I can give you a basic gist. Somehow Batman opens a gateway to a "dark multiverse" and the evil god "Barbatos" and a bunch of evil Batmen (and one woman) come out to take over Earth and try to "sink" it into the dark multiverse for...reasons. And only by going to the literal "forge of creation" can Batman and Superman and Wonder Woman hope to save the day. They discover a new metal and somehow reshape the universe. Makes sense, right?
Now there are a few problems with this plot. First, how can there be a "dark" multiverse and a "light" multiverse? In strict quantum physics terms (which might be an oxymoron) a new universe would be created every time you make a decision. So each decision 7 billion people make each day creates a new universe. There is no inherent "dark" or "light" multiverse, just an infinite number of other worlds.
The way DC gets around this is that there's a "Monitor" and only 52 worlds of the "multiverse." I guess the Monitor is like the curator of a museum and these 52 worlds are the pieces on display. Which is pretty asinine, but whatever. In these 52 worlds you have one based on the Batman: Vampire comics where Batman is a bloodsucking fiend who at one point slaughters every villain in Arkham. Gee, that sounds like a really "light" universe, doesn't it? So shouldn't that be part of the "dark multiverse?" No, because...reasons. Other universes are based on the graphic novels The Dark Knight Returns and Superman: Red Son, neither of which is very sunny and pleasant. Earth-3 is traditionally the home of the Crime Syndicate--aka, an evil version of the Justice League--and Earth-X is a world where Nazis won WWII. So the "light" multiverse is pretty dark already.
While we're talking math-type shit, writer Scott Snyder constantly confuses "nth" for "ninth." He keeps saying that "nth metal" is the ninth metal. In actuality, "nth" is mathspeak for just a bunch of stuff. It's not shorthand for ninth. It CAN be ninth, but it can be any freaking number you want it to be really; it's not a specific number. I sucked at calculus and I knew that. So a major plot point is courtesy of a dude falling asleep during algebra.
As I described in half-assed fashion, the plot is about this "god" Barbatos wanting to sink Earth into the dark multiverse. Why? If there are all these other universes, who gives a shit about just one? And if you're the god of the whole dark multiverse, why do you give a shit about our pathetic little one planet in one universe? Jealousy? Multiverse envy? It'd make more sense if like Galactus or Unicron he fed on universes, but that doesn't seem to be the case. He just wants to destroy "our" universe, or the main DC comic book universe really.
To power his contraption to "sink" Earth, he lures Superman into a trap. Why? I mean there are all these evil Supermen in the dark universe; can't you just use one of them? And why do you need Superman? Sure his body is like a living solar battery, but so what? If you take over the earth you should have plenty of power.
(BTW, reading some of the spin-off issues later on helped make the story...still not make a ton of sense.)
There are a whole bunch of other stupid things I could complain about. The point--and I said there would be one--is that it makes no sense. I bet you've read books similar to this before, where the plot just makes no sense at all. Like pretty much anything by Thomas Pynchon. Some snob might want to say that self-published books would be the most frequent offenders, but the self-published books I read generally make sense--even most of Tony Laplume's! I did comment on one last year called Lightspeed Frontier that was just a long ramble. So that's one for the snobs.
A lot of query letters on Critique Circle I see suffer from this problem. Fantasy ones especially. There's just all this gobbledygook that in a brief letter you can't really explain. Maybe the book itself would make more sense, though I doubt it.
Whether you're writing a query letter or an outline--or a comic book series--it's a good idea to think beforehand about those journalism questions: who, what, where, when, how, and (the big one) WHY? Who is your hero? Who is your villain? What do they want? Where are they? When are they? How will they get what they want? And WHY do they want it? If you have a problem answering any of those questions then you are probably in trouble. You probably also need someone with a good bullshit detector to look over your answers to tell you how many of your answers are just BS. I mean I'm sure if I had gone to ComiCon and asked Scott Snyder what the fuck was going on in Metal he could have gone on and on with a lot of BS until he was blue in the face and passed out. But could he answer in just one simple sentence? Probably not.
For fun let's try it with one of mine you might be familiar with: A Hero's Journey.
Who: Dr. Emma Earl/the Scarlet Knight (hero), Dr. Ian MacGregor/the Black Dragoon (villain)
What do they want: The Black Dragoon wants to take over Rampart City and then the world. The Scarlet Knight wants to stop the Dragoon and thus save the world.
Where are they: Rampart City, USA (a simulacrum of New York with a little Detroit in there)
When are they: 2000
How will they get what they want? The Dragoon manipulates a crooked mayoral candidate so that if the candidate wins the Dragoon will have a safe haven. The Scarlet Knight stops him with the help of her friends, who tip her off to the Dragoon's plan and help her find him.
Why do they want it? The Dragoon is an ancient evil spirit and thus wants to destroy the world. Emma wants to stop him because she's good and also it's the only way she can ever free herself of the burden of being the Scarlet Knight.
There you go, pretty simple, right? It's pretty easy when your story is a fairly classic good v evil tale. Like, say, a superhero comic book. Right? Right?!
Chance of a Lifetime might be more difficult.
Who: Detective Steve Fischer/Stacey Chance
What does she want: To become a man again and get revenge on the bad guys who caused her change
Where are they: The unnamed city that again is a New York/Detroit simulacrum
When are they: About 2011
How will they get what they want? To the first goal (being a man again) Stacey gets the help of a scientist who worked on the project of the drug that changed her. To the second goal she tracks down the bad guys and kills them one-by-one for the most part.
Why does she want it? Why she wants to be a man again should be obvious--she wants her old life back even if it kinda sucked. The other is just basic revenge; they pretty much killed her so now she's going to kill them.
OK, maybe not that much more difficult! But let's try a literary story like Where You Belong:
Who: Frost Devereaux and the Maguire twins: Frank and Frankie
What do they want: Frost initially wants Frankie but Frankie doesn't know what she wants. Frank wants Frost and eventually Frost decides he wants Frank before deciding he doesn't really want anyone.
Where are they: Lots of places. Largely Iowa, Phoenix, and New York.
When are they: 1973-2008
How will they get what they want: Mostly Frost gets Frankie in a moment of weakness. The same way Frank gets Frost. It's not so much a conscious plan as just taking advantage of the opportunity.
Why do they want it: Frost grew up with the twins and spent a lot of time with Frankie, which turned into unrequited love. Frank is mostly jealous of his sister and wants what she has--in this case, Frost's love.
So it's a little less concrete, but still not total BS right? Yeah. Suck it, Scott Snyder! You with your...lucrative comic book writing career and legion of fans. Yeah.
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