While the mainline series that is Dark Nights: Metal is allowing for Scott Snyder to display his vast knowledge of the DC Universe, we can’t help but love how the various tie-ins that’ll hit stands this fall have an Elseworlds kind of flavor to them. Well, there’s that and the fact that each of them spotlight various evil versions of Batman.
To date, we’ve been offered closer looks at a sinister-looking Flash-Batman amalgam, The Red Death, a sweet mashup with Green Lantern, The Dawnbreaker, and a twisted Batman-Joker hybrid known as The Batman Who Laughs, the latter of which may ultimately prove to get the most attention. Regardless, each of these threats emanating from the Dark Multiverse are bound to turn more than a few heads – if the subject of today’s discussion doesn’t crush them first, that is.
We are, of course, talking about The Devastator. And no, he’s not named for the rollercoaster made famous by Mr. Show that boasted neck-breaking speeds and promised “two whole minutes underwater!” Rather, this bruiser is the result of what happens when you combine the Dark Knight with Doomsday.
Here’s what Snyder had to say about this and the other hybrids at San Diego Comic-Con:
“What if he[Bruce] this one turn as a kid and wanted to bring his parents back in a way that would take him into the dark? What if after Superman died, Batman started experimenting with the Doomsday virus in a way that would prevent this from ever happening again, but he goes too far?… Why Bruce might use the Speed Force to try and be faster should a catastrophe have happened. Why he might go up against Ares.”
If that pitch doesn’t convince you these one-shots are worth reading, we don’t know what will. As for Batman: The Devastator #1, that’ll arrive in comic shops on November 1. Written by Frank Tieri with art by Tony S. Daniel and a cover by Jason Fabok (seen below), it’s sure to be at the top of our buy pile.
