DC Announces New Snyder/Capullo Event

There are few creative teams that generate as much excitement as Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo do. Their work on Batman is going to be long-remembered, and for good reason. Snyder's Batman was fun, exciting, tense, and was brought to life perfectly by Capullo's deft pencils, as well as the work of the art team of Jonathan Glapion, Danny Miki, and FCO Plascencia. Their next project has been teased since the beginning of the year, and we finally know what it is.

The panel announcing the team's new project was moderated by DC co-publisher Dan DiDio. He was joined by fellow co-publisher Jim Lee, Scott Snyder, and Greg Capullo.

Dark Nights: Metal will release in August as a monthly title. It will be written by Scott Snyder, with art by Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, and FCO Plascencia. It is unknown if DC plans to release tie-in issues. A piece of artwork, possibly the cover of the first issue, was shown as well. It depicts Batman, bloody and tattered, as he holds two battle-axes.

Snyder talks about how he's planted easter eggs throughout his Batman run. He also claims that he's playing on hints dropped throughout the entire DC universe. This ties in with Capullo's comments about how this story "is not just about Batman". Snyder mentions that he's also tying in Grant Morrison and Tom King's individual runs on Batman. This is definitely exciting, since Morrison's run on the character is noted for being extremely out-there. This also adds fuel to the flame of many theories concerning the whole Rebirth initiative, as DC may be trying to blur the lines between the New 52 universe and the pre-New 52 world we all know and love. Snyder mentions that Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason's current run on Superman ties into the story as well.

According to Snyder, the mystery of the event stretches from Oa and the Source Wall all the way to Star City. Curious, since Oa is destroyed. Dinosaurs and lasers are also going to be involved, somehow. Snyder has been developing the story with Capullo for years now, as they throw ideas at each other through their texts.

Snyder mentions that this mystery is something that Batman might not want to solve. Snyder, Capullo, and even Lee mention the fact that Hawkman is going to be involved in the story. This all but confirms "Metal" to refer to the nth metal that Hawkman is bonded with. Will Despero be involved too? For those who have read the recently-concluded Death of Hawkman miniseries by Marc Andreyko and Aaron Lopresti, Hawkman died at the end of the story while Despero reincarnated after seemingly dying.

The panel then drops some story information. The Justice League will be involved in the story. Batman's relationship with Superman and Wonder Woman will be what they described as "relatable" and "touching". The team is going to bring back different characters for the story, characters that nobody expected back. Capullo goes on to say that he had a lot of fun coming up with the designs of the characters. The story is huge and risky and plays upon DC's cosmology.

"The very biggest, powerful, explosive story we've ever done", Capullo adds. "We're gonna melt your faces."

As is already known, DC will release two one-shots in June and July as a prelude to the event. Dark Days: The Forge will be released in June, and Dark Days: The Casting will release in July. These one-shots will be written by Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV, the latter currently writing Detective Comics. They will be drawn by Jim Lee, John Romita Jr, and Adam Kubert. Lee describes how these one-shots are structured. They will take place in various time periods, with each of the three artists drawing a time period each.

DiDio points out that this is Snyder's first event. Snyder adds that he was inspired by Geoff Johns' huge events, and crafted Metal as a love letter to the DCU.

Lee teases the audience by asking, "How does Hawkman's past play into all this?"

As the panel wraps up, DiDio asks each panel member for their final thoughts. Snyder beings by saying that Metal is first and foremost "a thank you to the fans". They're going to do things the fan are never going to expect, and promises the story is going to be moving. Capullo chimes in, stating that the story will spark ideas in readers. Lee concludes by reminiscing about all the big events he's done, but goes on to say that this is the first DC event that he's worked on.

Dark Days: The Forge is hitting stores on June 14, while Dark Days: The Casting hits on July 12. Dark Nights: Metal shatters stores everywhere at an unreleased date in August. An issue count has not been confirmed, with no mention of tie-in issues.