Hope shines in the Dark Multiverse.
Dark Nights: Metal has certainly lived up to its name, cramming in all sorts of heavy metal-worthy imagery and crazy situations. That doesn't change one bit in the finale. The downside is that the series continues to be too overstuffed for its own good in its final chapter. As good a job as it does hyping up what's to come for the DCU, it doesn't quite carry the same weight as Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's best Batman stories.
Not for the first time, I found myself wondering in this issue if Metal simply became too big for its own good. There are a lot of characters crammed into these pages, with the cast spanning the breadth and width of the DCU. But too often, it feels like this issue is unable to do individual characters the justice they deserve. I imagine the payoff (or lack thereof) with issue #1's big Sandman twist is going to annoy a number of readers. That twist did as much as anything else to build excitement for Metal as a whole, but in the end Dream and his compatriots barely factor into this conflict. Was it worth including them in the first place?
For the most part, this issue spotlights three heroes in particular - Wonder Woman, Hawkman and Batman. All three characters have some great moments over the course of this finale. Diana, fittingly, is depicted as the one unbreakable source of hope and love in a conflict where even Batman and Superman are overwhelmed by the sheer darkness that is Barbatos. Carter, meanwhile, finds a satisfying conclusion to his current character arc as he too is pulled back toward the light. And Batman has ample opportunity to be Batman, bolstered by one of his most unlikely and entertaining team-ups in recent memory.
There's a lot to love with Capullo's art here, even if he too struggles to tie everything together into a truly cohesive whole. There's plenty of carnage and spectacle as our heroes battle their dark doppelgangers and the demonic Bat-god trying to drag the world into the dark. Standout moments include a splash page that allows Capullo to offer his take on iconic Elseworlds incarnations of Batman, and another battle sequence that clearly evokes the dramatic climax of Batman: Endgame. Those scene stand out precisely because the art is given more room to breathe, focusing on fewer panels and fewer characters. Other pages chronicling the epic battle aren't so fortunate.
The main flaw with the art is that it doesn't do enough to highlight the Dark Multiverse itself. As much as characters talk about being pulled into darkness or rising up into the light, those elements aren't always that well-represented on the page. The idea of the Earth sinking into the dark is a striking one, but we never really get to see that idea given visual life. There's also the fact that the epilogue sequence offers a haphazard mix of current DC artists, none of whom mesh particularly well together. Mikel Janin's contribution is especially disappointing, as his pages focus on small panels and talking heads rather than the mind-bending page design he's usually known for.
In short, Metal #6 is marked by strong moments that don't quite mesh as effectively as they should. There's just too much going on in these pages and too many characters vying for the reader's attention. You have to admire Snyder and Capullo's ambition here, but that ambition works against Metal in the end. The two Dark Days prologue one-shots found more success because they maintained a slightly narrower focus. At that stage, this story was largely a Batman and Hawkman-driven one. Had Metal kept its focus locked on those two, it might have been able to deliver a more cohesive experience.
That all being said, better a flawed, ambitious event comic than a safe, formulaic one. Metal may have problems in its execution, but it celebrates the same themes that made Snyder and Capullo's Batman work so resonant, particularly the ability of heroes to inspire hope in the darkest of moments. And with so much emphasis on leaving the door open for new stories and ideas, it's impossible not to be excited for what Snyder and company have in store next.
The Verdict
In many ways, Dark Nights: Metal is more flawed than Snyder and Capullo's previous DC work. There are simply too many moving pieces in this final issue, and not enough room to do it all justice. But despite that, there are enough great character moments, dynamic images and emotionally resonant themes at play to make Metal a crossover worth experiencing.
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