DC Metal #1 Preview/Discussion

[Batmaniac]

God, Metal's going to be so lit.

[Sacred Knight]

I WANT to be hyped, but #1 has gotta do some explaining right away as to what the hell this is all about, because promotional materials haven't done that. If that was just to make everything a surprise, that's cool, but I need to get some solid direction right off the bat here. No pun intended.

[BatmanJones]

That was AWESOME. This is going to be a classic Justice League story and a classic Batman one. I would guess we'll see 9/10 and 10/10 reviews across all sites.

Since I couldn't wait for tomorrow and downloaded Metal from Comixology (I'll buy the floppy too) I went ahead and got the latest episode in "The War of Jokes and Riddles" too and Tom King is on fire. His Batman has become my favorite Batman and this arc has become my favorite arc. That's in 48 years of reading everything to do with Batman so it's really saying something. Ever since "I Am Suicide" I've been enjoying Batman comics like I never have in my life and Batman comics are one of my favorite things. To be loving his treatment more at my rather advanced age than I did even when I had the benefit of the wonder of youth is the best endorsement I could give a comic book. Not since Watchmen was coming out in single issues have I been more eager to share an arc with a friend that isn't reading Batman lately.

Metal is awesome and those that can't part with the $4.99 for whatever anti-Snyder or anti-Batman or anti-event reason might really want to reconsider. This feels special in a way that no Crisis event has. It feels totally brand new, a new kind of story and it also feels like a total love letter to the DCU. And how can any fan of the DCU be mad about that? Especially when it's so full of story and so very well done.

I also urge those that aren't to pick up King's Batman, at least for the current arc. It's worth it for the art alone. Classic Batman story, classic Joker story, and most rare of all classic Riddler story. For my money King's Riddler has more depth of character than all prior versions put together. And oh that Janin Joker.

[failo.legendkiller]

This seems to be the worst event possible to my taste.
I've always hated Batman in armor stories, fighting robots, metahumans and space traveling. That's Justice League thing and could work if batman is sidelined and not the core character.
I disliked Tomasi's run when Batman gone to Apokolips fighting Darkseid to take back Damian corpse, and this one seems to be the same sort.
I really can't understand why people like having Batman in this kind of stories, he's totally out of character.

[Tetragrammar]

You could send Batman to Candyland I wouldn't care at all, it's the expansion of the mythology that I love and a well-done story, and a certain favorite character of mine that returns to play a major role in it. For me it's about the connection of so many of my favorite parts of the DC and actually making it a whole instead of many segregated concepts that can't be used because it belongs to Vertigo or certain characters should never interact with main stream DC. This story has me stoked with the same feel and excitement I had when I read Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, especially the Murder of Crows story arc that heavily featured Constantine and Swamp Thing trouncing around in the main crisis DC world.

[Korath]

Interesting interview of Snyder by CBR : http://www.cbr.com/dark-nights-metal...der-interview/

I'm glad to know that the six issues of Metal (plus Batman Lost) are all it takes to have the whole "main story", that's a good move, because if I want to go deeper, I'll be able to, but I won't be obliged to. I also really like Zero Year, so I think I'll like Metal if the former was basically Snyder's first try at this sort of stories.

[Johnny]

When is Metal supposed to be taking place? Hal is wearing his New-52 costume and this isn't much of a spoiler but in one panel Clark asks Bruce if he's okay after all he's been through lately. Does it suppose to take place after the War of Jokes and Riddles or does it refer to Tim Drake's disappearance? Plus, again, not a spoiler since it's in the preview pages, but the JL is fighting Mongul on Warworld, which was destroyed when Hal blew himself up all the way back in Hal Jordan & TGLC#7, so why is it still there? Are they messing with continuity again or am I missing something.

[Jovos2099]

I just read metal just a little bit ago but didnt superman talk about mongols fight with zod.

[Outside_85]

When is Metal supposed to be taking place? Hal is wearing his New-52 costume and this isn't much of a spoiler but in one panel Clark asks Bruce if he's okay after all he's been through lately. Does it suppose to take place after the War of Jokes and Riddles or does it refer to Tim Drake's disappearance? Plus, again, not a spoiler since it's in the preview pages, but the JL is fighting Mongul on Warworld, which was destroyed when Hal blew himself up all the way back in Hal Jordan & TGLC#7, so why is it still there? Are they messing with continuity again or am I missing something.

Well, isn't War of Jokes and Riddles set in the past that Bruce is now explaining to Selina?
As for Warworld... well it is a machine so it could probably be rebuilt.

I will say this, having just read it, you can feel this is more of a Batman story than anything else, and that it's a Batman fan doing the writing... The setup is really what bothers me the most: because it's made Batman into somekind of multiversal linchpin for reasons unknown, and I have to say I have a hard time with that because thats not a thing Batman should be in my mind, he's not supposed to be that kind of special that some unspeakable horror from beyond space and time would spend a billion years targeting.

Otherwise, it's a decent story, but I've already started to mock it whenever the word 'metal' gets used. it's more Tenacious D than it is Black Sabbath.

I'm glad to know that the six issues of Metal (plus Batman Lost) are all it takes to have the whole "main story", that's a good move, because if I want to go deeper, I'll be able to, but I won't be obliged to. I also really like Zero Year, so I think I'll like Metal if the former was basically Snyder's first try at this sort of stories.

I'm actually a bit perplexed why people complain about this, when these big stories from DC rarely demand you veer off into other books for the 'full experience'? Like Final Crisis was an exception in that you really needed Superman 3D to go along with it, but otherwise with DC you can normally just stick to the event book and loose nothing. But I agree that the problem exists on the lower levels... stuff like Culling, Death of the Family and that level where you have to jump between books to get most of the picture.

Sadly however Metal also comes with it's usual big event problem: tie-in's that run through regular titles and thus disrupting whatever they might be doing for little to no gain other than a quirky one off tale in most cases.

[Johnny]

I meant does it take place after he was telling her the story of the war. Nevermind, Metal involves Hawkman after all and I suppose with him there, continuity is the last thing I should worry about. I totally forgot the character who showed up in the end was originally related to Carter by the way. Next issue is going to be very interesting.

[Korath]

I really like how Snyder is using Final Crisis and the Return of Bruce Wayne as a way to explains why Barbatos is interested in him. Heck, I almost wonder if Bruce is not the progenitor of the Bat Tribe, but the Miagani were good peoples, as far as I remember, so, I'm a little lost here. But, all in all, excellent first issue. I especially laughed when GL was telling to Kendra that Batman was excaping with a state of the art vehicle and Bat used a damn raptor.

[JBatmanFan05]

My canon for Metal will be a compromise between Snyder's allowed minimum and certain additional issues that prove worthy.

So The Forge, The Casting, Metal #1, #2, #3, Batman: Lost, #4, #5, #6

+ almost certainly The Batman Who Laughs #1 since Snyder kinda vouched for it for Tynion, and probably Hawkman Found #1 (Hawky too integral to this story, practically a Batman character for this story), and plus in indeterminate quantum of more that I might consider

Sooo, my starting point will be:
The Forge
The Casting
Metal #1, #2, #3
Batman: Lost
The Batman Who Laughs #1
Metal #4
Hawkman Found #1
Metal #5, #6

[Rakzo]

Interesting set-up. Snyder clearly did his homework about the history of the DCU so far to include as many references to other mythos as possible, particularly the ones created by Morrison which are heavily included here and in an intriguing manner. Capullo's art was solid but not as polished as during his Batman work I felt.

Not bad at all, hope it continues this way.

[DragonPiece]

I don't get complaints about it being a Batman story. None of you can honestly tell me you were expecting anything else when you saw the creative team and the general synopsis of the story. Personally, I just treat this is a batman story with a ton of cameos.

[Starchild]

I give it a three out of five. But I won't keep up with it. It's a little too Batman focused for my taste. I would like to see events centered around other characters as well.