Waiting in the wings for their moment to shine, the A.I. Arkham, and the hilariously over-the-top Lobo Batman, The Batman Who Frags, continued to lay the smack down on the entirety of the DC universe as their fellow Batmen did the same. Not to be outdone, the Mongul composite of Warbat, the Brainiac/Batman hybrid Collector, the Red Lantern Atrocitus mash-up Batrocitus, the Martian Manhunter meld Mindhunter, the Silver Surfer-esque Night Glider, the Hugo Strange-like doctor Dr. Death Metal immediately hit the ground running and didn’t look back.įollowing up these greatest hits, future issues introduced the magically inclined Bat-Mage, the anti-life equation corrupted Darkfather, the Cthulu-like monstrosity Bathomet, the size-changing Batom, the Solomon Grundy composite Black Monday, the Chemo looking Batman Chiroptor, the Amazo Batman Batmazo, and the Punisher-esque Grim Knight. corrupting Batman’s mind through his mechanical body), The Red Death (a Batman who stole The Flash’s speed), and of course The Batman Who Laughs (a Jokerized Batman), as well as his ultimate form, The Darkest Knight. Returning in a much lesser capacity the second go-around, The Dark Knights consisted of The Drowned (an Aquaman/Batman hybrid), The Dawnbreaker (a Green Lantern Batman), The Merciless (Batman wearing Ares’ helm), The Devastator (a Doomsday/Batman hybrid), The Murder Machine (an Alfred A.I. Holdovers from the original Dark Nights: Metal event, it goes without saying that the initial dark Batmen who invaded the DC universe are some of the best. Related: Death Metal's Twist Worked Because it Wasn't a Batman Story The Dark Knights of Evil From sight gags, to actual named Batmen, to blink and you missed it mash-ups, to hilarious one-off appearances, Batmanhad a lot of page-time by the end of this crisis (and for good reason), so strap on your utility belts, rev that Batmobile and get ready for a spin around the Dark Multiverse, Death Metal-style. With upward of twenty books total exploring all aspects, angles and corners of the Death Metal event, the sheer amount of evil Batmen populating each book is truly a sight to behold, and now with Death Metal firmly in the rear view mirror, it’s time to look back and make sense of the seemingly never-ending number of Dark Multiverse Batmen. And while the Future State initiative is currently sweeping across all DC books, giving fans original stories for new and old characters alike to enjoy, the lasting effects of Death Metal’s epic finale are still fresh in fans’ minds. In the aftermath of the massive crisis-level event known as Dark Nights: Death Metal, the heroes and villains of the DC Comics universe have conquered the evil that is The Batman Who Laughs and given birth to a mysterious new future timeline called Future State. Warning: Spoilers for all Dark Nights: Death Metalbooks!