Batman: The Red Death and Batman: The Murder Machine First Look Covers Released

08/03/2017 09:00 am EDT

DC has released a pair of covers for their upcoming Dark Nights: Metal one-shots, Batman: The Red Death and Batman: The Murder Machine.

In Dark Nights: Metal, evil versions of the Dark Knight are coming to terrorize Earth. Seven one-shot comics that tie into the event are on the horizon, each spotlighting a different, corrupted version of Batman spawned from the Dark Multiverse.

"It's about just saying, 'Why don't you do something that introduces new and becomes an engine of new?'" writer Scott Snyder said during a recent appearance. "Can you do a kind of Crisis story that doesn't depend on the same old stuff and takes us somewhere we've never been? New villains, new challenges, new territories to explore? So the story is really simple: the Justice League discovers that there's a Dark Multiverse, and they also discover that because of something Batman has done, they're invading right now after thousands of years of waiting -- and if they don't find more Nth Metal, which is one of the rarest things in the universe, to stop it, they are completely screwed."

Here's the abbreviated solicitation text for both books:

How can the Justice League stop a horde of deadly beings that appear to be powerful, nightmare versions of themselves? Find out in these special tie-in issues, beginning September 20 with BATMAN: THE RED DEATH #1 by Joshua Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico followed by BATMAN: THE MURDER MACHINE #1 by Frank Tieri and Ricardo Federici on September 27.

"I wanted to create something that would remind you of the kid joy you felt when you went to the comic shop and you picked up something that was your summer event, right?" Snyder said. "It's stressful times, regardless of what side you're on, regardless of your political beliefs, I think that right now, we are exhausted by the news every day and I wanted to make something that would be pretty earth-shaking in his consequences and have big effects and change the DCU in important ways and be in-continuity, but also felt like when you pick it up, it's so immersive and crazy and reminds you of all the things you love about our characters, why they're aspirational, and also introduces you to brand new concepts, brand new territories, brand new characters, all that stuff. That was the goal. So I wanted you to pick it up and be like 'I am unleashing my inner rock god this summer and just going to the best rock-out concert I have ever gone to with the characters I love the most."

Batman: The Red Death sees a Dark Knight who is one with the Speed Force, while The Murder Machine appears to see him merged with Cyborg technology.

All seven of the DARK NIGHTS: METAL one shots will feature covers by Jason Fabok. Stay tuned for more cover reveals of BATMAN: THE DROWNED, BATMAN: THE MERCILESS, BATMAN: THE DEVASTATOR, BATMAN: THE DAWNBREAKER, and THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS in the coming weeks.

Disclosure: ComicBook is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.