Dark Nights Death Metal: Infinite Hour Exxxtreme #1 – Frank Tieri, Becky Cloonan, Sam Humphries, Writers; Tyler Kirkham, Rags Morales, Denys Cowan/Bill Sienkiewicz, Artists; Arif Prianto, Andrew Dalhouse, Chris Sotomayor, Colorists
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: It’s time for the most extreme Dark Nights: Death Metal tie-in of all, in this oversized issue that very clearly doesn’t take itself too seriously. With three stories focusing on Lobo, it celebrates explosive, over-the-top comic violence in the great ’90s tradition—starting with a story by Frank Tieri and Tyler Kirkham, as Lobo’s night out at the bar is interrupted by the arrival of the Batman Who Frags, a brutish evil Bat who injected himself with Czarnian DNA and seems to have gotten Lobo’s impulse control in the process. After a bloody battle between them, Lobo is whisked away through a portal to Lex Luthor, who recruits him on a mission to track down the elusive death metal—for a hefty fee, of course. And so begins Lobo’s bogus journey, as told by a rotating creative roster.
Next up is a story by Becky Cloonan and the legendary Rags Morales, who has been absent from DC for a while. This is a pretty straightforward story as Lobo invades Blackhawk Island to find the metal Hawkman has been storing—only to come across Black Monday, the twisted hybrid of Batman and Solomon Grundy. Wearing the evil Batman thing a bit thin? Maybe, but when it’s this much fun, no one is complaining. Hawkman is more cooperative than expected, but they don’t have time to talk too much before they come under attack again and go on the run. The main appeal of this story is watching Lobo bumble his way through a superhero epic, which is definitely not the vibe of his usual story.
Finally, it’s Sam Humphries and the legendary art team of Cowan and Sienkiewicz on a story that lives up to the absurd potential of this one-shot. Now that Lobo has the Death Metal, he’s just going to screw around with it—including creating a pocket universe where every superhero is a Lobo for some reason. Brainiac shows up to interfere, and finds out exactly why messing with a cosmic-powered Lobo is not a great idea. The Batman Who Frags shows up for some more pain, but the action feels like a distraction to the comedy. Humphries is perfect for reality-warping antics and it’s great to see this art team still going strong. The ending actually hints that this might have some major impact on the event, but really, it’s all about enjoying the silliness. Is it a great comic? No. But is it one I thoroughly enjoyed? Definitely.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
