- Green Lantern needs my help. They all do. Only problem is, I can't help my team. Because the Dark Knights have a secret weapon to use against them. It's me.
- — Cyborg
Justice League (Volume 3) #32 is an issue of the series Justice League (Volume 3) with a cover date of January, 2018. It was published on November 1, 2017.
Synopsis for "Bats out of Hell, Part Two: Countdown to Extinction"
Cyborg recalls how people praised him for his strong legs and arms, when his best body part has always been his brain, really. He used to spend his nights watching the football games and understanding what moves he should've done in the next match. Now, he's trapped in an unknown location by the Batman Who Laughs, while his current team-mates, the Justice League, fight for their lives against the Dark Knights in Bat-caves specifically designed for each of them: the Flash is beneath Central City; Aquaman is fathoms below Amnesty Bay; Wonder Woman is under the foundation of A.R.G.U.S. Headquarters in Washington, D.C.; Green Lantern is beneath Coast City, the City Without Fear.
The Flash is chased by Red Death in a sandy location. Red Death reveals that those grains of sand are actually millions of nano-tech cells that respond to his vibrational commands. After stopping Barry with quicksand, Red Death unleashes his "Flash-mobiles", vehicles racing through the Speed Force, which Barry can't seem to be able to outrun.
Aquaman learns that the water he's in is poisonous, due to the powers of the Drowned, but he's still determined to get his revenge on the enemy after what she did to Mera. Arthur could not know that the Drowned altered Mera even more, making her become an enormous monster that the evil Batwoman is now riding. Horrified, Aquaman still has to fight this abomination.
Wonder Woman finds herself in a cave decorated with the divine arsenal of the Gods The Merciless killed. The Merciless tells her he was trained by his reality's version of her for some time, before killing her. Diana drops her sword, preferring to brawl with bare hands. She considers The Merciless, just like her own Bruce, a man who wants to play God, but she has to admit his grips are formidable: "she" taught them to him, he says. He tells Diana the story of how he came for her sisters after killing all the Gods, then he ordered the ferryman of the River Styx to collect the coins from every dead amazon seeking passage into the afterlife: with them, he forged an immense golden drachma, similar to our Bruce's Penny, in which the spirits of the dead amazons found their home. Now, hitting the drachma with his hammer, Merciless evokes the spirits and orders them to "welcome" their princess.
The only "player" left to challenge the other "team" is Green Lantern. He starts reciting his oath, but The Dawnbreaker stops him, telling him it's useless down in his cave.
Everyone seems to need Cyborg's help, but the problem is, he IS the Dark Knights' secret weapon to be used against his own friends, as the Batman who Laughs made him their personal computer.
Appearing in "Bats out of Hell, Part Two: Countdown to Extinction"
Featured Characters:
- Justice League
- Aquaman
- Cyborg (Flashback and main story)
- Green Lantern
- The Flash (Earth 0)
- Wonder Woman (Earth 0)
Supporting Characters:
- Barry Allen (Earth -52) (Voice) (Cameo)
Antagonists:
- Dark Knights (Dark Multiverse)
- The Batman who Laughs (Cameo)
- The Dawnbreaker (Earth -32)
- The Drowned (Earth -11)
- Dead Water (Mera) (First appearance as Dead Water)
- The Merciless (Earth -12)
- Amazons of Themyscira (Earth -12) (As a spirit)
- Queen Hippolyta (First appearance) (As a spirit) (Cameo)
- Amazons of Themyscira (Earth -12) (As a spirit)
- The Red Death (Earth -52)
Other Characters:
- Ford High Titans (On a TV or computer screen) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Giganta (Statue only) (Cameo)
- Alfred Pennyworth (Earth -12) (Mentioned only)
- Alfred Pennyworth (Earth -52) (Mentioned only)
- Amazons of Themyscira (Mentioned only)
- A.R.G.U.S. (Mentioned only)
- Aquawoman (Earth -11) (Mentioned only)
- Batman (Mentioned only)
- Charon (Earth -12) (Mentioned only)
- God (Mentioned only)
- Gods of Olympus (Earth -12) (Mentioned only)
- Ares (Mentioned only)
- Henri Ducard (Earth -12) (Mentioned only)
- Kirigi (Earth -12) (Mentioned only)
- Superman (Mentioned only)
- Wonder Woman (Earth -12) (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Dark Multiverse (Behind the scenes)
- Speed Force (Behind the scenes)
- Earth -11 (Mentioned only)
- Earth -12 (Mentioned only)
- Earth
- Themyscira (Mentioned only)
- Hades
- Elysium (Mentioned only)
- River Styx (Mentioned only)
- Earth
- Earth -52
- Batcave (Mentioned only)
- Multiverse
- Earth 0
- United States of America
- Amnesty Bay
- The Drowned's Batcave (First full appearance)
- Central City
- The Red Death's Batcave (First full appearance)
- Coast City
- The Dawnbreaker's Batcave (First full appearance)
- Detroit (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Ford High School (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Washington, D.C.
- A.R.G.U.S. Headquarters
- The Merciless' Batcave (First full appearance)
- A.R.G.U.S. Headquarters
- Los Angeles
- University of Southern California (Mentioned only)
- Tampa
- Florida College (Mentioned only)
- Amnesty Bay
- United States of America
- Speed Force (Behind the scenes)
- Earth 0
Items:
- The Batman Who Laughs' Visor (Cameo)
- Batsuits
- Bracelets of Submission
- Dark Matter
- The Dawnbreaker's Ring
- Eighth Metal
- The Drowned's Trident
- Hammer of Hephaestus (First appearance; unnamed)
- Green Lantern Ring
- Giant Penny (Mentioned only)
- Golden Dracma (First appearance)
- Lasso of Truth
- Medusa's Shield (Cameo)
- Trident of Poseidon
- Wonder Woman's Shield
- Wonder Woman's Sword
- Wonder Woman's Tiara
Vehicles:
- Red Death's Motorcycle (First appearance)
- Flashmobiles (First appearance)
Concepts:
Notes
- The "Bats Out of Hell" storyline continues from The Flash (Volume 5) #33 and is continued in Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #32.
Trivia
- Like many issue titles inside the Dark Nights: Metal event, this issue is named after a popular metal song or album: in this case, Countdown to Extinction by Megadeth.
See Also