See 7 exclusive pages from Dark Nights: Death Metal, DC’s huge summer crossover

When comics were put on hold this spring, the most hallowed of superhero traditions was put on hold as well: the summer event comic. But with this week, it’s officially summer event season with the first issue of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Dark Nights: Death Metal, and Polygon has seven pages of the blockbuster issue for you to browse right here.

Death Metal is a spiritual sequel to Snyder and Capullo’s brain child, Dark Nights Metal, a wide-ranging and bombastic Heavy Metal-themed cosmic crossover with Batman at its core. When it was over, the series had shaken the DC Universe to its foundations, introduced a breakout villain, and set the table for Snyder’s even more bombastic run on Justice League.

From Justice League sprang 2019’s Year of the Villain stories, and from the Year of the Villain came Death Metal. Last we saw the Justice League, they were battling Perpetua, the dark goddess who created the universe, and losing. They made one last ditch effort, crossing into a portal, beyond which lay one potential key to salvation. And ... that was it. The end of Snyder’s run on Justice League and a great big To be continued in Death Metal.

“Something happens in between the end of Justice League and the beginning of [Death Metal] that’s part of the mystery,” Snyder told The Hollywood Reporter when the series was announced, “and when this story starts, the heroes are really down and it seems as though DC Universe has been transformed in such a way that Perpetua and the Batman Who Laughs have taken over.”

That beginning is abundantly clear in these seven exclusive pages from Tuesday’s issue of Dark Nights: Death Metal #1. And it looks like Wonder Woman, the focal character of the series, is even ... working for the Batman Who Laughs? Great Hera!

Image: Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo/DC Comics

Image: Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo/DC Comics

Image: Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo/DC Comics

Image: Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo/DC Comics

Image: Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo/DC Comics

Image: Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo/DC Comics

Image: Greg Capullo/DC Comics

Dark Nights: Metal #1 will hit shelves on Tuesday, June 16.

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