This week DC readers got to read more about maybe the most disturbing of all the Dark Multiverse Batman iterations - the Robin King in his Dark Nights: Death Metal one-shot special.
Next week the publisher focuses on the most powerful - the Darkest Night, who is the Batman Who Laughs' brain transplanted into a Dark Multiverse Bruce Wayne who had the powers of Doctor Manhattan.
Or in the quadratic equation - (Batman + Joker toxin ) x (Bruce Wayne + Doctor Manhattan) = the Darkest Knight.
Yikes.
The 48-page Dark Nights: Death Metal Rise of the New God #1 one-shot is written by James Tynion IV and Bryan Hill with art by Jesus Merino and Nik Virell and features Batman Who Laughs vs Perpetua.
"Batman. Always. Wins. This irrevocable truth resonates to the very heart of Perpetua's battle with the Batman Who Laughs…and when her ally reveals his absolute nature, she will upend this mantra and destroy the last planet. His planet," reads DC's somewhat trippy description.
"But that's not enough…and the mother of all creation must wonder, if power lies in destruction, why would she ever stop? But that's the thing about truth…when it turns to fact, there's no disputing its godlike reverence…and so enters the Darkest Knight."
Ummm, okay then.
Check out the preview pages below.
In addition to Darkest Knight and Perpetua talking trash to one another, there's a brief cameo by Rip Hunter and Waverider and a Hypertime namecheck, as Death Metal proper eventually leads into the time-tripping Generations: Shattered and Forged specials and the January-February DC Future State event.
Is the Darkest Night the baddest of all evil Batmen? Yes, he is!
