DC Comics’ mega-event Dark Nights: Metal might be in full swing now, but the comics publisher has a long history of embracing its metal side. What do we mean when we say metal? We mean the sort of stories that make you want throw up some horns and get in the pit. We’re talking about characters and story arcs that deserve a soundtrack from Black Sabbath, Mastodon, Converge, Iron Maiden, Neurosis, or Slayer. These are moments that invoke the blackest metal and heaviest riffs.
So sit back, prepare a ritual sacrifice and read through DC's most metal concepts, characters and stories.
Everything about the nightmarish planet known as Apokolips is metal. Just look at it! Covered in firepits and a landscape that looks like the cover of the latest Gatecreeper album, this place was really metal before metal was a thing. When Jack Kirby created this hellscape, he no doubt tapped into some future vision of Slayer and Obituary. This is planet that spawned a thousand album covers. It’s a vision of fire and death. The fact that this place is ruled by a dude named Darkseid who shoots lasers out of his eyes just makes it even more metal.
Lobo is probably the most obvious metal thing about the DC Universe. I mean, the dude looks like a roided up Lemmy from Motorhead in corpse paint. He’s had plenty of over-the-top, insane moments throughout the years, including a brief dip into fashioncore during the New 52 (he looked like a member of Motionless in White and that’s not a compliment). That said, Lobo’s definitive moment, him at his most genuinely metal, took place in “Lobo’s Back” from creators Keith Giffen, Alan Grant, and Simon Bisley. This series was brutal and insane, pushing the boundaries of good taste, page after page. The moment we’re after though happens when the main man himself marches into the afterlife and promptly kicks a dude so hard in the dick that the guy’s pelvis and spine burst out of his back. Now that’s hardcore.
When Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang took over Wonder Woman in the era of the New 52, they plunged her head first into the world of the gods. Under their direction, Wonder Woman’s story became one of mythology, not superheroes. It was epic, beautiful, and quite possibly the best part of DC’s muddled New 52 initiative. The run also happens to contain the most metal DC moment of all time. That’s right, we said “of all time.”
Meet Hades, Lord of Underworld. In the DC Universe, he’s a boy, with a head made of melting candles. In one panel, we see him sitting on a throne that has been crafted from the tortured and mutilated - but still living - body of his own father. That moment, when we first see him perched on his throne - his head melting while he casually drinks from a skull-shaped goblet - is so goddamn metal. That is DC wallowing in the blackest of metal. Hades looks like he’s about to release his new album on Profound Lore Records and then spend the Winter touring with Abbath.
The Joker getting his face cut off - at his own request - is pretty messed up. The fact that he then wore his own rotting flesh like a mask? Yeah, that’s some gruesome stuff. Like, Cattle Decapitation or Cannibal Corpse level gruesome. The Joker is a raging grindcore song throughout this period of DC. His mind is functions with the speed of a blast beat, pummeling out pain and brutality to everyone Batman holds dear. At one point, he moves through a Gotham police station, snapping the neck of every cop he encounters. He also shoots a horse in the head. And, in case you forgot, he does this stuff while wearing his own face like a mask.
Everything about the Black Lanterns is pretty metal. First, they are powered by the darkness that prevailed before the creation of the universe. Second, they’re undead. They’re rotting corpses of fallen heroes and villains. Third, their power rings were created by a dude named Nekron. Fourth, they are headlining this year’s Roadburn Fest. Okay, that last one’s not true, but it’s not far fetched either. Seriously, even their name sounds metal. Their album could be called Blackest Night. They could tour with Black Breath and Black Tusk. They could open for Meshuggah. The Black Lantern Corps are as metal as comic book’s get.
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