Dark Nights: Metal #5 Review
Spoiler Free
This penultimate chapter covers a lot of ground and focuses heavily on one of the alternate Batmen, which is an excellent idea. Batman and Superman deal with the predicament they are in from the last issue. Some key characters return, some key villains reveal themselves, and we get a healthy dose of Wonder Woman (which is not a bad thing), despite the fact that this is a Batman themed event.
Spoiler Filled
At the open of the story, there is a monologue from the Batman Who Laughs to Barbatos, essentially encouraging him to open the wall between worlds. The Batman Who Laughs plays a significant role in this issue. Batman and Superman are fleeing Dark Hawkman in search of any light Nth Metal in the Forge. As they descend into the Forge, they come across Crime Alley and the Kent Farm, as well as several Batman villains all determined to take hope from the 2 superfriends. Bruce presses on saying that Barbatos took hope from him once and will never do it again. As they go further into the Forge, Aquaman and Deathstroke have journeyed to the center of the Earth and have found some Nth Metal and some killed Atlantean guards. Meanwhile on Thanagar Prime, Green Lantern and Mister Terrific have been imprisoned and Plastic (Man) Egg has been taken. A guard comes to them in prison and reveals himself to be none other than the Martian Manhunter who helps them escape. Diana gets into a fight with Black Adam and dark Hawkgirl and Black Adam knocks her clean across the room and into a wall. Back at the Forge, Bruce and Clark have run out of places to go while being pursued by Carter Hall. Bruce does all he can to remind Carter who he is. As he tells Carter the story about who he is, Diana comes across a crack in the wall, where she finds Carter’s mace, which is made of Nth Metal. While she reaches out for it, Black Adam tries to stop her. She grabs the mace and knocks Black Adam out and immediately after, she’s shot by the Batman Who Laughs. He explains that she’s been shot with Eighth Metal which is what her invisible jet is made from. He tells her about the other conquests they’ve had and the other versions of Diana they’ve found and how they’ve died. Back in the center of the Earth, as they are collecting the Nth Metal, Aquaman and Deathstroke are ambushed by Black Manta and 3 of the dark Batmen, Murder Machine, Red Death, and the Drowned. On Thanagar Prime, the 3 heroes are ambushed by Dawnbreaker, Merciless, and Devastator. Meanwhile, the Batman Who Laughs lays out exactly what is happening and tells Diana that it’s hopeless and that he’ll leave her to fight to the end like the other versions of her have. She fights with Kendra and gets her to release her true personality using the Lasso. Diana goes through a portal to confront Barbatos only to find a horde of enemies. While this is going on, Bruce and Clark disappear into the Forge in search of the bright spark Clark saw earlier trying to stop Barbatos. The issue ends with Diana and Kendra diving into the horde with a war cry.
Reflections, Impressions, and Predictions
Scott Snyder just does amazing work with this character and so does Greg Capullo.
Superman gets slightly tactical and yet gives up hope fairly quickly
What a great moment getting J’onn back was!
Did we ever need to know how many butts Starro has?
I’m excited to see what happens to the Trinity here in the final issue
I love that this series has snatched victory from the heroes in every single issue.
I really hope we get an oversized issue for the last entry and we get more of Bruce and Clark.
Heaven help anyone who makes Diana angry
Final Breakdown
Story – Crazy and crazier. Big story, big action, and the heroes don’t always win. Excellence. 9/10
Art – Easily one of the BEST looking books you will ever find. 10/10
Continuity/Character Consistency – Pretty good with the exception of Superman, my one gripe. Superman who did all he could to help Bruce find hope seems too quick to give it up this issue, but it’s minor. 8/10
Twist Factor – So many choices, but it’s the return of Martian Manhunter for me, one of my personal favorite characters. 10/10
Final Score – 9/10