Dark Nights Death Metal Guidebook #1
DC Comics
Written by: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV & Joshua Williamson; Chip Zdarsky; Becky Cloonan; Vita Ayala; Christopher Priest
Art by: Doug Manke; Khary Randolph; Becky Cloonan; Dan Panosian; Eduardo Risso
Inks by: Jaime Mendoza (The Fall of Earth)
Colors by: David Baron; Emilio Lopez; Tamra Bonvillain; Luis Guerrero; Eduardo Risso
Letters by: Tom Napolitano; Dave Sharpe; Steve Wands; Ferran Delgado; Willie Schubert
Dark Nights Death Metal Guidebook #1 was one of the first two one-offs announced with Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s DC Comics event. While it seemed clear what the other one-off, Dark Nights Death Metal: Legends of the Dark Knights #1, would entail, Dark Nights Death Metal Guidebook #1 seemed a little less clear.
After going through the issue, Dark Nights Death Metal Guidebook #1 is essential reading for anyone keeping up with the event. Similar to Dark Nights Death Metal: Legends of the Dark Knights #1, Snyder’s short story in this book, “The Fall of Earth,” is essential for further understanding of how the DC universe got to this point.
It also gives us an idea of the intentions of a pair of characters who’ve been operating in the darkness throughout the event.
“Metal Queen of the Desert” is a fun tale with Harley Quinn. It explains a little of her story. More than anything, Khary Randolph’s artwork shines here.
“The Umibozu” shows us what’s going on with Aquaman. We’ve seen him a little in the main Dark Nights Death Metal story but haven’t gotten a whole lot on him. “The Umibozu” at least provides a little background.
Similar to Randolph’s art in Harley Quinn’s story, Dan Panosian’s work in “Seeds of Hope” was very impressive. And we get out first real look at Poison Ivy. Maybe we’ll see more of her? This is the first indication that could be the case.
“Dragonlance” confirms something that I brought up in my Dark Nights Death Metal #3. And, while it’s extremely short in terms of pages, there’s a lot of dialogue. Christopher Priest wrote this one, so you know going int it’s bound to be good.
The two covers for this book are outstanding, maybe the best combination to come from all of Dark Nights Death Metal so far. Not sure I could pick between Yasmine Putri’s main or Terry and Rach Dodson’s variant if I had to.