Wonder Woman and Batman arrive on Apokolips to free as many allies as they can before taking the fight to Perpetua before it’s too late. Spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal #3 follow.
After a crazy first couple of issues and a crazier detour with Legends of the Dark Knights one-shot, Death Metal feels poised to explode any issue now. So far, this is an insane series that has put its entire body into the oddity well and come out drenched in cosmic craziness. For some, this is going to be extremely off-putting, which is absolutely valid. For others, they will not be a fan of the use of Dr. Manhattan in any shape or form, which is also valid. For me though, I love this series for what it’s going for. A twisted world that is not right, twisted by evil, and our heroes are fighting against that darkness no matter the odds. It’s also a literal fight against gods which is truly death metal if you want to get technical.
For me, there’s a lot to like about this issue, but the main thing that I like is how Wonder Woman is once again portrayed in it. The first two issues made it clear that this series was going to focus on her and she once again shines in this issue. Sure, Batman and Superman both may have had more important plot-related moments in this issue, and they were also suitably great, but at its heart this is still Diana’s issue.
Once Superman frees the rest of the heroes from their prison on Apokolips, there’s a sense of hope that is really surprising given the previously set tone of the series. It may just be a glimmer, but seeing everyone from Supergirl to Animal Man smiling, it creates such a different feeling compared to the rest of the book so far. It’s grounded in genuine hope for a better tomorrow, which is exactly what this series seems to be about and that’s made clear in Wonder Woman’s great speech to all of them. At the end of the day, superhero stories about hope and this issue have that in spades.
There’s also headway into what Lobo has been doing so far in this series as he absolutely slaughters a bunch of Fifth Dimension imps in a pretty hilarious scene. But how weird and funny it is, it does serve a purpose in that it makes it clear that Lex Luthor is up to his own plans right now and who knows what those are.
The problem with this issue lies in its pacing. It’s a bit awkwardly paced the first half of the issue and is generally slow, which is ironic given that this is the portion that features the Flashes. However, in the back-half of the issue, mostly featuring Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman, it’s incredibly fast-paced. Neither of these alone are necessarily an issue, but it’s inconsistent as a whole and makes some of the chapter transitions jarring.
As for the art, Greg Capullo knocks it out of the park again with this issue, as do Jonathan Glapion and FCO Plascencia. Capullo style perfectly fits the absolute insanity of the story being told, while also being incredibly effective in capturing the heart necessary for several of the final pages. There are very few artists who can create insane pages that also feel grounded while also being done in a very unique style like Greg Capullo. Plus, those pages in the Fifth Dimension are so different from the rest of the issue and are so good.
As for Glapion and Plascencia, they knock it out of the park here too. Glapion knows how to ink Capullo’s pencils absolutely perfectly and accentuates the little nuances throughout the issue incredibly well. Plascencia though, he sometimes overdoes it with his coloring, but that isn’t the case here. The series is crazy and his colors reflect that wonderfully.