of this issue’s conclusion, much of this final(ish) fight feels very ancillary to the real action. Naturally, we begin on Page 1 by noting that the monster-fied heroes are literally mashups on mashups: They have spiked crowns like the Batman Who Laughs, but made out of what looks like Doomsday hide. Moreover, those bony protuberances remind us of the transformed Doctor Death from Snyder & Capullo’s Batman arc “Zero Year,” as seen in January 2014’s Batman #25.
The unidentified green-captioned omniscient narration running through this issue is probably from Sgt. Rock. At one point, it seemed like it could have been from the Spectre – also green and omniscient – but Rock’s been a more constant presence in this miniseries.
On Page 1, Panel 4 we see the bad guys in silhouette. However, their appearance later in the issue makes it looks like they’re actual shadows, reminiscent of the Anti-Monitor’s shadow demons first seen in April 1985’s Crisis On Infinite Earths #1. We get a better look at them on Pages 8-9.
By the way, among the shadowy foes is a version of Catwoman, which ostensibly marks her first appearance in Death Metal. The main Catwoman does show up later, as one of the heads on Page 20. Bob Kane and Bill Finger created the Feline Fatale for Spring 1940’s Batman #1.
Obviously, Luthor’s battle-mech (Page 1) is bigger and badder than his usual armor, and that’s understandable in light of what looks to be a long day’s worth of butt-kicking. Besides, Luthor’s had a rough time of things after Perpetua kicked him to the curb, so we’re not begrudging him any extra help. Luthor has been using armored battlesuits (again, not as big) fairly regularly since June 1983’s Action Comics #544.
Page 2 gives us a couple of items for Harley Quinn and Jarro. First, it looks like Harley’s wearing Jonah Hex’s hat. Second, we really thought Jarro would say “Avengers Assemble!” Batman’s “language” admonition would still have been appropriate. More importantly, it’s not clear how or why Batman got the Batman Who Laugh’s gear, but is that Black Hand or Deadman sporting it on Page 3?
Seeing all those Groblins on Pages 16-17 made us wonder if they ever sit down and compare notes on all the different ways they turned bad. Are there cliques arranged by secret identities? Why haven’t we seen any Stephanie Browns, Carrie Kellys, Harper Rows or Duke Thomases, but December 2020’s Dark Nights: Death Metal – Robin King special, which established that they all go through a harrowing transformation to turn them into identical crowing footsoldiers.
The “lede” (Page 20) is a journalistic term for the sentence that’s supposed to hook you into reading an article. When one “buries the lede,” they are obscuring the point of the story — like describing this issue initially by saying “It was good, but Jarro didn’t yell ‘Avengers Assemble!'”
Welcome To The Party, Pal (Pages 15, 17, 19-21)
For this issue, the roll call isn’t as long, but — somewhat surprisingly — there are some new arrivals.
Bob Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff created Poison Ivy (Page 15) for June 1966’s Batman #181. This was during the height of TV-show-fueled Batmania, but she surprisingly never made it onto the show.
Jack Miller and Nick Cardy created Mera (Page 17) for September-October 1963’s Aquaman #11. More Aquaman affiliates appear on Page 19, including Aqualad II (Jackson Hyde) and Ocean Master. Greg Weisman, Brandon Vietti and Phil Bourassa created Jackson for the Young Justice animated series, and he first appeared in the comics in August 2010’s Brightest Day #4, by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis). Meanwhile, Bob Haney and Nick Cardy created Ocean Master for September-October 1966’s Aquaman #29. Remember, Aquaman was a “collaborator” with the Batman Who Laughs, so that’s probably why Bathomet is there as well.
The dark, glowy Superman on Pages 17 and 21 looks like he’s gotten an Earth Angel upgrade. What makes this even more evil is that he probably had to kill his version of Supergirl to get it in some corner of the Dark Multiverse. Starting in March 1998’s Supergirl #19, DC’s then-current Maid of Might discovered that she contained the powers of an Earth-Born Angel of Fire. (This version of Supergirl combined an artificial being from a parallel Earth with the ordinary human Linda Danvers, so the “earth angel” was a third party who also joined them without either realizing it.) Anyway, the Earth Angel gave Supergirl magical wings of flame, flame vision (her regular powers didn’t include heat vision), and the power to teleport herself.
Page 19 fleshes out the Bat-Family with Bane – created by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan for 1992’s Vengeance Of Bane special – and Cassandra Cain. Kelley Puckett and Damion Scott created Cassandra Cain, who was originally Batgirl III, then (after Stephanie Brown became Batgirl IV) Black Bat. Cass first appeared (out of costume) in July 1999’s Batman #567; and then debuted as Batgirl in August 1999’s Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120. The current version of Cassandra first appeared in December 2015’s Batman and Robin Eternal #1. Elsewhere in Batman’s corner of the DC Universe, Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo created Tatsu “Katana” Yamashiro (Page 20) for July 1983’s Brave and the Bold #200.
Simon Baz joins the Green Lanterns on Page 19. Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke created Simon for November 2012’s Green Lantern #0.
Superman’s friends and loved ones (Page 19) include Lois Lane (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster for June 1938’s Action Comics #1, as if you didn’t know); John Henry “Steel” Irons (created by Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove for June 1993’s Adventures Of Superman #500); and the Kon-El/Conner Kent version of Superboy (created by Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett for AOS #500). Bogdanove, Simonson and Chris Batista also created Natasha Irons, who sometimes shared the “Steel” codename with her uncle John. She first appeared in January 1994’s Steel #1.
Since Page 19 includes the two Superboys, we’ll point out that Conner Kent hails from a previous version of the DC Multiverse. We’re hoping that gets a little bit of explanation in issue #7, but it hasn’t really come up in the just-concluded Young Justice. The most recently-introduced Superboy is Jonathan Samuel “Jon” Kent. Created by Dan Jurgens, he too started out as an artifact from that same old Multiverse, and first appeared in July 2015’s Convergence: Superman #2. Jon then debuted as Superboy in September 2016’s Superman vol. 4 #2.
By the way, we don’t see too many Titans in this issue, do we? Just about anyone who was a Titan appeared in February 2021’s Dark Nights: Death Metal – Last Stories of the DC Universe special, and they were all getting ready for this particular battle.
Spirit(s) In The Sky (Pages 6-7, 13-14)
The Batman Who Laughs wrestling Perpetua (Pages 6-7, 13-14) is the latest in a long line of cosmic throwdowns, from the Spectre fighting Anti-Matter Man in September 1966’s Justice League of America #47 to the Spectre fighting the Anti-Monitor at the Dawn of Time in January 1986’s Crisis On Infinite Earths #10 and the universe-destroying feud between Bat-Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk in January 2001’s Superman and Batman: World’s Funnest special. We’re also inclined to mention the much more friendly interaction between DC’s omnipotent Kismet and Marvel’s Eternity from 2003’s JLA/Avengers #3. It’s just too great of an image to pass up.
This issue also mentions “the hands” (Pages 7, 13), which – as we learned in the Dark Nights: Death Metal – Multiverse’s End special – are Perpetua’s superiors from the larger Omniverse. They sealed Perpetua in what became the Source Wall, and Perpetua fears them because she thinks they’ll destroy the Multiverse she created (and wants to rule). Now the Batman Who Laughs has trapped and potentially killed Perpetua in fragments of the Source Wall, and taken the opportunity to explain how the gods really fear the mortals. It may be just a coincidence that DC’s creation story involves a giant cosmic hand spinning everything into existence — see October 1965’s Green Lantern #40 and October 1985’s Crisis On Infinite Earths #7 — but again, we could get an explanation next issue.
Dancing In The Dark (Pages 4-5, 10-12, 18, 22)
Wonder Woman and Lobo’s trek through the darkness (Pages 4-5, 10-12) reminds us of a similar scene in March 1986’s Crisis On Infinite Earths #12. There, the impossibly-black sky turned out to be incalculable hordes of shadow demons.
Page 10 reminds us that Wonder Woman is supposed to build Luthor’s machine once she gets to the Forge of Worlds. Page 11 makes this plot point moot, but it’s still not clear how in fact was she supposed to build it, even if she turned the Invisible Jet into that chainsaw.
On Page 12, we see Darkseid cradling Baby Mobius. We last saw Mobius, or at least a version of him, as an adult – but not in his Anti-Monitor armor – in Death Metal #4, as part of Batman’s crisis-energy fetch quest. Naturally, we remember all that time Darkseid spent as a baby from the end of 2015’s “Darkseid War” (which closed out the New 52’s Justice League series) and in the first Metal miniseries.
Wonder Woman’s revelation on Page 18 points up a neat juxtaposition between Death Metal‘s central message and her particular backstory. We’ve mentioned before that it’s called the Lasso of Truth because it forces its captive to confront the reality of their actions. For example, in July 1987’s Wonder Woman #6, it made Ares realize that if he destroyed the Earth with nuclear war, there would be no one left to worship him, and he’d wither away. However, prior to Wonder Woman’s 1986 revamp, the lasso’s main power was to compel its captive to obey the holder’s commands. This often involved telling the truth – as in “I order you to tell me your secret plans!” – but not exclusively; because Wonder Woman could make a bad guy do whatever she wanted (and vice versa.) Arguably it was a more versatile weapon in those days, even if it’s more powerful today.
Anyway, if Wonder Woman is about to unleash all of her history on the Batman Who Laughs, a lasso that can both make you realize the truth *and* compel you to do anything seems like a very powerful weapon indeed. Page 22 seems to suggest that Wonder Woman has coated herself with the gold from the lasso itself, which makes sense since the lasso has historically been made out of a metal girdle. In the Golden Age, it was Aphrodite’s girdle, and in the 1986 reboot, it was Gaea’s, which was worn initially by Hippolyta’s sister Antiope. Either way, a Wonder Woman wielding all the powers of her various incarnations is very formidable.
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