Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Juan Gedeon
Colorist: Mike Spicer
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Perpetua, mother of all existence, has culled all life and creation in the Multiverse, condensing all beings to one planet: Earth-Prime. In her quest for power and dominance, she rules absolutely and in totality, using her children—the Monitors and Anti-Monitors—as her heralds and destructors. But a group of heroes has banded together across multiple worlds in a last-ditch effort to stop her from destroying all of existence: Owlman, President Superman, Iris West, Captain Carrot, Guy Gardner, and others have chosen to make their final stand in a battle they’re destined to lose!
This is the inaugural review by The Pullbox’s Writing Intern: Nate
Dark Nights Death Metal has been a hit or miss kind of event in my opinion. This sequel to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullos’ 2017 Dark Nights Metal series, while certainly living up to the insanely chaotic mood promised, feels more like another Crisis event with a different title. This isn’t a bad thing though. Multiverse’s End, written by James Tynion IV with art by Juan Gedeon and colors by Mike Spicer, is not a story DC Comic fans should miss out on.
In this Tie-in to Dark Nights Death Metal, readers are thrown right into the action. Perpetua, the mother of the multiverse, has unleashed the monsters of the dark multiverse to reshape all of reality in her own image. Multiverse’s End focuses on a ragtag team of misfits pulled from all across DC’s extensive multiverse as they try to turn the tide against Perpetua’s conquest. Tynion makes use of characters ranging from Kingdom Come Kid Flash of Earth 22 to the likes of Captain Carrot of Earth 26. Yet the core of the story is not a story not about the battle, but the debate between two completely different characters — Green Lantern, Jon Stewart and Owlman of Earth 3. I really enjoyed reading the discourse between the two characters, showing how narcissistic Owlman is when confronted with the fact he isn’t the darkest version of Batman.
Through this issue, writer James Tynion IV delivers a clear understanding of the current DC timeline and how this event ties into the bigger picture. Tynion makes use of Jon Stewart by using him as a narrator, catching readers up with all the details while also presenting the situation to Owlman, who is debating whether or not to help in their cause. I absolutely adore the way in which Owlman comes to his conclusion, exhibiting his true personality.
Throughout this entire issue, it’s clear that Tynion is having as much fun as he can in this wacky turbulent battle for the multiverse. He recognizes how over the top this event and goes full throttle, sending more evil batmen after the heroes introducing the Rainbow Batman Corps which is led by an Evil Batman Baby. A baby with the consciousness of Bruce Wayne, I can’t make this up. It’s the little things like that which make this issue so memorable to me.
Artist Juan Gideon goes to work alongside colorist Mike Spicer delivering the perfect tone to this kind of story. Emphasizing the wacky nature of this event, Gedeon’s art only adds to the overall humor of this issue, making good use of exaggerated expressions and over the top tone which perfectly fuses with Tynion’s writing. Even though this story deals with DC’s darkest universes, it never seems ominous or scary, and that is all thanks to Spicer’s lighthearted delivery of color. Normally the deaths of multiple earths would be serious, but this issue comes with a quality similar to that of a cartoon. In my opinion, these two were the right pick for the job.
While this One shot couldn’t quite stand on its own without an event like this, it is certainly an excellent addition. Delving into the absolute insanity of the event, Multiverse’s end serves as a recap and jumping on point for comic readers. The story is absolutely insane to the end and the art style matches up well with the tone being portrayed. All in all, this issue is certainly not something to sleep on.
