As the threat of the Dark Universe continues to evolve in the pages of DC Comics DARK NIGHTS: METAL the Justice League’s first adversary STARRO enters into the picture to challenge our heroes.
To mention the heroes of the DC Comics Universe have their hands full at the moment is quite the understatement! As the mystery surrounding the company-wide “Rebirth” re-brand of the major titles continues to wreak havoc with the main characters’ continuities, irrevocable changes are in store, especially as the “Doomsday Clock” narrative begins to tick down to whatever earth-shattering event is at the core of Geoff Johns’ sequel to the classic Watchmen graphic novel.
While that drama centered on the Man of Steel, has only just begun, another dilemma has cast a deceptively dark shadow all across the multiverse! Within the pages of Dark Nights: Metal master storyteller Scott Snyder has revealed the sinister nature of the multiverse, and its dark side which has apparently unleashed a horde of evil, doppelgängers of Batman set on conquering Prime Earth, and following a trail of the extra-terrestrial element known as Nth metal to exact their plan.
With both Batman and Superman lost in the parallel realm of the Dark Universe, the brave and the bold pair are strategizing a plan to defeat the demon Barbatos, the puppet master behind this latest crisis. Along the way they have stumbled upon one of the Justice League’s oldest and perhaps most formidable enemies — the alien Starro. Although the creature has evolved by leaps and bounds since it first plague the Justice League in the pages of 1960s Brave and the Bold #28.
The dangerous threat of the alien invader brought together earth’s greatest heroes and essentially lead to the formation of the Justice League. When Starro, a member of the race of alien species called the Hatorei, first attempted to enslave our planet, the creature was limited to controlling an army of parasitic starfish that latched themselves onto a host. Using its telepathic powers Starro was then able to exert his influence upon the host, and turned the league into its slaves.
Our heroes have often repelled Starro’s attempts at world domination, but in this latest incarnation it appears that this classic enemy has further evolved and may once again prove a dangerous adversary. Displaying a quite cheeky and cocky attitude, Starro is able to actually influence our heroes in fact exerting enough force over Green Lantern to prevent the Emerald Knight from using his free will to empower his ring, and tripping up Mr. Terrific, both visiting Thanagar Prime.
The multiverse’s cosmic scientist Mr. Terrific is apparently no stranger to this new, very daring Starro — who may have (we suspect) traveled back in time from the future in the 30th Century, and it has allied with its own interest in mind — which can’t be good for the Justice League, currently all pulled in different directions as the Dark Universe invaders prepare to barrel down upon an unsuspecting planet!
Dark Nights: Metal #4 is on sale now.
