Anyone who is remotely familiar with Batman knows that he would do absolutely anything to save Gotham City when it’s in danger. When the situation has been dire enough, we’ve seen him push his moral and philosophical boundaries to the limit, all to ensure his streets remain safe. But in one of the tales showcased in today’s first installment of Death Metal: Legends of the Dark Knights, we see exactly how far the Dark Knight (or at least one dimension’s version of him) is willing to go to make that happen, and the end results are disturbing.

Written by Frank Tieri (Gotham Underground) and featuring illustrations from Francesco Francavilla (Afterlife With Archie) “This Man. This City” opens with a pretty bleak summary of the disastrous condition Gotham finds itself in. Arkham has been destroyed, spewing a myriad of maniacs into the city. Commissioner Barbara Gordon has been assassinated, leaving the GCPD leaderless and crippled. And gangs of mobsters and monsters roam the streets, terrorizing the innocent.

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Watching all of this from his study is an elderly Bruce Wayne. We soon learn that Damian (having taken up father’s mantle) has been a woefully ineffective Batman and cannot stop the chaos that is now in motion. Always the strategist, Bruce informs his son that he has one final trick up his sleeve which he has saved as a last resort if the time ever came. Taking what looks to be a book bound in bat-skin from a shelf, he speaks of a ritual that had been performed during Gotham’s infancy by a terrible cult who believed that they would be rewarded handsomely by god if they sacrificed one of their own. As the reality of what’s about to happen to him dawns on Damian, Bruce embraces his son, apologizes for what he has to do, and plunges a Batarang into his heart.

The sacrifice made, Bruce steps into a flaming bat-like symbol he's drawn on the floor in Damian's blood and is engulfed by it. As a terrible quake shakes the crumbling metropolis, we learn that Bruce has chosen to shed his humanity for the city he loves more than anything. An ebony cathedral breaks through its cracked streets, rising above its skyline, as Batman becomes a literal living manifestation of Gotham City.

It cannot be stressed how beautiful Francesco Francavilla’s artwork is in this story. His stark color palette contrasting against the shadows that bathe nearly every scene makes the already apocalyptic tale the stuff of nightmares. There are subtle nods to the horror genre throughout the story, such as the spell book’s design mirroring that of the Necronomicon in Sam Raimi’s classic Evil Dead series, or the fact that the aged Bruce looks like a cross between Hammer Studio’s iconic duo of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. And he positively nails Damian’s sacrifice, bringing out the tragedy of that moment which is so crucial in terms of maximizing the story’s dark impact. It’s definitely one of the standout stories of the anthology, and a must-read for any Batman fans who also enjoy some of the darker corners of comic book storytelling.

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