The DC Comics crossover event Dark Nights: Death Metal has introduced a whole host of new villains from the Dark Multiverse to assist the Batman Who Laughs in a hellishly reimagined iteration of the DC Universe. Among the most fearsome of them all has the Robin King, a young Bruce Wayne who had become murderously evil despite his young age. And after his supporting role in the main Death Metal series and a starring turn in a short story detailing his origins, the Robin King takes a full turn in the spotlight in an oversized special one-shot proving just how terrifying he truly is.
Interspersed with sequences set in the immediate aftermath of the recently released Dark Nights: Death Metal #4, Peter J. Tomasi and Riley Rossmo reunite to chronicle the Robin King's rise to power on his own world in the Dark Multiverse. As the pint-sized serial killer recalls his rampage on his planet and subsequent recruitment by the Batman Who Laughs, he faces a new cadre of heroes in the main DCU, displaying his lethal efficiency against his assembled opponents. A back-up story by Tony Patrick and Daniel Sampere follows the Bat-Family as they launch an attack on Castle Bat, the sentient Gotham City in league with the Darkest Knight, to reclaim their hometown from the Dark Multiverse invaders.
Tomasi had previously proven himself to have a strong grasp on the Robin King's wickedly twisted voice in the earlier short story and, here, he's given additional real estate to really cut loose with the mass-murdering supervillain. The Robin King is certainly one of the darkest, evilest characters introduced to the DCU in recent memory and the creative team is clearly having a great time devising new ways for the Robin King to kill off several fan-favorite heroes over the course of the story. Patrick's back-up is, more or less, a straight-up, no-frills fight story, with several different members of the Bat-Family shown working together as a peek at their activities during Death Metal, having been absent for most of it so far.
Just as he had in the Robin origin short story with Tomasi, Riley Rossmo can capture the murder and mayhem in all its delirious glee without making the proceedings unpalatable. There are gruesome deaths in this main story, for sure, but never wholly unsavory in their execution. Joined by colorist Ivan Plascencia, Rossmo delivers a freewheeling tale of horror, underscored with post-apocalyptic intensity as the Robin King stands unleashed after being built up as a major threat in the first half of Death Metal. Sampere's work in the back-up story, joined by colorist Adriano Lucas, is a bit of a jarring contrast visually, with a much cleaner presentation with only tenuous links to Death Metal -- from a visual standpoint, the back-up feels like it could be a Batman story taking place outside of the crossover event rather than one more consistent with the bombastic story so far.
For the first half of Death Metal, the Robin has been teased as the most terrifying villain to serve under the Batman Who Laughs as the Dark Multiverse conquerors tightened their grip on the DC Universe. After glimpses of his murderous potential in the main DCU and a blood-soaked origin story on his own world, Peter J. Tomasi and Riley Rossmo have shown why exactly the Robin King is a character to be greatly feared as he cuts down anyone standing in his way. And with the heroes now very much on the defensive, this latest Death Metal tie-in special shows just how outclasses the heroes truly are.
