Published in 2017, Dark Nights: Metal is a Batman Event written by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. The two collaborators are back with a new ambitious story about the mysterious Nth metal and the dark multiverse.
Investigating a strange metal, Batman discovers the existence of a dark multiverse and eventually releases seven evil versions of himself into his own universe. That event is led by Barbatos, the dark god who plans to unleash darkness across every Earth. Stopping him will change the DC Universe forever.
What to read before Dark Nights: Metal?
Like any big comic book event, you don’t really need to read anything as all the information necessary should be provide in the story! The event kicked off with a two-issue prelude titled Dark Days, collected in Dark Days: The Road to Metal as well as in the Dark Nights Metal Omnibus – which are the issues you shouldn’t miss before diving into the main event.
For those interested in exploring for more backstories, Dark Nights: Metal event builds on elements introduced during Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s run on Batman during the New 52 era. This run is collected in two omnibuses, but the most important issues for Metal are the last part of the run, collected in the second omnibus.
- Batman by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo Omnibus Vol. 1
- Batman by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo Omnibus Vol. 2
If you want to familiarize yourself a little with the myths of Barbatos, you can check out The Return of Bruce Wayne by Grant Morrison.
Dark Nights: Metal Comics Reading Order, the Collected Editions
Dark Nights Metal in One Big Omnibus
Evil Dark Knights from the multiverse have risen! Only Batman and the world’s greatest superheroes can save the multiverse! Get the entire Dark Nights Metal story in one heart-pounding collection. 744 pages!
- Dark Nights Metal Omnibus
Collects Dark Nights: Metal #1-6, tie-in stories from Dark Days: The Forge #1, Dark Days: The Casting #1, Batman: The Red Death #1, Batman: The Devastator #1, Batman: The Merciless #1, Batman: The Murder Machine #1, Batman: The Drowned #1, Batman: The Dawnbreaker #1, Dark Nights: The Batman Who Laughs #1, Batman: Lost #1, Hawkman: Found #1, Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt #1, Nightwing #29, The Flash #33, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #32, Green Arrow #32, Suicide Squad #26, Teen Titans #12, and Justice League #32-33.
Dark Nights Metal in Compendium
The whole story collected in another One Big Volume, but this one with a softcover and less expensive! This is the Compendium edition of Dark Nights: Metal! 728 pages
- Dark Nights: Metal Compendium 2025
Collects Dark Nights: Metal #1-6, Dark Nights: The Batman Who Laughs #1, Dark Days: The Forge #1, Dark Days: The Casting #1, Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt #1, Nightwing #29, The Flash #33, Hal Jordan and The Green Lantern Corps #32, Green Arrow #32, Suicide Squad #26, Teen Titans #12, Justice League #32-33, Batman: The Red Death #1, Batman: The Devastator #1, Batman: The Merciless #1, Batman: The Murder Machine #1, Batman: The Drowned #1, Batman: The Dawnbreaker #1; Batman: Lost #1, and Hawkman: Found #1.
Dark Nights Metal in Deluxe and Absolute
The main event has also been collected in Deluxe Edition (an oversized hardcover comic reprint format) and in Absolute Edition (a larger, slipcased edition with a few extra content).
- Dark Nights: Metal — The Deluxe Edition
Collects Dark Nights: Metal #1–6 - Absolute Dark Nights Metal
Collects Dark Nights: Metal #1-6, Batman: Lost #1, Dark Nights: Metal Director’s Cut #1, and Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt #1!
Dark Nights: Metal, all the trade paperbacks
Outside of the omnibus, the whole event has been collected in several paperbacks. The trade collecting the tie-ins put together all of the issues, whatever their order.
- Dark Days: The Road to Metal
Collects Dark Days: The Forge #1 and Dark Days: The Casting #1, as well as classic DC stories that built the foundations of Metal, including Final Crisis #6-7, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1, Batman #38-39, Nightwing #17 and more. - Dark Nights: Metal
Collects Dark Nights: Metal #1-6, and Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt #1 and Batman Lost #1. - Dark Nights: Metal: Dark Knights Rising
Collects the seven Dark Nights: Batman tie-in one-shots and Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt #1. - Dark Nights: Metal: The Resistance
Collects “Gotham Resistance” (Teen Titans #12, Nightwing #29, Suicide Squad #26, Green Arrow #32) and “Bats Out Of Hell” (The Flash #33, Justice League #32-33, Hal Jordan and The Green Lantern Corps #32), plus Batman Lost #1 and Hawkman Found #1.
Dark Nights: Metal, an Issue by Issue Reading Order
- Dark Days: The Forge #1
- Dark Days: The Casting #1
- Dark Nights: Metal #1
- Dark Nights: Metal #2
- Teen Titans #12 (Gotham Resistance tie-in)
- Nightwing #29 (Gotham Resistance tie-in)
- Suicide Squad #26 (Gotham Resistance tie-in)
- Green Arrow #32 (Gotham Resistance tie-in)
- Batman The Red Death (tie-in connected to the Flash)
- Batman The Murder Machine (tie-in connected to Cyborg)
- Batman The Dawnbreaker (tie-in connected to Green Lantern)
- Batman The Drowned (tie-in connected to Aquaman)
- Batman The Merciless (tie-in connected to Wonder Woman)
- Batman The Devastator (tie-in connected to Superman)
- Dark Nights: Metal #3
- The Flash #33 (Bats Out of Hell tie-in)
- Justice League #32 (Bats Out of Hell tie-in)
- Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps #32 (Bats Out of Hell tie-in)
- Justice League #33 (Bats Out of Hell tie-in)
- Batman Lost (tie-in)
- The Batman Who Laughs (tie-in)
- Dark Nights: Metal #4
- Hawkman Found
- Dark Nights: Metal #5
- Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt #1
- Dark Nights: Metal #6
After Dark Nights: Metal
The events of Dark Nights: Metal have transformed the universe in mysterious ways that are explored in Justice League: No Justice, a 4-part miniseries used to relaunch the leagues and solidify the new status quo.
In the aftermath, new DC Comics lines hit the shelves:
- The New Age of DC Heroes: Debuting new characters and stories related to the repercussions of Dark Nights: Metal.
- Year of the Villain: An exploration of the repercussions of Dark Nights: Metal event from the villains’ perspective.
- The Batman Who Laughs: a miniseries by Scott Snyder about the breakout star of Dark Nights: Metal. See also our reading order dedicated to the character.
- Tales from the Dark Multiverse: A series of one-off comics that take some of DC’s most famous events and put a tragic twist on them.
- Finally, there’s a sequel Dark Nights: Death Metal.
