Batman: The Red Death

Welcome back my fellow fiends,

I have decided to do a Dark Nights Metal series on all the different versions of Batman. I have been away from comic books for a while but upon my return, I have discovered that the Dark Nights Metal series is now canon in the DC Universe. This gives me all the more reason to do this series.

And so without further ado,

Earth- 52. The Flash and Batman's battle is tearing up Central city. Batman using every gadget at his disposal to catch the Flash who desperately dodges while trying to talk Batman down. But talk isn't what Batman wants. Talk couldn't save Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl or Red Hood. They all died in vain. Talk was the last thing Batman wanted to do.

Armed with a "Cold Gun" that he took off Captain Cold, Batman points it at the Flash. He has lost everyone and everything. Alfred will die of old age, he feels his own body ageing and can't help but feel that he could do more. If only he was faster. Aged slower. He needed the speed force.

Batman appeals to the Flash once more, asking him to hand the speed force over. The Flash refuses and says it's not that simple. But Batman is done trying to be polite. What the Flash would not give, he'd take. To save Gotham and the world. The ability to be everywhere at once. No more tragedies, no more funerals. He was going to save everyone. Even if it meant killing Barry.

Batman ties the flash to the Batmobile and drives into the speed force with him to steal his connection and become one with the speed force. Two people went in but only one came out. The speed force affected Gotham in more ways than one. The skies now glowed red, and crime was more rampant than ever. But the city no longer had Batman to fear. What come out of the speed force was unlike anything this world had ever seen. A speedster that was unequalled in both speed and power. Welcome to Gotham City, Red Death.

The Red Death systematically "removed" each and every one of Batman's villains as if they were nothing. The villains that Batman has fought against for decades had just been wiped out in a single strike by Gotham's new protector, Red Death. But why stop there? Gotham was now under his protection and he could be everywhere at once. He now has the power to save the entire world. Consequences be damned. He was faster than any speedster before him and he was more skilled than they could ever be.

But the Red Death isn't just Bruce Wayne in a new suit. The Red Death is Bruce Wayne and Barry Allen. Barry is trapped in the most dangerous mind ever, the mind of Batman. No prison is more secure. There is no escape. No way to warn the others. No way to save his home. Tampering with the speed force has left Bruce's face scarred and mangled. He bears the scars of sacrifice but continues down the path that he believes will save the world.

Bruce and Barry watch as their world falls apart. From what? They don't know. But all the Red Death wants to do is save it. To keep the world that he had sacrificed so much to save. A mysterious figure looms over the crumbling world. He tells the Red Death that all worlds are destined to crumble. That it is the cruel laws of nature that make it so. But what if there was a world far, far above that was destined to live? The Red Death accepts the death of his world and now sets his sights on this new world. As he puts on his helmet he says "Tell me more".

And that was the first of the Dark Nights Metal series, Red Death! The DC Dark Multiverse is one of the most ambitious, freaky and downright maniacal comic series ever written in my opinion. I just can't get enough of it. I definitely intend on buying all of the Dark Nights Metal series as soon as I can!

What did you think of the Red Death's origin?

Stay tuned for the next of the Dark Nights, coming soon!