Review: Dark Nights: Death Metal – Rise Of The New God

"Rise Of The New God" and "The Weight Of Leadership"

Writers: James Tynion IV and Bryan Hill
Artists: Jesus Merino, Vicente Cifuentes and Nik Virella
Color Artists: Ulises Arreola and Hi-Fi
Letterers: Tom Napolitano and AndWorld Design
Review by Steve J. Ray

The Batman Who Laughs is no more. Sadly, that’s actually really bad news, as he has now absorbed the power of a Bruce Wayne who became Doctor Manhattan. This has made him virtually omnipotent, and transformed him into the Darkest Knight. Now, in Dark Nights: Death Metal – Rise Of The New God, the villain is taking the battle straight to Perpetua. One cosmic powered evil is about to throw down with another, with the entire multiverse at stake!

This kind of universes shattering cosmic craziness isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, but when the world is all doom and gloom sometimes this kind of entertainment feels like a ray of sunshine. Also, for anyone who grew up reading Golden and Silver Age comics, some of this stuff is positively tame! Plus, it’s cleverly written, and beautiful to look at.

Stars, and Planets, and Lanterns… Oh, My!

Dark Nights: Death Metal – Rise Of The New God gives us two giants, smacking each other around the head with planets, which proves too much for some characters to handle. The introduction of new protagonist the Chronicler, is a welcome one, as he’s trying to make sense of all this, the same way we are. James Tynion writes him, while Jesus Merino, Vicente Cifuentes and Ulises Arreola illustrate him, beautifully. He comes across as a grumpy cosmic tax inspector trying to take stock, and it’s absolutely hilarious.

In the backup story we get a veritable gaggle of Green Lanterns, which is something I always look forward to. While the main tale is all gigantic interstellar insanity, the smaller story is all about heart, character and camaraderie. Nik Virella and Hi-Fi draw a lovely, down to Earth story – featuring cosmic coppers – written lovingly by Bryan Hill. The ending left me grinning from ear to ear.

Conclusion

Is this issue high art? No, but that’s what we have stuff like Three Jokers for. What it is, is fantastic fun! The action is beyond awesome, and it’s full of characters we both love, and love to hate.

This is vintage comic-book entertainment; the kind I grew up with, and the kind that will help make youngsters the fans, and creators, of tomorrow.

More, please.

Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thought Bubble 2024 convention & festival dates announced

Image
Article by Steve J. Ray Thought Bubble  is, without a doubt, the UK’s best entirely comic-based convention and art festival. I’ve been fortunate enough to attend the show for the last three years, and have been anxious to see what’s in store this year. Well, the wait is over, as the team behind the event has announced the Thought Bubble 2024 convention & festival dates. THOUGHT BUBBLE ANNOUNCES 2024 COMIC CONVENTION & FESTIVAL DATES ACCLAIMED COMIC ART CONVENTION AND FESTIVAL TO TAKE PLACE ACROSS YORKSHIRE THIS NOVEMBER THOUGHT BUBBLE FESTIVAL LEEDS & ACROSS YORKSHIRE 11 -17 NOVEMBER 2024 THOUGHT BUBBLE COMIC CONVENTION HARROGATE CONVENTION CENTRE 16 & 17 NOVEMBER 2024   https://www.thoughtbubblefestival.com “Thought Bubble is the place to be. This is the show where everyone feels and is treated like family” –  Dark Knight News “Thought Bubble is the most important comic convention around” –  Popverse Returning to the Harrogate Convention Centre, Thought Bubble will tak
Read more

Mystic Muses: A D&D Podcast

Image
Article by Philip Clark An all queer cast. An all femme ensemble. A non-binary Dungeon Master. Throw in some quality story-telling and role playing too, this sounds like a whole lot of fun! If any of the previously mentioned things has piqued your interests, then I implore you to check out Mystic Muses. You can find this wonderfully crafted podcast where you can find all your other favourites including Spotify. There are currently four episodes out. Episode 0 is the prologue and character introductions, and I have to say it is very well put together! The intro to each episode is cleverly crafted, with the players and DM each sounding off a sentence to bring us into the game space. Speaking of bringing us into the game space, Adam, the talented DM sets the scene for the story very nicely. A descriptive, yet concise introduction to the environment gives both the players and audience a vibe of what we're in for. Then come the delicious character introductions that give vivid descripti
Read more

Book Review: George R.R. Martin Presents: Wild Cards: Now & Then

Image
“George R.R. Martin Presents: Wild Cards: Now And Then” Writer: Carrie Vaughn Artist: Renae De Liz Inker and Color Artist: Ray Dillon Book Designer and Letterer: Thomas Napolitano Wild Cards: The Drawing of Cards  excerpt written by Paul Cornell, penciled by Mike Hawthorne and Enid Balám, inked by Adriano De Benedetto and Lee Townsend, colored by Ruth Redmond, and lettered by VC’s Cory Petit Published by Bantam Books and Available from Penguin Random House Review by Steve J. Ray Wild Cards: Now And Then  is a brand new graphic novel based in an alternate reality and shared universe co-created by George R.R. Martin, the man behind the now legendary  Game Of Thrones  TV show, and the books that inspired them. This alone makes this book intriguing, but the writing, art, colors, design, and lettering by the amazing creative team would still make this volume an essential purchase, whether Martin’s name appeared on the cover, or not. I’ve not played the game, or read any of the thirty-plus W
Read more