In all honesty, Metal dives heavily into DC continuity, and as a fan of long and rich comic book universe histories, I’m head over heels in love.

The first two issues of Metal are darn near perfect love letters to the DC Universe, touching on everything from Mongul to the creation of the DC Multiverse! If you’re newer to the DCU, though, or simply missed out on some of the selections below, there can be a lot of confusing moments that don’t have a lot of context. Metal is not pausing often to explain any references, instead opting for the kinetic pace of forward progress. Again, this is great for the story, but not great for understanding what on (multiple) earths is happening. True story: The Return of Bruce Wayne was the only part of Grant Morrison’s run on Batman titles that I had missed. I followed Morrison on Batman, Batman and Robin, Final Crisis, and Batman Inc, but I never bothered with the return.An evil force as old as time has emerged from the nightmare realm known as the Dark Multiverse. But it’s not just any nightmares that have spilled out of this void. Collects Dark Nights: Death Metal: Legends of the Dark Knights #1, Dark Nights: Death Metal: Guidebook #1, Dark Nights: Death Metal: Trinity Crisis #1, Dark Nights: Death Metal: Speed Metal #1, and Dark Nights: Death Metal: Multiverse’s End #1.

It’s not included in the collection details, but I would also argue that Detective Comics #959 is a good prelude to the “Dark Days” issues. Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #32 by Robert Venditti, Ethan Van Sciver, Liam Sharp, Jason Wright I initially placed the Dark Knights one-shots after the “Gotham Resistance” storyline, thinking they could be read in parallel. Green Arrow #32 includes a brief reference to The Murder Machine, though, meaning these issues can be read prior to the 4-part “Gotham Resistance,” which reads best in one chunk. The third and final story in Detective Comics #950 is a short review of Batman’s Rebirth planning, with Tim Drake, aka Red Robin, asking Bruce why he’s preparing for war. There’s then a “Dark Days Are Coming” teaser for Metal.If you need (as I wrote above) 7 PHDs in DC-ology to understand Batman Lost, well, you’ll need a full 52 to understand “The Wild Hunt.” Year of the Villain: In March 2019, Scott Snyder announced a new event campaign titled Year of the Villain, which features the repercussions of Dark Nights: Metal from the supervillains' perspective. Reading The Return of Bruce Wayne has seriously augmented my understanding of Metal in many enjoyable ways. It is highly recommended reading for Metal heads. Polo, Susana (August 16, 2017). "Batman: Metal #1 confirms a classic character is still very much a part of the DC Universe". Polygon. Vox Media . Retrieved 20 March 2018.

Dark Nights: Metal #1–6, Batman: Lost #1, Dark Nights: Metal Director's Cut #1, Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt #1

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Johnson, Jim (September 14, 2017). "Review: Dark Nights: Metal #2 Shows Batman's Importance to the DCU". CBR . Retrieved 2017-10-04. Refusing to lose, Barbatos reveals his last resort; using the combined power of the positive energy of his prisoner the Over-Monitor, the Anti-Monitor's brain's negative energy, and the Batman Who Laughs' dark energy, he plans to destroy all of creation and leave nothing but darkness in his wake. An unexpected team-up of Batman and the Joker, however, halts this plan, the Justice League defeats the remaining Dark Knights, and Hawkgirl subdues Barbatos. After the Over-Monitor explains that all living things have trace amounts of Tenth Metal, the League proceed to use this power to pull Earth out of the Dark Multiverse (which unintentionally also results in the Source Wall shattering). After the battle the Over-Monitor chains Barbatos down at the bottom of the Dark Multiverse with Tenth Metal chains, forcing him to watch the World Forge burn bright once more as it creates new worlds. [21] [ full citation needed] Epilogue [ edit ] Gerding, Stephen (July 18, 2017). "Coipel, Bengal Join Snyder for Dark Nights: Metal One-Shot, Batman Lost". CBR . Retrieved 2017-10-05.

Shiach, Kieran (July 21, 2017). "Hawkman Dark Nights: Metal Tie-In Coming From Lemire, Hitch & Nowlan". CBR . Retrieved 2017-10-05.Written by Joshua Williamson, James T Tynion IV, Scott Snyder. Art by Francis Manapul, Riley Rossmo, and Marcus To. Collects Dark Nights: Death Metal The Last 52: War of the Multiverse #1, Dark Nights: Death Metal The Last Stories of the DCU #1. On Thanagar Prime, Hal and Mr. Terrific are rescued from their cells by the Martian Manhunter (who has been exploring Thanagar Prime to learn about the secret Nth Metal deposits) and the trio proceed to rescue Plastic Man from Synn and Starro. They soon learn several Dark Knights have seized control of the Phoenix Cannon, reversing its polarity to make Earth sink further into the Dark Multiverse.