Review: Dark Nights: Death Metal – Rise of the New God #1
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: James Tynion IV, Bryan Hill
Artist: Nik Viriello, Jesús Merino
Letters: Tom Napolitano, AndWorld Design
Colors: Ulisses Arreola, Hi-Fi
Reviewed by: Carl Bryan
Summary
Rise of the New God – Batman. Always. Wins. This irrevocable truth resonates to the very heart of Perpetua’s battle with the Batman Who Laughs…and when her ally reveals his absolute nature, she will upend this mantra and destroy the last planet. His planet. But that’s not enough…and the mother of all creation must wonder, if power lies in destruction, why would she ever stop? But that’s the thing about truth…when it turns to fact, there’s no disputing its godlike reverence…and so enters the Darkest Knight. Featuring a backup story that spins out of the cliffhanger from Dark Nights: Death Metal – Multiverse’s End #1.
Positives (eh….)
First impression is that I’m drained with the story line. This is too good a character and too good of an author in James Tynion IV to drag this story out. I do get that The Batman Who Laughs who is now in a “god like” state was always going to double cross Perpetua to get what he wanted.
But a combination of the Joker and Batman… was this really something that could translate to this stellar of a proportion.
This almost has taken on a Marvel/The Watcher kind of vibe. I feel like the writers of Friends or How I Met Your Mother were offered a boat load of cash to get this thing one or two more seasons, and the love is not there.
What is a Codex Omniversa….well, its basically all the DC stories that have ever occurred across the entire DC universe. Now I would buy that…it’s priceless, and it appears that the Chronicler wants to assimilate all of that information before it is destroyed.
However, the Chronicler is visiting such characters as the Son of Brainiac, The Psycho Pirate, and a recently killed Metron as he ponders why any and all of these stories must end. Metron knows as a passive observer that the Chronicler wants to save all of these “stories” and these universes. And so it begins… you’ll have to read for yourself.
Positives (really)
“The Weight of Leadership” was a stronger story in that it combined all of the Green Lanterns in an “all call” that really was a prelude to a call to arms to defeat The Batman Who Laughs.
Any story with all the Lanterns is a strong story, but after all, they maintain all order within the Universe (our earth equivalent of State Troopers, if you will). Jessica Cruz has become a major Green Lantern force in a short amount of time even challenging Hal Jordan in fandom. So with all the Lanterns (sigh even Guy Gardner…), this is the battle cry we needed.
Negatives
Sigh….exhausting. Some characters work, but the entire character development of The Batman Who Laughs has left the train station. He has gone from being a formidable foe who could rival Joker in the Rogue’s Gallery to some sort of bizarre Peter Pan shadow creature.
I’m not sure this is what even an evil Bruce Wayne and Joker could envision and I am not sure if Scott Snyder could even envision it. James Tynion IV seemed to be handed this and told “come up with something”.
Tynion IV is a master in the Batman books, but this book is not anything what I thought it would be. Perhaps I am not deep into the story enough, but I’ve been a Metal reviewer for some time now, and while Robin King is worthy of throne, this new incarnation of The Batman Who Laughs needs to be swept to the trash.
Verdict
Lanterns…Yes! This odd Rise of the New God story…No! Buyer beware!
