Dark Nights: Metal #3: Snyder tries to do too much here, but I understand why he does so. He clearly has big plans -- even bigger than the ones we've already seen -- and he needs to move us quickly to where we are at the end the issue. As a result, this issue is a little rushed, but I think ultimately it'll be worth it to see where Snyder takes us.
It starts really, really well: we get an adorable scene where Damian and Jon are playing guitars in a field in Smallville as Bruce, Clark, Diana, and Lois watch. It's the most warmth I've ever scene displayed in a DC Comic, to be honest. Bruce tries to thank the group for all their support after he was forced to confront his darkest fears during the recently concluded war, and they all make fun of him for how bad he is at expressing emotions. But, then it turns out it's just another nightmare: Barbatos evolves from Bruce's form to attack Superman, and we learn Clark has been fighting these nightmares for lifetimes. But, Diana saves him by putting her Lasso of Truth around him to get him to see the "real" world. He awakens to a scene that combines "The Matrix" with Scientology: Clark and Diana are attached to the outside of a skyscraper along with thousands of other people. (Capullo goes for broke with these scenes, as the people are basically Day of the Dead skeletons.) Clark leaves Diana to take on Barbatos, but gets his ass handed to him. Flash saves him just in time, taking him to the Oblivion Bar, a safe space in a pocket dimension where all the other heroes are located.
Everyone is significantly worse for the wear as we learn they've all failed in their attempts to displace the Dark Batmen from their cities. (Dick is particularly shaken, and I may need to read "Gotham Resistance" now.) The towers are really generators, and Superman realizes Barbatos wants to pull our world into the Dark Dimension. At this point, Green Arrow reveals the Nth metal can hurt them. Dr. Fate and Mr. Terrific are able to locate three stashes of Nth metal through its connection to the other reactive metals in Steel's hammer, Fate's mask, Plastic Man's egg, and Deathstroke's armor. Diana starts splitting up everyone in teams to go mine the metal, but Superman dissents when Mr. Terrific reveals the last signal is coming from the Dark Dimension. Clark says Bruce used a code word in his last dream that he and Superman developed to signify trouble, and Dick confirms he can also feel Bruce trying to reach him. Superman realizes Bruce is sending the signal from the Dark Dimension, but Dick says they shouldn't go after him. Dick argues they should fight Barbatos as Bruce would've wanted them to do. However, Dick is also shaken by how dark Bruce's soul is, something they've all seen through these perverted forms of him. Damian is outraged, attacking Dick. One of the most crushing scenes is Damian clinging to Superman after he informs the group he'll save Bruce. Dick and Damian's sense of hopelessness conveys just how overpowering Barbatos' ability to kill hope is.
At any rate, the teams are forced to flee the bar as Batman Who Laughs and his Robins find them. (Kendra made it clear she was against saving Superman exactly for this reason.) As the other teams arrive at their destinations and start hunting for the Nth metal, Flash and Steel accompany Superman to the Fortress of Solitude. Superman reveals the coordinates for the Dark Dimension were close to the ones for the Phantom Zone, and he thinks the Phantom Zone might be, as Flash says, a "permeable membrane" between our dimensions. Steel attaches himself to the Antenna and Flash supercharges it, creating an energy link to the Dark Dimension. (Just go with it.) Superman travels there, only to realize he was wrong. Bruce was sending songs in the dreams, not words: the two chords of the song the kids were playing were D then C: "don't come." Superman is the battery, and with his arrival in the Dark Dimension the circuit is complete. Shit is going down, y'all.
Detective Comics #966: This series has dragged lately, but it isn't now! This issue is one of the most gripping I've ever read, particularly when you consider it's also a time-travel story. Tim and Future Tim talk while occasionally fending off Doomsday, though Future Tim doesn't reveal anything too specific about how he got this way. In fact, our only real hint before the issue wraps is a flashforward to his timeline, where Anarky comments to Spoiler about an event involving Clayface setting everything in motion. Instead, Future Tim lays out his road to Batman and strikes a theme in doing so, saying certain patterns are set. For example, Dick's reality is as a circus kid, so he eventually leaves Gotham and starts a family. Jason's reality is as a tragic story, so he winds up losing an eye and a leg and living as a homeless drunk. Damian's reality is a violent arrogance, so it's heavily implied Future Tim has to kill him after his "Batman" #666 iteration practically burns Gotham to the ground. Tim refuses to accept he's going to become Future Tim, but Future Tim agrees to use his technology to travel to Tim's present. As he departs, Future Tim encourages Tim to make peace with Conner, but Tim doesn't know who Conner is. Future Tim is shocked, and he reviews the present timeline thanks to his Batcomputer (who he creepily calls "Brother"). He realizes this timeline has been tweaked (heavily implying he's from the DCU timeline), and he cuts Tim's arm. When he realizes he, too, has a scar, he realizes he can save Tim from his future by killing the person responsible for it: Batwoman. Although this issue is super-talky, you get the sense Tynion has laid the groundwork he needed to lay and we're about to see some honest-to-God fireworks as Future Tim goes after Batwoman.
The Wild Storm: Michael Cray #1: Right off the bat, I’ll say the quality of this issue is notably different from “The Wild Storm.” Not that the issue is bad, but everything about it — the writing, the art, etc. — feels like a copy of the original. Michael gets his first assignment from Trelane: he’s to infiltrate Oliver Queen’s “Sanctuary” and steal his technology. Wait, The Wild Storm has its own Green Arrow, you ask? Apparently. He seems to be a variant of the television version, as all the details don’t exactly match: for example, both his parents (not just his father) died in the shipwreck that left him stranded. What’s the Sanctuary, you ask? Well, I’m glad you did. It’s a version of the island where he was stranded, where he plays “The Most Dangerous Game” to keep his skill sharp. It’s not the only sign he’s insane. His font is notably different: rather than the regular font everyone else uses in The Wild Storm, he speaks in all-caps, italics, and quotations. Trelane stresses she wants him for the technology, but notes Michael is a better person than she is, so he’ll probably want to stop Queen from killing veterans. Along the way, we get a hint of Cray’s supernatural powers; whereas he destroyed Marlowe’s spur in “The Wild Storm’ #1, here he blows up a mouse living in his new house. He's as sad as we are.
Youngblood #6: Bowers advances the plot significantly here, though we don't really have any more answers than we did at the start of the issue. The kids battle the Byrne gestalt while Badrock and Shaft (well, mostly Badrock, since Shaft is missing his arm) take on Diehard. The kids realize they're in trouble when the gestalt eats one of the Chapel twins (though I'm not really sure if they're twins now, because the one getting eaten refers to the other one as "Chapel"). Badrock winds up throwing Diehard into the room where the gestalt is, and he's appalled when he sees the seemingly dead kids. Badrock sacrifices himself to the gestalt, claiming he knows how to beat it after it connects to him and he's able to see its thinking. The gestalt explodes, and Badrock emerges as a normal teenage boy. Nine days later, we discover Man-Up is slave labor for some paramilitary leader in Morocco, and the team - comprising of Dolante, Supreme, Vogue, and the speedster whose name I can't remember -- arrives to rescue him. I'm really enjoying this series, and I'm intrigued to see what happens with Badrock. Is he now a cyborg like the Byrnes? But, I also feel like I'm struggling to get a grip on everyone, because Bowers is more or less writing for the trade here. I complained in a previous review that the extensive use of flashbacks in the first five issues made it difficult to follow the team coming together, and it's a problem I still can't remember one of the team members' names after six issues. But, I was also excited by the advertisement announcing "Bloodstrike" coming in January 2018, so it's a limited complaint.
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