Back in 2017, the creators Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo crafted the hugely successful Dark Nights: Metal. Massive in scale and bombastic in attitude, it has gone onto be one of the most well-received comic book events in a very long time. In 2020 the creative team is back for yet another helping in the indirect sequel known as Dark Nights: Death Metal.
This time around, readers bare witness to a world in which the Justice League has been defeated. The Batman Who Laughs now rules the world and shaped it into his image. Will the heroes stop him? You’ll have to read to find out!
This Dark Nights: Death Metal Reading Order Checklist has been put together so you don’t miss out on any of the action. It’s got all of the issues involved, their recommended reading order, as well as background reading, release dates and much more.
Happy reading!
Do I Need To Read The Tie-Ins?
It’s totally up to you if you want to read the Dark Nights: Death Metal tie-ins. While there is only a handful, the ones that exist expand the world that has been introduced in the early issues of Dark Nights: Death Metal.
Check them out if you want to see other corners of this world. For those on a budget or not interested in reading extra comics then you can skip them.
Background Reading
Looking to read the stories that build-up to Dark Nights: Death Metal? These are the comics you should check out.
Dark Nights: Metal
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.
Dark Nights: Death Metal will be a thematic and spiritual sequel to Dark Nights: Metal. This bombastic comic book event was a lot of fun and introduced many of the concepts that can be found in Dark Nights: Death Metal. Find out all about it in this handy reading order.
This story introduced The Batman Who Laughs character.
Scott Snyder’s Justice League Run
Snyder’s Justice League run picked up on threads from the conclusion of Dark Nights: Metal and ran for 39 issues. If 39 issues is too much to read then the final story, Justice/Doom War, helps set up Dark Nights: Death Metal. Read Justice League #27-39.
Year of the Villain
A lot of the build-up to Dark Nights: Death Metal happens in Year of the Villain, a year-long meta-story which has two major threads involving Lex Luthor and The Batman Who Laughs. You can find out all about it in this this detailed reading order.
If that is too much reading for your liking then I recommend reading Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #1-4, which is the conclusion of Year of the Villain and sets up Dark Nights: Death Metal.
Flash Forward
Written by Scott Lobdell. Art by Brett Booth.
This is a 6-part miniseries which sets up what has been going on with Wally West. He will appear in the Speed Metal one-shot. If you want, you could also add the Wally West story that was in Flash #750.
Previous DC Comics Events
At the Super Heroes of DC panel at C2E2 2020, writer Scott Snyder hinted that there will be plenty of easter eggs and references to past stories. Some of the the stories we know are referenced in some way include:
- Crisis on Infinite Earths
- Blackest Night
- Doomsday Clock
- Infinite Crisis
Don’t worry if you haven’t read these previous stories as the easter eggs and references won’t be essential knowledge in order to follow Dark Nights: Death Metal.
Dark Nights: Death Metal Reading Order
A quick note on the release dates listed below. DC Comics now has three different distributors for getting their comics to comic book stores. Depending on which distributor a store uses will impact the release date for an issue. I have listed both dates for each issue below but you should check-in with your local comic book store to find out which date they will be selling DC Comics.
Dark Nights: Death Metal #1 (of 7)
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.
Available June 16th/17th.
Dark Nights: Death Metal #2 (of 7)
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.
Available July 14th/15th.
Dark Nights: Death Metal – Legends of the Dark Knights (tie-in one-shot)
Written by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Peter J. Tomasi, Garth Ennis, Daniel Warren Johnson, and Frank Tieri. Art by Tony S. Daniel, Jim Cheung, Joelle Jones, Daniel Warren Johnson, Riley Rossmo, and Francesco Francavilla.
Available August 4th/5th.
Dark Nights: Death Metal #3 (of 7)
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.
Available August 11th/12th.
Dark Nights: Death Metal Guidebook (one-shot tie-in)
Written by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Becky Cloonan, Vita Ayala, Chip Zdarsky, and Christopher Priest. Art by Doug Mahnke, Becky Cloonan, Eduardo Risso, Khardy Randolph, and Dan Panosian.
Available August 18th/19th.
Note: There will be an intentional skip-month for the main series in September, which will return in October.
Dark Nights: Death Metal – Trinity Crisis (one-shot tie-in)
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Francis Manapul.
Available September 8th.
Justice League #53 (tie-in) [Doom Metal Part 1 of 5]
Written by Joshua Williamson. Art by Xermanico.
Available September 15th.
Dark Nights: Death Metal – Speed Metal (one-shot tie-in)
Written by Joshua Williamson. Art by Eddy Barrows and Eber Ferreira.
Available September 22nd.
Dark Nights: Death Metal – Multiverse’s End (one-shot tie-in)
Written by James Tynion IV. Art by Juan Gedeon.
Available September 29th.
Note: According to DC’s October Solicitations, the cliffhanger to Dark Nights: Death Metal – Multiverse’s End will be picked up in the back-up story for Dark Nights: Death Metal – Rise of the New God.
Justice League #54 (tie-in) [Doom Metal Part 2 of 5]
Written by Joshua Williamson. Art by Xermanico.
Available October 6th.
Dark Nights: Death Metal – Robin King (one-shot tie-in)
Written by Peter J. Tomasi and Tony Patrick. Art by Riley Rossmo.
Available October 6th.
Dark Nights: Death Metal #4 (of 7)
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.
Available October 13th.
Justice League #55 (tie-in) [Doom Metal Part 3 of 5]
Written by Joshua Williamson. Art by Robson Rocha and Daniel Henriques.
Available October 20th.
Dark Nights: Death Metal – Rise of the New God (one-shot tie-in)
Written by James Tynion IV and Bryan Hill. Art by Jesus Merino and Nik Virella.
Available October 27th.
Justice League #56 (tie-in) [Doom Metal Part 4 of 5]
Written by Joshua Williamson. Art by Robson Rocha and Daniel Henriques.
Available November 3rd.
Dark Nights: Death Metal – Infinite Hours Exxxtreme! (one-shot tie-in)
Written by Frank Tieri, Becky Cloonan, and others. Art by Dale Eaglesham and others.
Available November 10th.
Justice League #57 (tie-in) [Doom Metal Part 5 of 5]
Written by Joshua Williamson. Art by Xermanico.
Available November 17th.
Note: The end of Justice League #57 conclusion leads into Dark Nights: Death Metal #5.
Dark Nights: Death Metal #5 (of 7)
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.
Available November 17th.
Dark Nights: Death Metal – The Multiverse Who Laughs (one-shot tie-in)
Written by Amanda Conner, Patton Oswalt, Jimmy Palmiotti, Scott Snyder, Brandon Thomas, James Tynion IV, and Joshua Williamson. Art by Chad Hardin and others.
Available November 24th.
Dark Nights: Death Metal – The Secret Origin (one-shot tie-in)
Written by Scott Snyder and Geoff Johns. Art by Ryan Benjamin.
Available December 1st.
Dark Nights: Death Metal – The Last Stories of the DCU (one-shot tie-in)
Written by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Mark Waid, Gail Simone, Mariko Tamaki, Jeff Lemire, Cecil Castellucci, and Christopher Sebela. Art by Francis Manapul and Travis Moore, Rafael Albuquerque, Meghan Hetrick, Chris Mooneyham, and Mirka Andolfo.
Available December 8th.
Dark Nights: Death Metal #6 (of 7)
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.
Available December 15th.
Dark Nights: Death Metal – The Last 52: War of the Multiverses (one-shot tie-in)
Written by Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson, Magdalene Visaggio, James Tynion IV, Kyle Higgins, Marguerite Bennett, Matt Rosenberg, Justin Jordan, Regine Sawyer, and Che Grayson. Art by Daniel Sampere and others.
Available December 29th.
Dark Nights: Death Metal #7 (of 7)
Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.
Available January 5th.
Buy Dark Nights: Death Metal issues on…
Collected Editions
Prefer to read in a collected format? These are the ones you will have to track down.
Dark Nights: Death Metal: Deluxe Edition Hardcover
Collects: Dark Nights: Death Metal #1-7
Dark Nights: Death Metal is also available in paperback and an Absolute edition.
Dark Nights: Death Metal: The Darkest Knight
Collects: Dark Nights: Death Metal – Legends of the Dark Knights #1, Dark Nights: Death Metal – Speed Metal #1, Dark Nights: Death Metal – Trinity Crisis #1, Dark Nights: Death Metal – Multiverse’s End #1, and Dark Nights: Death Metal – Guidebook #1.
Dark Nights: Death Metal: War of the Multiverses
Collects: Dark Nights: Death Metal – Last Stories of the DC Universe #1 and Dark Nights: Death Metal – The Last 52: War of the Multiverses #1
Dark Nights: Death Metal: The Multiverse Who Laughs
Collects: Dark Nights: Death Metal – Robin King #1, Dark Nights: Death Metal – Rise of the New God #1, Dark Nights: Death Metal – Infinite Hour Exxxtreme! #1, Dark Nights: Death Metal – The Multiverse Who Laughs #1, and Dark Nights: Death Metal – The Secret Origin #1
Justice League: Death Metal
Collects: Justice League (2016 series) #53-57
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After Dark Nights: Death Metal
What comes after Dark Nights: Death Metal? DC hasn’t revealed all of their plans just yet, but writer Scott Snyder has hinted at what the DC Universe will be like. In a tweet about Death Metal, he said “…the purpose of the whole story is to sort out continuity and the universe and give you something fun bright and coherent on the other side,”
So whatever it is, expect for it to be bright and to align with a cleaned-up continuity.
One thing that we do know is that Generations Shattered will pick-up on threads from Dark Nights: Death Metal and Detective Comics #1027.
Generations Shattered #1 (One-shot)
Written by Dan Jurgens, Andy Schmidt, and Robert Venditti. Art by Ivan Reis, Bryan Hitch, Kevin Nowlan, Aaron Lopresti, Fernando Pasarin, Paul Pelletier, and others.
Available January 5th, 2021.
Generations Forged #1 (one-shot)
Written By Dan Jurgens, Andy Schmidt, and Robert Venditti. Art by Bryan Hitch, Mike Perkins, Bernard Chang, Paul Pelletier, and others.
Available February 23rd, 2021.
Wonder Woman #770
Written by Beck Cloonan and Michael Conrad. Art by Travis Moore.
Part of the Infinite Frontier publishing, Wonder Woman #770 lets readers know what’s next for Diana.
Additionally, while it is not directly coming out Death Metal, DC Comics has announced their next big thing – Future State. This will take a glimpse into the future of the DC Universe and show what it is like for heroes old and new. You can find out all about it in this comprehensive guide.
I will update this section when DC has made more indication as to what comes next.
Have Your Say!
Are you enjoying Dark Nights: Death Metal? Share your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Twitter.
Much appreciated. Although Secret Origin should come after Death Metal #6, not before
O my GOD thank you, I used another guide but it did not include some of the comics there, and I saw them in abundance until I decided to investigate more, really thank you thank you thank you, I love you uwu ASDFADSFS
You’ve got Robin King and Secret Origin in the wrong spots, they each come later than you say.
Where do Metal Men 10-12 fit in? they refer to Death Metal
Hello !!! I want to thank you for the job ! I read another time this event and your list saved me !
Wouldn’t The Batman Who Laughs, Batman/Superman Vol. 1, and Year of the Villain: The Infected also be important background reading?