With Dark Nights: Metal, the legendary team of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo brewed up a bombastic comic book event which was full of crazy ideas. Beginning with with something lurking in the shadows of reality, it quickly escalates into threat of massive proportions which introduces the Batman Who Laughs and the Dark Multiverse in the process. The result is a comic book event which is a lot of fun while also being a cornerstone in in DC Comics continuity.
Big events, especially ones with lots of tie-ins, can be confusing to new readers and veterans alike. To help reading easy I’ve put together the Dark Nights: Metal Reading Order Checklist. Not only does it give the reading order to this massive story, but also tie-ins, creative teams, background reading, and other helpful notes.
Soon you’ll able to dive headfirst into Dark Nights: Metal and thoroughly enjoy it without worry. Happy reading!
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Do I Need To Read The Tie-Ins?
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: As you’ll see below, there are a hell of a lot of tie-ins for this event. But just because they’re listed there doesn’t mean you need to read them all. They’re totally optional side stories which add a little extra to the main story but shouldn’t be required to get a full story.
Here are a few options you can take when it comes to reading Dark Nights: Metal:
- Read Dark Nights: Metal #1-6 (That’s the main story)
- Read the Dark Days: The Forge and Dark Days: The Casting (Those are prelude issues) + Dark Nights: Metal #1-6
- Read Dark Nights: Metal #1-6 + Prelude Issues + any tie-in that appeals to you
- Everything
It’s totally up to you on how much you read, based on your enjoyment and interest in the story plus your budget.
Background Reading
Want to read hints and comics which inspired Dark Nights: Metal? Then you should check out these comics.
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Batman Run
While not essential reading to understand what’s going on, there are many references to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Batman run in the preludes. Bleeding Cool has collected some of the scenes that were referenced from their run here. WARNING: There may be spoilers so it’s up to you if you want to be spoiled.
Dark Knight, Dark City (Batman #452-454)
Written by Peter Milligan. Art by Keiron Dwyer.
This story from 1990 introduced the Bat-Demon Barbathos (the big bad of Dark Nights: Metal) into the DC mythology.
The Return of Bruce Wayne #1-6
Written by Grant Morrison. Art by Chris Sprouse, Frazer Irving, Yanick Paquette, Georges Jeanty, Ryan Sook, and Lee Garbett.
The Return of Bruce Wayne is a 6-issue miniseries which spins out of Final Crisis #6. This features the other appearance of the Bat-Demon Barbathos.
Hawkman: Endless Flight (Hawkman (2002 series) #1-6 and Hawkman Secret Files #1)
Written by Geoff Johns and James Robinson. Art by Rags Morales, Michael Bair, Patrick Gleason, and Christian Alamy.
For those who want to know more about the Hawkman mythology.
Nightwing #17
Written by Time Seeley. Art Javi Fernandez.
Detective Comics #950
Written by James Tynion IV. Art Marcio Takara.
Both of these have hints to Dark Nights: Metal.
Prelude
The following comics act as a prelude to Dark Nights: Metal.
Dark Days: The Forge
Written by Scott Snyder and James T Tynion IV. Art by John Romita Jr. and Andy Kubert.
Dark Days: The Casting
Written by Scott Snyder and James T Tynion IV. Art by John Romita Jr., Jim Lee and Andy Kubert.
NOTE: Dark Days: The Forge and Dark Days: The Casting have also been packaged together in a Director’s Cut edition, with never before seen extras.
Dark Nights: Metal Reading Order
Below is the recommended reading order for this massive comics book event.
Dark Nights: Metal #1 (of 6)
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.
Dark Nights: Metal #2 (of 6)
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.
Teen Titans #12 (tie-in – Gotham Resistance – Part 1)
Written by Benjamin Percy. Art by Mirka Andolfo.
Batman: The Red Death (tie-in)
Written by Joshua Williamson. Art by Carmine Di Giandomenico.
Nightwing #29 (tie-in – Gotham Resistance – Part 2)
Written by Tim Seeley. Art by Paul Pelletier.
Batman: The Murder Machine (tie-in)
Written by Frank Tieri. Art by Ricardo Federici.
Suicide Squad #26 (tie-in – Gotham Resistance – Part 3)
Written by Rob Williams. Art by Stjepan Sejic.
Batman: The Dawnbreaker (tie-in)
Written by Sam Humpheries. Art by Ethan Van Sciver.
Green Arrow #32 (tie-in – Gotham Resistance – Part 4)
Written by Benjamin Percy. Art by Juan Ferrerya.
Dark Nights: Metal #3 (of 6)
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.
Batman: The Drowned (tie-in)
Written by Dan Abnett. Art by Philip Tan.
Batman: The Merciless (tie-in)
Written by Peter J. Tomasi. Art by Francis Manapul.
The Flash #33 (tie-in – Bats Out Of Hell – Part 1)
Written by Joshua Williamson. Art by Howard Porter.
Batman: The Devastator (tie-in)
Written by Frank Tieri. Art by Tony S. Daniel.
Justice League #32 (tie-in – Bats Out Of Hell – Part 2)
Written by Robert Venditti and Joshua Williamson. Art by Liam Sharp.
Batman Lost (tie-in)
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Doug Mahnke, Jamie Mendoza, Yanick Paquette, and Jorge Jimenez.
Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #32 (tie-in – Bats Out Of Hell – Part 3)
Written by Robert Venditti. Art by Ethan Van Sciver.
The Batman Who Laughs (tie-in)
Written by James Tynion IV. Art by Reilly Rossmo.
Justice League #33 (tie-in – Bats Out Of Hell – Part 4)
Written by Joshua Williamson. Art by Tyler Kirkham.
Dark Nights: Metal #4 (of 6)
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.
Hawkman Found (tie-in)
Written by Jeff Lemire. Art by Bryan Hitch and Kevin Nowlan.
Dark Nights: Metal #5 (of 6)
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.
Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt (tie-in)
Written by Scott Snyder, Grant Morrison, James Tynion IV and Joshua Williamson. Art by Doug Mahnke, Ivan Reis, Howard Porter and Jorge Jimenez.
Dark Nights: Metal #6 (of 6)
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.
Spinning Out Of Dark Nights: Metal
Want to know what to read after Dark Nights: Metal? Here are a few comics which will be picking on threads of this massive event.
New Age of DC Heroes
DC Comics will be launching a batch of new series spinning out of Dark Nights: Metal, and will feature brand new characters and teams. These characters will appear in some capacity in Dark Nights: Metal or another. These new comics will have the banner of “The New Age of Heroes.”
Fans of The Batman Who Laughs will want to check out The Immortal Men #3, with the character featuring in that issue.
Justice League: No Justice
Written by Joshua Williamson, James T Tynion IV, Scott Snyder. Art by Francis Manapul, Riley Rossmo, and Marcus To.
Spinning out of Dark Nights: Metal, No Justice is a weekly miniseries running through May 2017. It’s also the catalyst for the a new era in Justice League and Teen Titans comics known as New Justice. Scott Snyder’s Justice League in particular would take a lot of ideas that come out of Dark Nights: Metal and run with them.
Hawkman #1
Written by Rob Vendetti. Art by Bryan Hitch.
In this new solo series, the first in many years, Hawkman is on a mission to discover the purpose of his many reincarnations.
Aquaman #35
Written by Dan Abnett. Art by Robson Rocha.
Events from Dark Nights: Metal will be felt in Atlantis with a story which begins in Aquaman #35.
The Batman Who Laughs #1-7
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Jock.
If you want to know what’s next for The Batman Who Laughs after Dark Nights: Metal then check out this miniseries.
Dark Nights: Death Metal
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.
This is an upcoming sequel to Dark Nights: Metal from the same creative team. Check out the reading order.
Dark Nights: Metal Collected Editions
For those who prefer to read the who thing in a collected edition(s), here what you’ll need to read.
Dark Nights: Metal
Collects: Dark Nights: Metal #1-6
Dark Nights: Metal: The Resistance
Collects: Teen Titans #12, Nightwing #29, Suicide Squad #26, Green Arrow #32, Batman: Lost #1, The Flash #33, Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps #32, Justice League #32-33 and Hawkman: Found #1
Dark Nights: Metal: The Nightmare Batmen
Collects: The Red Death #1, Batman: The Devastator #1, Batman: The Merciless #1, Batman: The Murder Machine #1, Batman: The Drowned #1, Batman: The Dawnbreaker #1, The Batman Who Laughs #1 and Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt #1
Dark Nights: Metal Omnibus
Collects: Dark Days: The Forge, Dark Days: The Casting, Dark Nights: Metal #1-6, Teen Titans #12, Nightwing #29, Suicide Squad #26, Green Arrow #32, Batman: Lost #1, The Flash #33, Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps #32, Justice League #32-33, Hawkman: Found #1, The Red Death #1, Batman: The Devastator #1, Batman: The Merciless #1, Batman: The Murder Machine #1, Batman: The Drowned #1, Batman: The Dawnbreaker #1, The Batman Who Laughs #1 and Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt #1
Recent DC Reading Orders:
The Button | Injustice Comics | The Lazarus Contract | Justice League Vs. Suicide Squad
Will You Be Reading Dark Nights: Metal?
Will you be reading DC’s latest event? Have you found the Dark Nights: Metal Reading Order Checklist helpful? Let me know in the comments below or via Facebook or Twitter.
Have you found this reading order helpful? Share it on social media or with your friends so it can help even more people.
Bummed that Batman Lost was bundled into The Resistance book, that issue is basically Dark Nights Metal #4.5.
I wish there was a book done just for me, with Dark Days The Casting, Dark Days The Forge, Batman Lost, Hawkman Found and Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt.
That would be a great concise companion to the main book Dark Nights Metal.
Yeah, it is a bit strange how they have bundled Batman Lost. I suspect that there will be a massive omnibus with everything eventually, but that’s probably a few years down the track.
You forgot Batman #39 & 40 also continue it.
This is BIG help. I never read into comics and I lately hear alot about interesting stuff happening in the comic book world. But then I saw that I’m supposed to read Suicide Squad #26, Green Arrow #32 to get a full picture and I was like “Damn, but how am I supposed to understand Suicide Squad #26? Does that mean I have to read all those comics untill they get to that point?”
I know i hear that like a billion times, but I have that thing in my head that comics are like series, meaning that you cant just start in the middle but have to start at the first. Apparently its wrong though and you can randomly start a comic anywhere.
Hey Can Koku, you’ll be fine if you haven’t read the previous issues of Suicide Squad to read these Metal tie-ins. They throw the characters into the situation of the Dark Knights: Metal event instead of worrying about what’s currently going on in Suicide Squad.
Thanks for the reading order list. It’s helped me out tremendously. 🙂
Glad I could help, Magnetic Eye (if that is your real name!)
I rly want these all tied to 1 big book.
I feel like DC will eventually do an omnibus edition of this, but I think we will have to wait a few years before it happens.
Thank you for this. I was wondering if Metal had already wrapped up and I just missed it because I could not remember any conclusion. Good to know there are a few more issues coming soon.
Hey, thank you very much for doing this, it helps so much to see in whats order to read. hey i would like to know what do you think of Metal. Its the first comic event (Marvel or DC) that i was really interested in. I love the fact that every spin-off is as good as the main series (sometimes even better).
Really In depth and perfect for a novice collector! i am going to my local shop to look for the ones I need. Thank You!
I hope you enjoy it!
As always Trevor, thank you for taking the time to do this. I usually wait and read everything back to back and in sequence. Your lists help me remember what order I need to read them in and what books I need to get for sure. I have used your lists quite a few times and am always thankful.
Thank Bill! It’s great to hear that the website is helpful.
Do you think that we will see a Batman who Laughs spin-off series?
I haven’t heard of any spin-off series happening. Although, depending on how Metal ends, there’s always the chance that we will see future stories in the Dark Multiverse.
This is definitely very helpful. I tend to wait a bit before reading story archs with this many tie-ins. I got to the point that I couldn’t remember which one had been released in which order. I may be a little anal about reading in the proper order, but who wants to be the guy that spoilers himself.
So Metal is going to run side by side with Doomsday Clock? Seems a little weird that the two will run at the same time
I don’t expect Metal and Doomsday Clock to cross paths in any way. The way I see it, Doomsday Clock is a maxiseries that may or may not tie-up things that have been hinted at through out the Rebirth period. It might be a big story, but it’s not an event in the traditional sense. There’s no tie-in with other comics so it’s essentially on its own. While Metal is covering a lot of the DC universe and is more in lines with the modern comic event. The fact that there is overlap in release shouldn’t be a huge deal because Doomsday Clock probably won’t touch all of the other comics until its conclusion towards the end of 2018.
I personally feel the prequels and one shot tie-ins are pretty good and gives you background on the Dark Multiverse Batmen. Otherwise you’re kind of left “lost” and wondering who the hell are these people? Plus Fabok did an amazing job on all the Dark Batmen covers
Few newest corrections: Metal #5 is delayed 3 weeks to 30.1 (https://www.newsarama.com/37106-dark-nights-metal-5-delayed-three-weeks.html) and Wild Hunt has to be published with last main issue on 7.2 (http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2017/10/12/exclusive-the-world-of-metal-expands-in-dark-knights-rising-the-wild-hunt)
Thanks for the heads up, Martin! I’ve updated the dates in the reading order 🙂
Hi there! Thank you so much for this. Do you know if the Dark Night saga will be sold later on in graphic novel form?
Hey Ryan, great question. Everything will eventually be collected in a hardcover or softcover format. My guess is it will probably be in March or April.
Do you think all the tie ins will be included in that novel?
Hey Josh, there might be a big fat omnibus sometime down the track, but at the moment it appears the tie-ins will be released separately.
According to Teen Titans #12, it comes after Dark Knights: Metal #2. I just went to read it and saw that note on the first page, so I figured I would pass along the message.
Thanks for pointing this out, Stan! I’ll fix up the list 🙂
As someone new to reading comics, I appreciate this list. In fact, it was the Metal event that prompted me to get into reading comics in the first place. I’ll likely read the tie-ins, too.
that’s awesome to hear! I hope you’re enjoying what you’ve read so far with Metal and it makes your want to check out other comics.
Am I going to have to read Dark Days to continue with the DC Rebirth?
It’s totally up to you. Dark Days doesn’t seem to be heavily tie into a lot of the Rebirth mysteries that have arisen at the moment. I think the book that will really do that will Doomsday Clock, which kicks off in November.
Thank you
Thanks for clearing all that up. I will probably follow the main storyline and not all the tie ins. I think it is overwhelming how many the ins there are. I have my fingers crossed that the story will be one for the ages.
So far it’s looking to be an instant classic!
I’m more of a binge reader. Idk if I’ll be reading any of this until Feb 2018 when it completes.
I’m like you. I hate to have wait for a story to complete over months. So i binge at the end. The two Captain America series and Secret empire and all the tie ins will keep me busy for a bit
These big events always confuse me. I imagine it actually turns off a lot potential readers when there are so many issues and tie-ins.
thanks, your info has been really helpful
Always love your reading orders, Trevor! You’re a great resource!
Thanks Jason!!!