The Joker escaped? A child kidnapped? Bruce Wayne getting it on? This issue is going to give you a splitting head-ache.
DETECTIVE COMICS #2
Writer: Tony Daniel
Artist: Tony Daniel
Inkers: Ryan Winn and Sandu Florea
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Cover: Daniel, Winn, and Morey
Editor: Mike Marts
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
Previously in Detective Comics: It’s a whole new world for DC readers, which means it is time to switch things up and shake the foundation of the Batman Universe to its core… except it didn’t. What readers did get was the Joker being sent to Arkham Asylum and getting his face cut off.
LEAVING YOU IN STITCHES
When a big bad villain escapes from the insane asylum, only leaving behind his face, you’d think Batman would be all over the case, not gallivanting around as Bruce Wayne, having business meetings while climbing a rock wall, and getting it on with newspaper reporters we haven’t seen before. It’s a bit of storytelling that really draws the reader away from last issue’s cliffhanger, and it rather annoying. That being said, a good writer will never introduce characters and situations if they won’t play a role later, and I have a feeling the sexy reporter, and the owner of Mecha-North Corp will play a bigger role in the near future.
When it does come to the actual detective work (this book IS called Detective Comics), Batman seems to stumble, not really following clues so much as reacting to the information presented to him. It kind of feels like the writer is handing the information to characters simply so they can move to the next big fight scene. That scene occurs when the police are tipped to the location of killer Ray Quimby, only for Batman to realize too late that the killer’s death is a trap, and a family of Leatherfaces have taken up residence in Gotham and have captured the city’s champion.
There are a few problems with the way the story progresses in this closing scene. First Batman is taken down, but not out, and the time between Gordon’s capture and the reveal that his face has been hacked, slashed and sewn don’t line up at all. Of course readers are expecting to believe that this crazed family who we have never heard of has the ability and means to do facial surgery in a matter of moments.
I’m left rather wanting after reading this issue. While Daniel impressed and shocked me with the first issue, this installment comes off as a one up, with a villain that fits in the same category as Professor Pyg, and neither of them are on my Most Interesting New Villains list.
ARTISTS STYLE
While Daniel’s story is beginning to sour with me, I still enjoy his art. Yes, there are times when he adds more lines simply to give the illusion of extreme emotion, and the colorists have given everyone a bad case of rosacea, but I like how the action is easy to follow in scenes where lots of bodies are moving around. The color palette this time around tends to lean towards browns, with a hint of blue and green thrown in, which probably means something, but not something that I feel needs a lot of attention. Now that I say that, I’m sure the colors used in each issue will build to something important by the end of the arc.
BOTTOM LINE: IT’S BATMAN, OF COURSE I’M GOING TO BUY IT, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO
Yup, I’ll admit it – I’m a Batman fanatic, and will generally buy anything featuring DC’s biggest moneymaker. But that doesn’t mean this issue is something everyone is going to like. Following the big opening chapter, I was expecting the energy and excitement to continue non-stop, but sadly this was not the case. The introduction of extreme villains for the shock value, story elements that seem completely out of place, and little to know actual detective work for the world’s smartest man end up earning Detective Comics #2 a middle of the road 2.5 Stars out of 5.
8 Comments
He buys it so we don’t have to. Very noble of you. :P
lol, yea thank you shleicher
Right now the only Batbook I’m reading is “Batman & Robin.” I can’t get enough Damien.
It give me the feeling that they were trying to imitate the video game Batman Arkham City.
The leather face guys totally reminded me of that villian group in city of heroes, Vahizlok. I even wondered for a bit if it wasn’t them exactly.
strike one imo. and unlike baseball in my pull list you get two strikes. then im done throwing money at you.
I almost thought for a minute the nurse with the hammer was a retcon of Harley. It turned out it was just unoriginal.
I was fine with it, I just see bigger picture written all over this though. For those who aren’t digging it right now, maybe it’ll play much better as a trade where you can get the full story all at once. I’m not sure, but hopefully that’s the case. I’m not a huge fan of the trades (except for when I get them crazy cheap at conventions), but in some cases the stories don’t play as well as individual installments as they do with the full story together. I’d say the jump from the removed face of Joker to Bruce living his normal life was a little jarring. But he was waiting for some information from Gordon before making his next move I suppose and I actually do like seeing Bruce a little more instead of only seeing Batman. I’ve felt for a long time that his role as Bruce Wayne has been non-existent.