DC COMICS
WRITER/ARTIST/COVER: Duncan Rouleau

The Metal Men return in this highly complex miniseries involving giant robots, alchemists, time-travel, living elements and hints that these metallic beings are more than just machines. This miniseries is billed as using concepts introduced by Grant Morrison. Well, it does more than that, cramming in cameos by Ray Palmer and the Challengers of the Unknown, tying in with the "League of Ancients" storyline from the JLA of several years past , a "CHECKMATE"  storyline and the "52" miniseries and even introducing a new Metal person-- Copper-- whose addition to the team is done so casually, you would think she had been a Metal Man for decades. It is all very engrossing but also confusing. Those who are not longtime fans of DC Comics and the Metal Men will be left wondering what is going on and who all these talking robots are. Very little attempt is made to tell the new reader what is going on. The art of this comic mirrors the story-- inventive, original, filled with humour and detail but also very hard to follow. At the risk of sounding like another Silver-Age reactionary, previous Metal Men artists-- particularly the great Ross Andru, were always able to make it clear what was happening in their stories, even when the Metal Men were changing into all sorts of unimaginable shapes. This miniseries should be a blast for old fans of the Metal Men and for those who have been intrigued by their appearances in "52" and "SUPERMAN/BATMAN" but new arrivals who don't know much about this team are going to have a hard time catching up. That is a pity because for all its weirdness, these seems to be a truly intriguing plot and some very interesting characters in this book. Three out of five stars.