Comic Review: Detective Comics #1

I'm going to get something out of the way right now: I'm a huge Batman fan. In fact, one of my first memories features me sitting five inches away from the television and playing my VHS copy of Tim Burton's Batman until the tape literally fell apart (while fast-forwarding through the "scary parts" of course).

Detective Comics #1

Script: Tony S. Daniel
Pencils: Tony S. Daniel
Ink: Ryan Winn
Price: $2.99/$1.99 digital
Publisher: DC Comics

Story
After Scott Snyder's masterful run on Detective Comics last year, I was a little nervous to see the creative team switcheroo. Upon reading the blasted thing, it's safe to say that there was cause for concern.


In this issue, we've got a young, confident Batman swinging across the rooftops of Gotham City and chasing (wait for it) The Joker. Now look, I love The Joker; he's my favorite villain, the ying to Batman's yang, yadda yadda yadda. But I can't help feeling like we've seen this all before.

Other than the re-hashed plot devices (CRAZY Joker, rooftop meeting with Commissioner Gordon, etc.), Tony S. Daniel seems to be under the impression that Batman loves to chit-chat. His pages are littered with the Caped Crusader explaining his every thought to the reader, from the unnecessary ("Tonight I'm feeling lucky") to the outright silly ("But I can take it. I'm Batman"). After discovering The Joker committing murder in his birthday suit, our hero ponders whether or not his arch nemesis always removes his clothes before he kills. Because we didn't already know that The Joker was crazy, he has to be crazy AND naked.

The obligatory "twist" ending shows some sign of a promising yarn in Detective Comics' future, but one can't rely on a shocking final page alone to carry an entire issue.

Score: 2

Art 

What Daniel lacks in textual storytelling skills, he certainly tries to make up for in the visual department. His take on Gotham is gorgeous, and his bold and bulky Batman practically leaps off the page. The rooftop discussion with Gordon could have been staged simply and casually, but Daniel's creative layout elevated the sequence into a fresh and more-than-welcome change of pace. Now if he could just find someone to help him in the plotting department...

How far we have strayed...

Much can also be said for Tomeu Morey's color work here; the blues and greys of the Batsuit against the industrial teals of the Gotham skyline are a sight to behold.

But that cover...a bit much, wouldn't you say?

Score: 4

 
New-Reader Friendly? – If you don't know the basics of the Batman mythos by this point, you have likely been living in a Batcave yourself. With that said, maybe my criticisms of this issue's familiar plot serve well in this department. Never touched a Batman comic before? You'll be perfectly up-to-speed with this by-the-numbers tale of the Dark Knight.

Overall Score: 2.5/5

Next: Mother Nature reaches out her slimy fingers in Swamp Thing #1!