Origin Of Batman The Murder Machine #1. Dark Nights Tie In

Holy cow I thought Batman the Red Death issue 1 was awesome. This issue of Batman the murder machine takes it up to another level. Two tie ins into the grand story and I’m starting to see a pattern. These alternate versions of Batman have lost people deer to him and he resorts to a radical solution in an attempt to save the people left in his life but in doing so, they fall to the darkness. As far as I can tell, Batman the red death is still himself with his friend Barry Allen as his voice inside his head. But this Bruce Wayne, the Murder Machine, he is all gone. The AI he created infected his mind and basically took over creating a new entity. This Bruce Wayne lost all emotions and began calling the AI his father. That is just so creepy and so well done by DC.

[Related: Click Here For DC Comics Complete Dark Nights Metal Reading Order Checklist]

One underlying fact done so well is the comparison between Batman the Murder Machine and Victor Stone Cyborg. If you are a cyborg fan then you are familiar with his battle between humanity and his cybernetic side. Is he machine or a man? Victor stone doesn’t shine in that regard in the pages of the justice league just because there are much bigger stories to tell but this tie in does such a great job hinting at that fact. You get a Bruce Wayne that more or less went through what Victor Stone went thought when he was exposed to cybernetic machinery. But instead of fighting the Alfred Protocol, Batman, in his grief, gave in to everything that the AI was selling. So now we got a battle between a man that won the battle with his machinery side versus a man that gave into it.

 

The issue splits its narrative between two story arcs, Batman the murder machine’s origin on earth -44 and what is happening in current day. In current day, we basically see Batman the murder machine invade the justice league watch tower in order to gain control of its systems and the systems on STAR labs. The main story progressed by a bit but it was the history of Batman the murder machine that knocked it out of the ball park for me.

[Related: DC Comics Dark Nights Metal Complete Reading Order Checklist]

So its no surprise that I love this story and I highly recommend it to anyone that asks me about it but lets take a look at the character design. Before picking up the issue, its pretty clear that this Batman is inspired by Cyborgs design. If you don’t know, all of these new Batmen are loosely based on the justice league and Batman the murder machine takes on the cyborg role. He looks a bit like Batman Beyond with regards to the armor and the covered mouth area. He doesn’t look menacing enough for my taste. Batman the Red Death looks a bit more menacing but the end image panel from Dark Nights Metal #2 shows us two evil Batmen that I’m seriously excited to read about: Batman the Dawnbreaker and the Batman who laughs.

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