Dark Nights: Death Metal The Last 52: War of the Multiverses #1 is a one-shot with a cover date of February, 2021. It was published on December 29, 2020.
Synopsis for Wonder Woman in "Fight!"
With the power of Truth turning into a being on par with the Darkest Knight, Diana fights without surrendering to the Darkest Knight's threats, and all the heroes are with her. During the battle, Wally and Roy reconcile and the speedsters come back from the Speed Force to help. Wonder Woman then remembers the story of Aella, an Amazon who regretted not dying on the battlefield, not giving it all for their sisters, even if she was one of the most respected heroes of Themyscira. And this fuels her will to keep on fighting...
Appearing in Wonder Woman in "Fight!"
Featured Characters:
- Wonder Woman (Diana of Themyscira) (Flashback and main story)
Supporting Characters:
- Amazons of Themyscira (Flashback only)
- Aella (Single appearance) (Appears only as a corpse) (Flashback only) (Also as an illusion) (Also as a statue)
- Queen Hippolyta (Flashback only)
- Arsenal (Zombified)
- Flash Family
- Justice Society of America
Antagonists:
- The Darkest Knight (Earth -22)
- Dark Knights (Dark Multiverse)
- Groblins (Earth -22)
- Last 52 Multiverse Villains
- The Batman Who Laughs-like Monsters (Unnamed)
- Superman (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- The Fastest Killer Alive (Wally West) (Single appearance; dies)
- Legion of Super-Pets (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Ace the Bat-Hound (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Green Lantern (Ch'p) (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Krypto (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- The Last Sun (Kal-El) (Cameo)
- Lois Lane (Cameo)
- Martian-like Monsters (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Nazis
- Green Lantern/Hal Jordan of the Nazi Justice Society's Earth (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- JSA (Single appearance)
- The Flash (Jay Garrick) (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Green Lantern (Alan Scott) (Single appearance) (Unnamed)
- Hawkman (Carter Hall) (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Wildcat (Ted Grant) (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Ocean Mother (Atlanna) (First appearance) (Cameo)
- Aquaman/Arthur Curry of Ocean Mother's Earth (First appearance) (Cameo)
- Parallax (Hal Jordan) (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Skeleton-like Spectre (Unnamed) (Dies)
- Steel Guardians (Cameo)
- Bearded Superman (First appearance; unnamed) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Swamp Thing (Unnamed)
- Swamp Thing Army (Unnamed)
- Unnamed Mister Zsasz's counterpart (Single appearance) (Cameo)
- Unnamed Solomon Grundy's counterpart (Single appearance) (Cameo)
- Lightning-powered Wonder Woman (Unnamed)
- The Batman Who Laughs-like Monsters (Unnamed)
- Robin King (Dark Multiverse)
Other Characters:
- The Atom (Ryan Choi) (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Batman (Bruce Wayne) (Cameo)
- Black Manta (Cameo)
- Bizarro (Cameo)
- Cheetah
- Clayface (Basil Karlo)
- Donna Troy
- Green Lantern Corps
- Guy Gardner (Cameo)
- Hal Jordan
- John Stewart (Cameo)
- Kyle Rayner (Cameo)
- Sinestro
- Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders) (Cameo)
- Hawk (Hank Hall) (Cameo)
- John Constantine (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Justice Incarnate (Multiverse)
- Lois Lane (In a vision) (Cameo)
- Orphan (Cameo)
- Red Arrow
- Red Tornado (Cameo)
- The Final Swamp Thing (Alec Holland) (In a vision)
- Superman (Also in a vision)
- Young Justice (Cameo)
- Guardians of the Universe (Mentioned only)
- Guardians of the Universe (Last 52 Multiverse) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- Hercules (Mentioned only)
- Lex Luthor (Mentioned only)
- Perpetua (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- Teen Titans (Mentioned only)
- Teen Titans of the Robin King's Earth (Dark Multiverse) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- Teen Titans of the Fastest Killer Alive's Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Last 52 Multiverse
- Fastest Killer Alive's Earth (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- The Last Sun's Earth (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- Lois Lane's Earth (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- Ocean Mother's Earth (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- Multiverse
- Earth 0/Metalverse
- The Hellscape
- "Hell"/Themyscira (Flashback and main story)
- The Hellscape
- Speed Force (Behind the scenes)
- Earth 6 (Unnamed) (Destroyed) (Mentioned only)
- Earth 23 (Unnamed) (Destroyed) (Mentioned only)
- Earth 26 (Unnamed) (Destroyed) (Mentioned only)
- Earth 0/Metalverse
- Dark Multiverse (Mentioned only)
- Earth -22 (Mentioned only)
- United States of America
- Gotham City
- Crime Alley (Mentioned only)
- Gotham City
- United States of America
- World Forge (Mentioned only)
- Earth -22 (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Batman's Scythe
- Batsuits
- Black Lantern Ring
- Bracelets of Submission
- The Drowned's Trident
- Emiko Queen's Bow
- Fastest Killer Alive's Guns
- Golden Staff
- Hermes' Helmet
- Green Lantern Ring
- Lasso of Truth
- The Merciless' Helmet
- The Fastest Killer Alive's Sanctuary Mask (Single appearance) (In ruins)
- Starheart
- Thanagarian Mace
- Truth Machine (Mentioned only)
Events:
- The Sanctuary Incident (Mentioned only)
Concepts:
- Anti-Crisis Energy
- Anti-Life Equation
- Crisis Energy
- Dark Matter
- The Green (Behind the scenes)
- Magic
- Metahumans
Synopsis for Superman in "First & Last Men"
Superman tries to make the Clark Kents of the Last 52 change, hoping a part of them is still on the side of hope and justice. But that does not work, and the Anti-Life is making the Man of Steel weaker and weaker. As the two Superboys try to fight back, attacking the Supermen of the Ancient House of El, also some of Clark's greatest villains, like Lex, Henshaw and Zod, come to help him fight back. Kara, as she sees Clark suffering for the Anti-Life, tells him they won't leave him, and they will never surrender the hope, the hope of being able to win. Because everyone with that "S" on their chest is a Superman.
Appearing in Superman in "First & Last Men"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- The Batman Who Laughs-like Monsters (Last 52 Multiverse) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- The Church of the Last Sun/The Ancient House of El
- The Last Sun/Kal-El (Last 52 Multiverse)
- Martian-like Monsters (Last 52 Multiverse) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
Other Characters:
- Jimmy Olsen (Cameo)
- Damned souls (Mentioned only)
- Jor-El (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Last 52 Multiverse
- Multiverse
- Earth 0/Metalverse
- The Hellscape
- "Hell"/Themyscira (Flashback and main story)
- The Hellscape
- Earth 0/Metalverse
Items:
Concepts:
Synopsis for Batman in "The Batmen Who Laugh"
Batman watches the members of his Family fight beyond the human abilities, and he is proud of them. He also knows this will be his last fight, and he even resurrected the Batman who Laughs' original corpse to fight at his side. But suddenly, the corpse attacks Bruce himself, ripping his arm off. He tells Batman he had his own Black Lantern Ring to counter his. But Bruce tells him he used Jason Blood's magic to bind the Batman who Laughs' zombie to him. As counter, the Batman who Laughs tells him he used the last water of the Lazarus Pit to fight against black magic, but Bruce doused his corpse in an anti-agent for the Pit before resurrecting him. Well, they could go on and on.
The Batman who Laughs tells Bruce he has only one thing to do: if his Darkest version succeeds, he wins as well. But it he fails, he needs to scare everyone enough to make sure he will be reborn in the Dark Multiverse. But Bruce makes him realize he only needs the fear of one person: him. And if he does not get his butt in the fight right now, Bruce will do anything in his power to forget him, so that he will never be reborn. The Batman who Laughs realizes he must join the fight, and Batman takes a rest...
Appearing in Batman in "The Batmen Who Laugh"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- The Darkest Knight (Earth -22) (Behind the scenes)
- Barbatos (Dark Multiverse) (Cameo)
- The Batman Who Laughs (Earth -22) (Appears only as a corpse) (Reanimated)
- The Batman Who Laughs-like Monsters (Last 52 Multiverse) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Dark Knights (Dark Multiverse)
- Groblins (Earth -22)
- Joker/Batman Mashup (Last 52 Multiverse) (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Joker Dragons (Dark Multiverse)
- Warrior-like Mister Freeze (Last 52 Multiverse) (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
Other Characters:
- Flash Family
- Poison Ivy (Cameo)
- Jason Blood (Mentioned only)
- The Source (Mentioned only)
- The Hands (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Omniverse (Mentioned only)
- Last 52 Multiverse
- Multiverse
- Earth 0/Metalverse
- The Hellscape
- "Hell"/Themyscira (Flashback and main story)
- The Hellscape
- Speed Force (Behind the scenes)
- Earth 0/Metalverse
- Dark Multiverse (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Batman's Scythe
- The Batman Who Laughs' Visor
- Batsuits
- Black Lantern Ring
- Eighth Metal
- The Drowned's Trident (Cameo)
- The Merciless' Helmet
- Hermes' Helmet
- Jason Blood's Book of Necromancy (Mentioned only)
- Lazarus Pit Oil (Behind the scenes)
Concepts:
- Dark Matter
- Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum (Behind the scenes)
- Magic (Mentioned only)
- Metahumans
Synopsis for The Atom in "Unstable Atoms"
Ryan Choi is starting to lose all hope, seeing the plan of Mr. Terrific to make the Metal Men change the phasing of the worlds of the Last 52 Multiverse, combining them with his T-Spheres, as useless. A fight against Ra, his dark unstable counterpart, and his victory against him serves as the trigger to awaken his faith in the unknown again.
Appearing in The Atom in "Unstable Atoms"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- The Batman Who Laughs-like Monsters (Last 52 Multiverse) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Joker Dragons (Dark Multiverse)
- Long-Snouted Monsters (Last 52 Multiverse) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Martian-like Monsters (Last 52 Multiverse) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Ra/Ryan Choi (Last 52 Multiverse) (Single appearance; dies) (Flashback and main story) (Origin)
Other Characters:
- The Atom/Ray Palmer of Ra's Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Single appearance) (Dies in flashback)
- Cyborg (Cameo)
- Hawkgirl (Cameo)
- Metal Men (Only as corpses)
- Mister Freeze (Cameo)
- Plastic Man (Cameo)
- Superman (Clark Kent) (Infected) (Cameo)
- Zatanna Zatara (Cameo)
- The Atom (Al Pratt) (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Last 52 Multiverse (Flashback and main story)
- Ra's Earth (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Flashback only)
- United States of America
- Ivy Town
- Ivy University (Flashback only)
- Ivy Town
- United States of America
- Ra's Earth (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Flashback only)
- Multiverse
- Dark Multiverse (Mentioned only)
Items:
Vehicles:
- Blue Beetle's Bug (Cameo)
Concepts:
Synopsis for Lois Lane in "No More Superheroes"
Lois is in Metropolis, seeing her Last 52 version leading an anti-superhero movement against the city. Soon, she comes face to face with her, who explains her what happened in her world: superheros were genetic monstrosities who thought they were superior. Lois and Maxima, who was a scientist for S.T.A.R. Labs, started exposing them for what they truly were. Until Maxima gave herself powers, and fought Superman in the middle of Metropolis: their clash destroyed a museum, and inside that museum was Lois' son, Jon.
Maxima died in the fight, and Superman started an apology tour. So Lois tricked him into an interview, and stole his powers with Amber Kryptonite before ripping his head off. The Last 52 Lois then proceeds to throw her counterpart off the destroyed Daily Planet building, intending for her to scream for her Clark to save her. As she falls from the sky, Lois decides this time she won't call Superman: he needs to stay where he is. So is this the end of Lois Lane...
Appearing in Lois Lane in "No More Superheroes"
Featured Characters:
- Lois Lane (Apparent death)
Supporting Characters:
- Jimmy Olsen
- Maxima (Dies)
- Perry White
Antagonists:
- Lois Lane (Last 52 Multiverse) (First full appearance)
- Superhero-Free America Army (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Superman/Clark Kent of Lois Lane's Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (First full appearance) (Appears only as a corpse)
- Wonder Woman of Lois Lane's Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Single appearance) (Appears only as a corpse)
- Jon Kent (Mentioned only)
- Jon Kent of Lois Lane's Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- Maxima of Lois Lane's Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- Superman (Clark Kent) (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Last 52 Multiverse (Cameo)
- Lois Lane's Earth (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- United States of America (Mentioned only)
- Metropolis (Mentioned only)
- Daily Planet (In ruins) (Cameo)
- S.T.A.R. Labs (Mentioned only)
- Metropolis (Mentioned only)
- United States of America (Mentioned only)
- Lois Lane's Earth (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- Multiverse
Items:
- Amber Kryptonite (Mentioned only)
- Five Finger Death Punch
- Lasso of Truth
- Utility Belt
- Trident of Poseidon
- Wonder Woman's Tiara
Concepts:
Synopsis for Raven in "Falling Through the Cracks"
Raven and her Titans fight against a Teen Titans team who, in the Last 52 Multiverse, accepted to join Trigon and took his power for them. But thanks to her love, and to the fact she found in the Titans the family she never had, they gain the upperhand and defeat their evil counterparts.
Appearing in Raven in "Falling Through the Cracks"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Teen Titans (Last 52 Multiverse) (Single appearance)
- Aqualad (Jackson Hyde) (Single appearance; dies) (Flashback and main story)
- Beast Boy (Single appearance; dies) (Flashback and main story)
- Raven (Single appearance; dies)
- Tentacled cyclops-like creatures (Single appearance) (Unnamed)
- Red Arrow (Single appearance; dies) (Flashback and main story)
- Robin (Damian Wayne) (Single appearance; dies) (Flashback and main story)
- Starfire (Single appearance; dies) (Flashback and main story)
- Terra (Single appearance; dies) (Flashback and main story)
Other Characters:
- Aquaman/Arthur Curry of the Teen Titans' Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Single appearance; dies)(Flashback only)
- Black Manta of the Teen Titans' Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Single appearance) (Flashback only)
- Blackfire of the Teen Titans' Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Single appearance; dies) (Flashback only)
- Green Arrow/Oliver Queen of the Teen Titans' Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Single appearance; dies) (Flashback only)
- Ra's al Ghul of the Teen Titans' Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Single appearance) (Flashback only)
- Shado of the Teen Titans' Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Single appearance) (Flashback only)
- Teen Titans (Mentioned only)
- Trigon (Post-Flashpoint) (Mentioned only)
- Trigon of the Teen Titans' Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Last 52 Multiverse (Flashback only)
- Teen Titans' Earth (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Flashback only)
- Multiverse
Items:
- Emiko Queen's Bow (Flashback and main story)
- Trident of Neptune (Flashback only)
- Shadow's Bow (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Waterbearers
Concepts:
- Dark Matter
- Magic
- Metahumans
- The Red (Behind the scenes)
- Soul-Self
Synopsis for The Penguin in "Apicius"
Oswald hates every single Last 52 version of himself, and shows them why he is the greatest survivor in Gotham.
Appearing in The Penguin in "Apicius"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Groblins (Earth -22)
- Last 52 Multiverse Villains
- The Batman Who Laughs-like Monsters (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Spider-like Batwoman (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Human-sized Beetle (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- "Bogeyman" Penguin (Oswald Cobblepot) (Single appearance; dies) (Unnamed)
- "Freak" Penguin (Oswald Cobblepot) (Single appearance; dies) (Unnamed)
- "Sadist" Penguin (Oswald Cobblepot) (Single appearance; dies) (Unnamed)
- Man-eating Penguin (Single appearance; dies) (Unnamed)
- Skeleton-like Scarecrow (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
Other Characters:
- Bat-Family (Cameo)
- Bizarro (Cameo)
- Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) (Cameo)
- Deathstroke (Slade Wilson) (Cameo)
- Red Tornado (Cameo)
- Scarecrow (Cameo)
- Supergirl (Cameo)
- Two-Face (Cameo)
- Esther Cobblepot of Freak Penguin's Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- Romans (Mentioned only)
- Tucker Cobblepot of Freak Penguin's Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Last 52 Multiverse
- "Bogeyman" Penguin's Earth (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- "Freak" Penguin's Earth (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- "Sadist" Penguin's Earth (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- Multiverse
- Earth 0/Metalverse
- The Hellscape
- Italy
- Rome (Mentioned only)
- Earth 0/Metalverse
- Hypertime
- Timestream
- The End of All Things (Mentioned only)
- Timestream
Items:
- Batsuits (Cameo)
- Deathstroke's Sword (Cameo)
- Ikon Suit (Cameo)
- Penguin's Umbrella
Concepts:
Synopsis for John Constantine in "Armageddon Blues"
Appearing in John Constantine in "Armageddon Blues"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- The Batman Who Laughs/The Darkest Knight (Earth -22) (In picture only) (Cameo)
- Groblins (Earth -22)
- Joker Dragons (Dark Multiverse)
- Last 52 Multiverse Villains
- The Batman Who Laughs-like Monsters (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Superman (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Monster Hawkman (Single appearance; dies) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- John Constantine (Single appearance; dies)
- Bearded Superman (Unnamed) (First full appearance) (Dies)
- The Batman Who Laughs-like Monsters (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Robin King/Bruce Wayne (Dark Multiverse) (In picture only) (Cameo)
Other Characters:
- Bizarro (Cameo)
- Black Manta (Cameo)
- Clayface (Basil Karlo) (Cameo)
- Harley Quinn (Cameo)
- Justice League
- Batgirl (Cameo)
- Batman (Bruce Wayne) (Cameo)
- The Flash (Barry Allen) (Cameo)
- Nightwing (Cameo)
- Superman (Clark Kent) (Infected) (Cameo)
- The Final Swamp Thing (Alec Holland) (Cameo)
- Wonder Woman (Diana of Themyscira) (Cameo)
- The Penguin (Cameo)
- Sgt. Rock (Zombified)
- Superboy (Jon Kent) (Cameo)
- Ghosts (Mentioned only)
- Jenny (Tesco employee) (Mentioned only)
- Jenny of John Constantine's Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Mentioned only)
- Mary Anne Constantine of John Constantine's Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Mentioned only)
- Thomas Constantine (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- Thomas Constantine of John Constantine's Earth (Last 52 Multiverse) (Mentioned only)
- Doom (Mentioned only)
- Judas Priest (Mentioned only)
- Motörhead (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Last 52 Multiverse (Cameo)
- Multiverse
- Earth 0/Metalverse
- Speed Force (Behind the scenes)
Items:
- Alcohol
- Batman's Scythe
- The Batman Who Laughs' Visor
- Batsuits
- Black Lantern Ring
- Green Arrow's Bow
- Green Lantern Ring
- Harley's Mallet
- Silk Cut
Concepts:
- Anti-Life Equation
- Dark Matter
- Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum
- The Green (Behind the scenes)
- Magic
- Metahumans
Synopsis for Swamp Thing in "Reign of the Swamp King"
Appearing in Swamp Thing in "Reign of the Swamp King"
Featured Characters:
- The Final Swamp Thing (Alec Holland) (Flashback and main story)
Supporting Characters:
- Anton Arcane (Dies)
- Brimstone (Annie Chamberlain) (Dies)
- Clayface (Basil Karlo) (Dies)
- Frankenstein (Dies)
- Solomon Grundy (Dies)
Antagonists:
- Swamp King/Alec Holland (Dark Multiverse) (Single appearance) (Flashback and main story) (Origin)
- Crab-like Monsters (Dark Multiverse) (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Insect-like Monsters (Dark Multiverse) (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Cameo)
Other Characters:
- Abby Arcane of the Swamp King's Earth (Dark Multiverse) (Single appearance) (Dies in flashback)
- Anton Arcane of the Swamp King's Earth (Dark Multiverse) (Single appearance) (Dies in flashback)
- Floronic Man/Jason Woodrue of the Swamp King's Earth (Dark Multiverse) (Single appearance) (Dies in flashback)
- Parliament of Trees of the Swamp King's Earth (Dark Multiverse) (Single appearance) (Flashback only) (Destroyed)
- Abby Arcane (Mentioned only)
- Joe Chamberlain (Mentioned only)
- The Salesman (Dark Multiverse) (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Dark Multiverse (Flashback only)
- Swamp King's Earth (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Flashback only)
- United States of America
- Louisiana (Flashback only)
- United States of America
- Swamp King's Earth (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Flashback only)
- Last 52 Multiverse (Flashback and main story)
- Multiverse
Items:
Concepts:
Notes
- The Dark Nights: Death Metal event continues from Dark Nights: Death Metal The Secret Origin #1 and is concluded in Dark Nights: Death Metal #7.
- There's are a few continuity errors in the Constantine story, as Wonder Woman is shown fighting the Last 52 Multiverse villains in her normal form despite having already been powered up by the Forge of Worlds in Dark Nights: Death Metal #6. Sgt. Rock is also shown only retaining his torso, despite his body having been restored in Dark Nights: Death Metal #5.
- This issue is collected in Dark Nights: Death Metal - War of the Multiverses.
Trivia
- Years before the events of this issue, John Constantine mentioned "imagining himself drinking during the Apocalypse". It turns out to be true in this issue.
- The variant cover was originally made for the Generations event, before the story got reworked.
See Also