DC Comics' upcoming blockbuster event Dark Nights: Death Metal is going to be much bigger than previously announced. The new series, which pits the Justice League against a powered-up The Batman Who Laughs, will be expanded to seven issues. Additionally, Death Metal will include two special one-shots with contributions from a long list of creators that includes some of DC's biggest talents.
This miniseries acts as a sequel to Dark Nights: Metal, the event which first introduced breakout hit character The Batman Who Laughs. The creative team from Metal, consisting of Batman veterans Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, and Jonathan Glapion, returns for Dark Nights: Death Metal #1, in which The Batman Who Laughs is crowned as the new ruler of Earth. Death Metal has been billed as "the last tour" for Snyder and Capullo, acting as a grand finale to the duo's Batman run which began nearly a decade ago.
According to a press release from DC, Dark Nights: Death Metal will run for seven issues starting on June 16th, skipping a month in September. In anticipation of that break, DC will release two one-shots in the weeks after issue 3 drops in August. The first is Dark Nights: Death Metal Guidebook #1, which features a series of stories that flesh out the story's dystopian Earth and bridge the ending of Snyder's Justice League run with the beginning of Death Metal. The book features a slew of well-established writers and artists, some of which are DC staples and some of which are new to the Justice League. That includes main series author Scott Snyder, current Batman scribe James Tynion IV, Flash's Joshua Williamson, Becky Cloonan (Southern Cross), Vita Ayala (Children of the Atom), Chip Zdarsky (Daredevil), Christopher Priest (Deathstroke), Doug Mahnke (Green Lantern), Dan Panosian (Slots), Eduardo Risso (The Joker 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular), and Khary Randolph (We Are Robin).
One week later, Dark Nights: Death Metal Legends of the Dark Knights #1 drops, featuring stories set in the Dark Multiverse that birthed The Batman Who Laughs and the other twisted alternate Batmans from Dark Nights: Metal. The creative team on this one-shot includes Snyder, Tynion IV, and Williamson, as well as Peter J. Tomasi (Super Sons), Warren Ellis (The Wild Storm), Garth Ennis (The Boys), Daniel Warren Johnson (Wonder Woman: Dead Earth), Frank Tieri (Old Lady Harley), Tony S. Daniel (Deathstroke), Jim Cheung (Justice League), Joëlle Jones (Catwoman), Riley Rossmo (Constantine), and Francesco Francavilla (All-Star Batman).
If Dark Nights: Death Metal is a superhero version of a rock show, these one-shots are concept albums by comic book supergroups. For readers who were already anticipating Dark Nights: Death Metal and its teeth-rattling, guitar-shredding style, this is more of a good thing. For readers who didn't have a connection to Death Metal and its Batman/Justice League-centric plot, the surprise injection of fan-favorite writers and artists from across DC, Marvel, and independent comics provides a possible inroad to check out the event. Either way, DC will be sure to keep the rock show going, even if the house gets brought down by the new robot dinosaur Batman.
DC Comics' Dark Knights: Death Metal #1 will be available on June 16th, 2020. Dark Nights: Death Metal Guidebook #1 hits physical shelves and digital providers on August 18th, 2020, and Dark Nights: Death Metal Legends of the Dark Knights #1 follows it up on August 25th, 2020.