DC fans are finally meeting the Batmen of the Dark Multiverse, and they are anything but a pretty sight.
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In Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s DC Metal, it is revealed that Batman‘s enemies have been planting the seeds for the Dark Universe to take hold in the current DCU, and in DC Metal #2 they finally make their way to our world. 7 nightmare Batmen in total emerged from the portal, but it’s hard not to notice the looming figure standing behind them in that final shot.
Before introducing you to the Batmen of the Dark Universe, it’s time to find out about their leader, the demonic entity known as Barbatos.
“One of my favorite stories is Dark Knight, Dark City by Peter Milligan,” Snyder told ComicBook.com. “It imagines that many years ago, in colonial times, a group of Gothamites try to summon a bat demon called Barbatos. The mystery in the present involves the Riddler, who runs Batman through a gauntlet of weird cases, all to secretly treat him with the substances and ritualistic materials needed to open a gateway to let Barbatos in again.”
The myth of Barbatos was left a bit vague, giving fans pause as to whether it was real or just a part of folklore. That is, until now.
“In the end we’re left unsure whether Barbatos was a real force in Gotham’s history and in Batman’s own construction,” Snyder said. “Recently, Grant [Morrison] touched on this story with his creation of Dr. Hurt and the journey of the hyper-adapter… all things we’ll be building on in Metal to make Barbatos a villain like nothing you’ve ever seen.”
Now the entity has made his way to our world, and he’s brought a legion of Dark Batmen with him to cement his hold on this universe.
So, who are these Batmen? Hit the next slide to find out!
The Drowned
The Drowned is the Aquaman-centric Nightmare Batman and is the sole female amongst the group. She is one of the more mysterious Batmen as well, as there have only been two shots of her in the books thus far, and one was a cover.
Her being female elicits some theories though. Could this be Barbara Gordon or Kate Kane? Both of those characters typically have red hair (or wigs in Batwoman’s case), but the character’s name does suggest the character might have been drowned and possibly even undead now, so the hair could be one aspect of that change.
Her costume has an Aquaman color scheme to be sure, but it is the steampunk accessories that raise an eyebrow. She wears an attachment over her eye and several steampunk accessories on her arms and legs, so not sure how those fit into her past.
More will be revealed in her Batman: The Drowned one-shot, which is written by Dan Abnett with art by Phillip Tan and a cover by Jason Fabok.
Batman: The Drowned one-shot hits stores on October 18.
The Batman Who Laughs
One of the most prominent evil Batman in DC Metal is the mysterious Batman Who Laughs, a terrifying mash-up of the Joker and Batman.
Batman has always fought the desire to kill the Joker, even after his most heinous crimes. The Dark Multiverse shows what could happen if he finally gave in to that choice, and it isn’t pretty.
“The Batman Who Laughs is Bruce asking, ‘What if I killed the Joker and I found out that he has a toxin in his heart that essentially made whoever kills him the next Joker, and that’s why he’s always tried to get Batman to kill him?’ It’s one of the darkest stories that we could do,” Snyder told CBR. “What happens then, what happens to the family, all of that is in [the] Batman: The Batman Who Laughs one-shot.”
The Batman Who Laughs plays a very big part in DC Metal, and you can expect to see him even more over the following months.
The Batman Who Laughs one-shot is written by James T Tynion IV with art by Riley Rossmo and a cover by Jason Fabok. The one-shot hits comic shops on November 15.
The Devastator
Batman has long strived to understand his enemies, but in the case of The Devastator, it seems he went too far.
This Devastator is, of course, an unholy combining of Batman and the killer of Superman Doomsday. The death of Superman hit the entire world hard, but in this reality, Batman swore to never let this happen again. The Dark Knight has a penchant for trying to deal with things before they become problems, but this time he got in over his head.
“What if after Superman died, Batman started experimenting with the Doomsday virus in a way that would make sure this never happens again, but it went too far?” Snyder told ComicBook.com.
Well, now you have your answer, and everyone would understand if you regretted asking the question.
Batman: The Devastator one-shot is written by Frank Tieri with art by Tony Daniel and a cover by Jason Fabok, and hits stores on November 1.
The Murder Machine
Batman’s greatest fears will be realized in Dark Knights, and his paranoia once again forms the basis of the Cyborg Batman The Murder Machine.
With a name like that, you can assume he isn’t much of a think first act later kind of guy, and writer Scott Snyder explains how right you are.
“Murder Machine is looking at a world where Alfred passed away, so Bruce asks Cyborg to upload his consciousness into the Alfred Protocol,” Snyder told CBR, “and the first thing the Alfred Protocol does when it comes online is kill every villain in Gotham like, ‘You’re welcome, sir!’ When the superheroes try and stop it, it kills them too, and absorbs Batman into it as an extension.”
First Omac and then this. Seriously, someone please take away Bruce’s computers already.
Batman: The Murder Machine one-shot is written by Frank Tieri with art by Ricardo Federici and a cover by Jason Fabok, and hits stores on September 27.
The Merciless
If there is one resounding constant in DC Comics, it’s that no matter who you are or what universe you live in, you hate Amanda Waller.
That goes two-fold for Batman: The Merciless, who dons a look reminiscent of Wonder Woman villain Ares. A recent DC preview shows Batman holding Wonder Woman’s lifeless body amongst a sea of other fallen Amazons, and the next sequence shows a now armored Batman (with what looks like Ares’ sword) crashing Amanda Waller’s council meeting and destroying everything in sight.
Whether he can command the same type of power that Ares had is unknown, but the lightning in the background seems to suggest he can.
Batman: The Merciless one-shot is written by Peter J. Tomasi with art by Francis Manapul and a cover by Jason Fabok. The issue hits stores on October 25.
The Red Death
In most cases, tragedy is what sets off Batman’s darker course, though, in the Red Death’s case, he takes a much different approach.
The Red Death is the new moniker taken by a Batman that gained the Flash’s speed force, though it isn’t something the Flash volunteered. In the recent Red Death one shot, it is revealed that Batman’s crime-fighting family, including Robin, Nightwing, Batwoman, etc, was killed while he was off saving the world.
It is this that propels him to ask for the Flash’s help in traveling back through time to set things right, but Barry knows where that leads and says he can’t help him. That sets Batman off on a quest to take it for himself, and he one by one picks Flash’s Rogues off to gain their weapons to help him take the Flash down.
Flash doesn’t go down easily, but Batman eventually knocks him out, only for the Flash to wake up chained to the Batmobile going at full speed. Batman studied Flash’s cosmic treadmill and configured the engine of the Batmobile to run the same way, and once they hit full speed the two heroes vanish, only to emerge joined into one being called The Red Death.
Batman: The Red Death one-shot is in comic shops now.
The Dawn Breaker
A power ring is considered one of the most powerful weapons in the universe, but Dawnbreaker shows what can happen when that power falls into the wrong person’s hands.
In Batman: The Dawnbreaker, a young Bruce Wayne loses his parents in an alleyway, but things take a different turn afterward. Instead of staying with his parents, Bruce chases down the gunman. During the chase, Bruce is halted by a floating power ring, which senses grat will in the young man.
The power changes his life, but not in the way you’d expect. Bruce can’t overcome his anger and continues his chase. He finally catches up to the gunman, proceeding to burn the flesh from his bones until he is nothing but dust.
The League is in for a real treat when this guy shows up.
Batman: The Dawnbreaker one-shot is written by Sam Humphries with art by Ethan Van Sciver and a cover by Jason Fabok. The one-shot hits stores on October 4.
