Metal Men #1 - DC

The Metal Men are back. Finally! And apparently Duncan Rouleau, who writes and draws this book, has gotten some ideas on the way he can handle these characters from Grant Morrison. So you just know, some of the concepts and ideas presented in this book are going to be . . . . out there. But that's something that both of these guys exhibit . . originality . . and free thinking. That's why they're both as successful as they are. This first issue is a little confusing. But, we're getting a lot of ideas thrown at us, all at once. Since it's the first issue, all we're getting to see is pieces of the puzzle. We have no idea what the picture is yet. But that's ok. That's part of the fun. We start out in 411 AD. We have a rogue alchemist who has come across some kind of disk. And there's other sorcerers who want it. There's one in particular that has come to his room and kills him to get what he wants. But as soon as he is victorious, holding the disk in his hand, a metal arm, I think from the future, comes in and takes it from him. We then come back to the present time where the Metal Men are battling a type of technological revolution in the form of UNION. It absorbs all techno and metal things into itself, and is set on ascending to the top of the food chain. Our heroes throw themselves into the mix, literally, and set off an EM pulse to shut the thing down. They're effective, but it also shuts them down. As Will Magnus is scouring the debris for their responsometers, a division of CheckMate shows up to exert their authority. They're called the M80's. "With the recent spike in robot behavior, CheckMate is opening a new division. They need to make a determination as to how your Metal Men are going to be classified. After a cataloging is made and it is determined all responsometers have been properly licensed, all material deemed as property will be returned to you." Next we see Will 4 years ago at the FYI, Future Young Inventors, Show. He's actually there trying to hawk his Hypo-Hyper Flux theory. Basically, it's scientific alchemy. He wants to show how, much in the way that we're trying to manipulate DNA, we can also manipulate atomic structure. But, in his presentation, he uses an early version of his Metal Men as presentation models. Well, nobody hears his theories. To them it's all just gibberish. But, what they do see, is working and thinking robots. And with that they're offering him, and his spokesman TOMorrow, his own fully funded laboratory and a $3 million retainer. But he refuses them. He wants to work on his Hypo-Hyper Flux theory and not . . . robots. ". . . I can't change my focus right now. My work is at a critical stage. Helen . . when we talked about the future . . this wasn't the future I saw." Which is ironic because at that point a future version of himself is looking back on this time-line. He calls this particular one, Time-line 23. So obviously he's looking in on lots of time-lines of himself. And it appears that his future focus is to delete the existence of the Metal Men. Like I said, first issue, lots of pieces, no clear picture yet. But I have a feeling it's going to be a fantastic one. Strap yourselves in because this ride is just leaving the station.