The last origin tie-in of the 6 Dark Knights of the dark multiverse has finally arrived.
The book opens up with most of the reserve justice league and, Titans members all battered and defeated, leaving only Lobo against the Kryptonian powered, Doomsday behemoth of a Batman known only as Devastator. What caused this iteration of Bruce Wayne/Batman to become a Doomsday creature? What compelled him to join the ranks of the other Dark Knights? And who can stop him while Superman is missing?
This was a very interesting tie-in for a variety of reasons, first due to the fact that it’s more centered on Devastator trying to collect the Anti-Monitor’s “Cosmic Tuning Fork” to complete Barbatos master plan (which is to engulf prime earth AKA Earth 0 AKA our earth, AKA earth of our favorite heroes). Second, it’s interesting seeing Frank Tieri and James Tynion play out their scenario of what would have happened on Devastators earth (Earth-1) in which his Superman betrayed his friends and family willingly due to no longer feeling the need of humanity anymore.
Tieri and Tynion do a clever thing playing off of (even poking fun at the 2016 film Batman V Superman) by showing how the battle went down between Devastator and Superman. Earth -1 Superman is displayed as a pretty scary figure, quick to make work of his enemies as he did to Batman on that earth. There is a nice joke about the Kryptonite spear being a weapon of choice, which is a nice cheeky remark to the Snyder BVS movie. The pacing of the story is good, although I would have liked to have seen more of what happened on Earth -1, like what it would have looked like for Superman to have committed the horrors before his violent battle against Batman before his transformation.
I feel that they should have went in the same route like the Death Machine tie-in, where there is nice exposition that parallels the current events of the plot, rather than focusing on the main event, but not much exposition to really parallel the current events tightly enough. Now don’t get me wrong, this was a great tie-in and I enjoyed it immensely , I just wish that Tieri and Tynion showed the readers a little bit more of what occurred on Devastators world prior to the slugfest between him and his Superman before Devastator is sent to our earth during the events of Dark Nights Metal. It just would have felt more satisfying, but on the bright side, it was cool that was the writers showcased what was occurring in Metropolis in regards to Lois, Jon, Supergirl, Superwoman, Guardian and all in between the events that occur within Dark Nights Metal. It was very enjoyable seeing some of those interactions while seeing the carnage that Devastator unleashes upon Metropolis.
Tony Daniel’s art is everything and more when it comes to delivering awesome splash pages, panel layouts, character interactions and of course, action! Daniel does an Immense job at illustrating the savagery of an evil Earth -1 Superman going head to head with Batman of that earth before transforming into Devastator and delivering hell on earth for those in his way. I love the double page spread of Lobo fighting Devastator, it’s just worthy of being a poster for one’s wall or desktop/mobile screen saver. Some of the best pages that stand out are actually the pages with Lois Lane at the Daily Planet and her reaction to all of the chaos occurring across the globe. Daniel really knows how to draw a graceful Lois Lane, but he superbly draws fantastic action scenes with each gesture and punch. Miki’s inks and Morey’s colors amplify Daniels pencils, making every page glisten with cinematic beauty and flair. Napolitano does a great job in the lettering department, especially when utilizing that nice scratchy font, that really emphasizes Devastators voice in a way that leaves readers imagining a super Doomsday infected Batman would possibly sound like.
This was a good tie-in that helps flesh out the other parts of Snyder and Capullo’s Dark Nights Metal event, making it feel much more connected to the current events that occur within this big event title. I recommend picking this issue up because it’s fun seeing various evil iterations of Batman running amok and leaving readers a glimpse of how terrifying an evil Batman would be if he was to ever succumb to his darkest whims. Pick it up and add it to your pull list.
Newsdesk 
Brian Isaacs - Executive Editor / Publisher