Will Green Lantern Get Maimed In Dark Nights: Metal?

This morning, DC Comics premiered a pair of covers from the forthcoming Dark Nights: Metal series, and while both of them make things look pretty bad for the Justice League, one in particular has caught the eyes of internet commenters.

It appears as thouhg on the cover of Batman: The Murder Machine, a Cyborg-inspired alternate-universe Batman might not be the oddest element of the art.

Rather, it appears as though Green Lantern Hal Jordan has part of his arm missing (with what looks like little energy bits around it, either to call attention to it or as part of a ring-generated recovery device, perhaps?). He’s also got what appears to be some kind of brace running down his left leg, although that is less conspicuous since it matches the color scheme of his costume.

There are a number of unexplained elements on the page, including little boxes that look like energy-based cubes a la the pixels in the movie Pixels. There are also some elements that are clearly meant to be more conceptual than literal, with the Cyborg-Batman seemingly successful in killing the whole Justice League on the book’s cover.

Despite all of those elements, the arm and leg stick out as oddly specific while having no real connection to the larger story being told in the image.

That Green Lantern is using his ring on his left hand seemingly seals the deal that something happens to his right hand along the way: Hal is depicted as being a right-handed ring-slinger in pretty much every comic he’s ever appeared in (Alan Scott was a lefty).

What’s also pretty interesting is that this may be the culmination of a story that started back in Dark Days: The Forge. As Green Lantern and Signal investigated the cave that would lead to The Joker hidden within the Batcave, here’s what Hal had to say:

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.

“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.”

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.

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.