dc.fandom.com

Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Dark Nights Metal Vol 1 1

Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Dark Nights Metal #1 is a one-shot with a cover date of February, 2021. It was published on December 29, 2020.

Synopsis for "Dark Nights: Metal"

At the climax of the Dark Multiverse's invasion into the Multiverse, led by the dark god Barbatos, the Justice League donned armor made from Element X to destroy his Dark Knights, and raise the Earth back out of the dark. However, in this story, Barbatos had remained one step ahead-- the League's armor is corrupted, and the heroes are seemingly destroyed in flames.

Following the League's defeat, Barbatos' dark army attacks the Earth and ravages it, as the story begins to eat itself alive, with all of existence being dragged down into dark. Earth-0 is but the beginning of the slaughter-- Barbatos carries his attacks of destruction and death to the other 51 realities, bringing with him what the survivors would know as the Deathwave-- the wave of obliteration brought by the death of the Dark Multiverse itself, and the last terrible gasp of existence.

Duke Thomas, armed with dimension-hopping Monitor armor and now referred to as the Last Monitor, flees into the Multiverse, determined to halt the Deathwave and save the remaining worlds. But he is unsuccessful, and one by one, each of the universes fall to Barbatos, before being consumed by the Deathwave.

Following the destruction of the 51st universe, Duke teleports back to where it began-- his home, Earth-0, which has become a desolated wasteland. It is revealed here that Duke Thomas has a power he didn't know he had until after the world ended-- the ability to see into the past, to see things, places and people as they were.

Suddenly, the Dragons of the Bat appear-- and much to Duke's horror, he recognizes the former Justice League, transformed into hideous beasts by the corrupted armor, with Batman now Barbatos' new vessel. Barbatos commands "Kryptothrax", a transformed monstrous Superman with a gargantuan body and a torso lined with teeth, to attack Duke. Duke attempts to fight back but fails and his Monitor armor is damaged, rendering it useless.

Before Kryptothrax can kill him, Duke is saved by Dick Grayson, formerly Nightwing, armed with the Parall-Axe, a guitar forged from and powered by raw ingots of the last power rings. The Parall-Axe acts as a multiversal frequency disruptor, its music able to briefly blind Barbatos and his dragons. Despite their reunion, Dick still holds resentment towards Duke for leaving their world 2 years ago. Duke tries to convince Dick that his Parall-Axe is proof that hope still exists, but Dick brusquely rejects his optimism, bitterly stating that Batman was responsible for all that had happened before leaving.

Duke discreetly follows Dick through the ruins of the land, each place a twisted, destroyed analogue of a place they once knew. Dick finally arrives at the remains of the Justice League Watchtower, where he greets his fellow residents-- Kendra Saunders (formerly Hawkgirl), a Carter Hall (formerly Hawkman) who remains in his monstrous form as Dragon of the Forge, and Bobo T. Chimpaneze, wearing the Red Tornado as a mech suit. The survivors discuss how the Deathwave is returning to Earth-Metal, and the end is near.

Bobo is quick to deduce that someone has followed Dick back, and quickly calls on Barry Allen-- formerly the Flash, now reduced to a skeletal form animated by the Speed Force. Declaring Duke a desecrator, Barry snatches the former Signal out of his hiding spot nearby, and brings him before the others. Duke quickly explains himself, believing that despite having failed to save a single universe, he could provide them with a chance of slaying the dragons.

The survivors are skeptical, but Dick is willing to listen, pointing out that they have nothing better to do. Duke shares that staying one step ahead of the Deathwave has taught him the importance of going after the source in an attack, similar to how Barbatos used Batman as a conduit for his invasion into the multiverse. With the Watchtower being a record for the Justice League's victories and defeats, it stands to reason that if the League had weaknesses-- so too, did the dragons.

Duke believes that if they can learn how to utilize said weakness and destroy the dragons, good will make one final stand against evil, even as the Deathwave comes... and if there is one memory left, it will be of them-- not as survivors of a ruined Earth, but as the Justice League. The survivors are convinced to help, and Dick thanks Duke for doing so, but points out that they will need a dragon of their own.


Elsewhere, the Batman Who Laughs resides in his "Ha of Justice" (the ruins of the Hall of Justice), where he is keeping a Joker dragon prisoner for not being funny enough. Just then, the damaged Helm of Fate-- one of many trophies Laughs displays in his citadel-- gives off a glimmer of hope, acting as an alarm system for the twisted Batman. He reaches for another trophy, the dismembered, rotting hand of Zatanna Zatara.

As the new Justice League approaches, they are all quickly incapacitated by Laughs, using Zatanna's magic. However, this is proven to be a distraction, as Dick-- the only one Laughs hadn't spotted yet-- cuts the Joker dragon free, allowing it to incinerate Laughs to death.

While the League arms themselves with various trophies, Duke approaches the Joker dragon with a choice-- he can either try to eat Duke or fly away, both of which will end with his death, or he can take them to Barbatos' Mountain, and while they'll all most likely still perish, they will succeed in killing Barbatos. Amused and pleased by this offer, the Joker dragon accepts.

As the League takes to the sky, Barbatos' Mountain approaches, along with him and his dragons. Barry confronts the "Death Construct"-- a dragon whose body is an entire construct of green energy, created and sustained by Hal Jordan's dismembered hand with his power ring at its core. As Barry calls out to Hal, he charges through the Death Construct, succeeding in removing Hal's hand from its body and destroying it, though this also results in his obliteration.

Together, Bobo and Red Tornado face the "Hydra Diana", a grotesquely mutated Wonder Woman who has the body of a Gorgon. Using the Lasso of Truth, the mecha-monkey symbiote binds the Hydra Diana, turning her own power against her and turning her to stone, along with them. Before they fully turn to stone, Bobo and Red Tornado acknowledge their bond as one soul before Red Tornado detonates, destroying them both along with Hydra Diana.

Kendra and Carter face off against the "Tyrant Wyrm", the former Aquaman who has been transformed into a colossal sea serpent. As Kendra fires explosive substance into the Tyrant Wyrm's mouth, she and Carter proclaim their love for each other one more time before the Wyrm explodes, killing them both.

Appearing in "Dark Nights: Metal"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Batman ("Earth 12") (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Appears only as a corpse) (Cameo)
  • Martian Manhunter (Earth-Metal) (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Appears only as a corpse) (Cameo)
  • Marvel Family ("Earth 5") (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
    • Captain Marvel (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Dies in flashback)
    • Captain Marvel, Jr. (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Dies in flashback)
    • Mary Marvel (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Dies in flashback)
  • Owlman ("Earth 3") (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Statue only) (Cameo)
  • Tiger-Men ("Earth 51") (Single appearance) (Cameo)
  • Zatanna (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Appears only as a corpse) (Cameo)
  • Barbatos (Dark Multiverse) (Mentioned only)
  • Bat Tribe (Earth 0) (Mentioned only)
  • Bear Tribe (Earth 0) (Mentioned only)
  • Bird Tribe (Earth 0) (Mentioned only)
  • Bozo the Iron Man (Earth-Metal) (Mentioned only)
  • Darkseid (Earth-Metal) (Mentioned only)
  • Doctor Fate/Kent Nelson (Earth-Metal) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
  • Doomsday (Earth-Metal) (Mentioned only)
  • Doug Thomas (Earth-Metal) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
  • Elaine Thomas (Earth-Metal) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
  • God (Mentioned only)
  • Hydras (Mentioned only)
  • Justice League (Earth 0) (Mentioned only)
  • Robin/Jason Todd (Earth-Metal) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
  • Wolf Tribe (Earth 0) (Mentioned only)

Locations:

Items:

Concepts:

Notes

  • Earth-Metal diverges from Prime Earth during the events of Dark Nights: Metal #6 because, in this reality, Barbatos corrupted the Tenth Metal Armors and turned the League into his enforcers who he used to conquer the universe and the rest of the local 52 "Dark" realities.
  • The Final Knight's story is eventually continued in Outsiders (Volume 5) #3.

Trivia

  • The "Earth-Metal" designation for the Dark iteration of Prime Earth from this story is very reminiscent of "Metalverse" which is the name for the incarnation of Prime Earth[1] that came to exist after the reformed Dark Knights conquered the universe during the last Metal War.[2]

See Also

Links and References

This page is missing characters!

This page is missing one or more character, location or item appearances. If you find any characters that appear in this issue, episode, movie, game or book but are not included on the page, please add them to the Appearances list of the template.