When the entire Multiverse has gone metal, what does that do to a place like Apokolips? The homeworld of Darkseid and his legions of parademons was already plenty cruel, and that was before the place was transported to the heart of our sun and used to fuel Perpetua’s mission of mass destruction.

Yet, for Wonder Woman’s team of rebels to have any chance at defeating Perpetua and the newly minted Darkest Knight, they have no choice but to brave the fires and “ParaRobins” of New Apokolips to rescue the one member of DC’s Trinity who hasn’t really been seen all that much since the start of Dark Nights: Death Metal—Superman. Kal-El is being held captive within the sun and brutally tortured in a twisted attempt to harness his energy for Perpetua. Rescuing him will not only deal a massive blow to her evil empire, but will give our heroes the ally they need if they’re to have any hope of going head-to-head with the Darkest Night.

Let’s talk about Death Metal’s newest nightmare, shall we? The Darkest Night was created when the Batman Who Laughs’ brain was placed within Doctor Manhattan’s body—creating a version of the Batman Who Laughs with the power of a human god. Superman’s faced Doctor Manhattan before, but the Darkest Knight is something else entirely. Does Big Blue have what it takes to face such a nihilistic, powerful villain? Heck, does he even have the strength to escape New Apokolips? At this point, we haven’t seen Superman do much of anything other than scream and rock a headbanging new hairstyle. He might not be able to handle solid foods, let alone the most powerful super-villain to walk the earth.

Of course, this is all a moot point if Wonder Woman’s rescue attempt doesn’t succeed, and while it’s off to a fair start in this first look at Dark Nights: Death Metal #3, anything can happen from here. Strap in and crank up those amps, this one’s going to leave a bruise!

Dark Nights: Death Metal #3 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion and FCO Plascencia is in stores and available digitally on Tuesday, August 11.