Reddit mentions of Dark Days: The Road to Metal

Not quite announced, but there is a listing for a "Road to Metal" hardcover on Amazon.

Have you read a comic before?

I'd wait for these collected editions coming out soon:

• Dark Days: The Road to Metal
  
• Dark Nights: Metal
  
• Dark Nights: Metal: The Resistance
  
• Dark Nights: Metal: Dark Knights Rising
  
  I'd also recommend some better starting points like Batman: Year One if you're getting into comics for the first time.
  
  Sidenote: I hope there will just be one Omnibus collection for all 25 issues eventually (not 4 collected editions in 2 formats).

That's all right!

> So which Endgame would you recommend my buying or both?

You definitely don't need both. If you only wanted the essential parts, get the Batman edition. If you wanted more, get the Joker edition. In the Endgame instance only, the Joker edition also contains all of the material of the Batman edition, but also with more.

> Also what happens in the Batman who Laughs and when does that play into the story?

I have not yet read Batman Who Laughs, so I can't tell you what happens in it sorry. From what I know, after New 52, Snyder had 3 trades in Rebirth under the All-Star Batman title, being My Own Worst Enemy, Ends of the Earth, and The First Ally. I'm not sure how connected they are to his previous or later Batman stories though, as I'm yet to read those too. (Also thought I would mention, please do not confuse them with Frank Miller's All-Star Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder which is infamously bad.) After that, still in Rebirth continuity, he did a Batman-centric yet DC-wide event called Metal. This is where batman Who Laughs first appears. The reading order is explained in this website but in short is Dark Days: The Road to Metal, Dark Knights: Metal, Dark Knights: Metal - Dark Knights Rising, and dark Knights: Metal - The Resistance, though I've heard that the latter 1 or 2 of those are again tie ins, and so not essential. Spinning out of Metal would be The Batman Who Laughs, though I've heard some say you don't need the whole Metal event to jump in here (it is quite a lot to read to catch up), but again, I haven't read this, so my advice can only go so far here sorry.

> Is Bloom Worth it?

I haven't read that far, sorry, but I know many consider Snyder's earlier New 52 volumes in higher regards than his later volumes. Without spoilers, there is a significant shift following Endgame which makes the following trades a bit unconventional, but some readers will still recommend the whole run. I think take it in steps before completely diving in, and if you continue to like what you read, feel free and continue, but don't feel daunted or compelled to follow a whole run based on 1 or 2 story arcs.

> Is Faces of Death worth it?

So, I hadn't mentioned the other Bat titles yet. To explain, DC realised that the more Bat-Books they sold, the more money they got, so they have different writers on different titles. "Batman" is the main title, which they tend to put their best writer on, which is what Snyder wrote his run in. Another long running title is "Detective Comics", which is often focusing on Batman, but other times will also incorporate other Gotham related characters or other detectives, etc. To start with in the New 52, writer/artist Tony Daniel penned Detective Comics, with his volume 1 being Faces of Death. It supposedly ties into Death of the Family, but I can tell you that I have never yet read it, and still made perfect sense of Death of the Family, so it is not essential. I have heard others say it is also not really a good comic anyway, so I would say here that Faces of Death is not worth it. Other New 52 Bat-titles include "The Dark Knight", which wasn't well received, "Batman and Robin" which focuses on Bruce and Damian, and was well-recieved, but not always relevant to Snyder's work, "Batman Eternal", and "Batman and Robin Eternal", which many Bat-writers, including Snyder collaborated on, and "Batman Incorporated" which finished off Grant Morrison's run, and so is off-topic to Snyder's Batman. I am not telling you this because I think you have to go out and get any or all of these, I am only telling you so that you don't get confused. For you, I think you only need to worry on the 10 volumes of Snyder's New 52 Batman line, which I have listed at the start of my top comment.

For a short hand version of this comment/Snyder's batman work, basically his pre-New 52 work includes Black Mirror and Gates of Gotham (I hadn't mentioned before, but are marvelous works), then he has his New 52 run with 10 volumes which you are reading, and is some of his best work, and would be considered essential, then he had All-Star Batman, which is decent, but not too essential, then Metal which is essential to understanding The Batman Who Laughs. I hope that makes sense and is helpful to you. If you are still confused, maybe ask for a full Snyder reading order on something like /r/DCcomics, particularly in something like their next Ask a Veteran thread, as I believe you may get a clearer and more comprehensive answer there.

I hope this helps you!

also, for us trade waiters the Dark Days: The Road to Metal trade comes out.