Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt #1 Review

Wild Life

Written by: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, and Grant Morrison
Art by: Doug Mahnke, Howard Porter, Jorge Jimenez, Jamie Mendoza, Hi-Fi, Alejandro Sanchez, Wil Quintana, and Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: February 14, 2018

I really don't know what to expect from this issue.  I was excited to see Grant Morrison jumping on the Metal event because the whole thing felt like a Morrison tribute in the first place.  I know that some people (Eric Shea included) don't share that excitement with me but to each his own.  That being said, I am looking for this issue to give us some answers to the overall Metal picture as well as set us up for next issue's finale.  Does it do both of those things?  Let's find out...



The issue opens with a Detective Chimp origin story as well as setting up the idea that Bobo's thinking has become off a bit these days.  He's having problems remembering things and it's getting worse.  After a quick glimpse of the Dark Knights, we head to Blackhawk Island and a gathering of minds.

Detective Chimp is there with Professor Morrow, Dr. Magnus and a bunch more.  They've used the Metal Men and Red Tornado to get minimal contact with the Ultima Thule and Flash, Cyborg and Raven.  However, there are more pressing matters at hand...the laws of physics have started to go wonky!

We then see Flash and Company and everything's gone crazy.  They are trying to reach the House of Heroes as Cyborg sifts through infinite data and Raven tries to "make friends" with their ship.  We get some ground rules for the Multiverse before finding out the Dark Knights are on their tail.

There is a whole lot being thrown at the reader to start off this book.  While most of it makes sense when you sit down and really run the math, that is the major problem here.  The issue is written at a crazy breakneck pace, but to understand it, you really have to slow things down.  Because of that, the issue is not as fun as it wants to be.

That continues when we find out the Dark Knights' ship is powered by a "Caged Baby Universe", but as the Batman Who Laughs yells out orders, we do get something big...some of the Dark Knights are starting to think a bit differently...mainly if they are actually being heroes.

While this is going on, the Heroes hatch a plan...free the Baby Universe and save the Multiverse with its positive energy.  Again, it's a bit confusing and just thrown at us, but with all the troubles thrown at the good guys in this event, they need some sort of hail mary, right?

While Raven and Cyborg hold off some of the Knights, Flash does free the Baby Universe and it has some immediate and unexpected consequences.  The Red Death is pure Barry now and thus, a good guy.  Unfortunately, that seems like part of the Batman Who Laugh's plan and he ends the now heroes life.  We hardly knew ye, Golden Flash!

Back on Earth, we find out that just about everything that has gone on in this Event has been part of the Bad Guys plans and a major moment with the Batman Who Laughs and the mysterious bandaged man from earlier (Starman?) gives way to a cliffhanger which features an Earth that shouldn't exist and a League of Heroes that might be silly, but may just be what the Multiverse needs right now.

I really want to like this issue.  It has Detective Chimp and some crazy characters I want to see more of in the cliffhanger, but yet, I really didn't have any fun here.  I was spending so much time scratching my head at what was being thrown at me that I never felt comfortable and in the end, what I did understand, just felt like setup and even filler.  I hope the final issue of Metal ties things up in a clearer way and still maintains the fun that has made me smile during this event.

I did like the art in this entire issue.  With such a big art team, I was glad that while I had favorite bits, nothing was bad by any stretch and it all came together to make a very solid looking issue.

Bits and Pieces:

While I was hoping to get some answers, this issue was confusing and felt wedged into the Event at large.  While I thought this was added in to ease the burden of Metal #6, the finale has a lot to answer and I can only hope it can do just that.  I have had a lot of fun with this Event, but this issue wasn't as fun as it obviously wanted to be.  It pains me to say it, but overall, this was a big letdown.

5.8/10