Detective Comics #1 printed in March of 1937, composed of a series of short stories set to be continued in follow-up issues. It starred such characters as Bart Regan, Speedy Saunders, Gumshoe Gus, and Bruce Nelson. Back then it was a big deal for the comic to come out in color, despite some of the pages being rendered in black and white. It was released at ten cents and could probably be found quite easily among newsstands, near More Fun Comics and Action Comics. 80 years is a long time, kids. Nations have risen and fallen. The world went to war. The war stood at the precipice of a nuclear apocalypse. Our population boomed. Things changed, society evolved along with technology, and yet it's strange that through all of this, a comic book would last 80 years and 950 issues to get to us today. My friends...this is an accomplishment.
Set aside your opinion of comic books, American or otherwise, and realize what those numbers mean: 80 years of printing goofy stories about men and women doing extraordinary things that normal people couldn't. 950 issues, and tens of thousands of pages, of material meant to entertain the masses through good times and bad. Just. Wow.
Don't forget: Batman didn't come about until Detective Comics #27. Theoretically, the comic lasted two years without Batman as it's eventual crutch. And just think about how many other characters there were until Batman, and how many characters there have been since. All his villains, the various Robins, the establishment of the Bat-Family, the Justice League, the Justice Society. There was even a new Batman to take over for Bruce Wayne in this series. And through it all there have been mysteries, fun times, heartbreaks, and overall damn good reading.
So today we celebrate the 950th issue of the comic. Starring, of course, the Batman, but also paying homage to some of the strengths of Detective Comics: the lesser characters. Batwing, Orphan, Azrael, Clayface, and Batwoman. Tim Drake features in, yes, though not as a primary character. You don't see the Joker, the Penguin, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Harvey Dent. Just the minor characters, and I suppose that's where the strength of the book comes from.
If Batman is meant to be the anchor for Batman in the DCU, then Detective Comics can be seen as the place for his allies, if they aren't already in is own book. You wouldn't expect to see Spoiler appearing as a main character in Batman but in Detective Comics that's just fine. I've always been a fan of minor characters, especially Batman's since they're pretty interesting, so of the two I've favored Detective Comics more, though I admit I haven't read that much of Tom King's Batman but have heard good things of it.
What's even more interesting is that Batman is the main character of just one of the three stories featured in this comic book. Cassandra Cain, Azrael, and Batwing take the reins for this comic, and it's a much appreciated-move. While I don't think it works on every level, it is nice to see these characters flourish. Thus far, the series has revolved around Batman, Batwoman, Spoiler, and Tim Drake, so it's nice to let these guys share the limelight.
And yes, this comic does have three stories. Most anniversary comics will do this anyways; they allow other creators to come on and play with the characters to celebrate the milestone. I expect when Action Comics hits Issue 1,000 sometime soon you'll be seeing a helluva bunch of creators on that comic. I do like, though, that they return to an anthology format for this comic since, well, it began as anthology. As such, I'll be breaking the review up into three different parts, one for each part of the story.
One thing they all share in common, though, is the cover:
It's average. A shame because of the anniversary, though I have no doubt that there are better variant covers out there. I kind of wish they'd done something similar to Issue 936, where it was the crew standing atop "Detective Comics" in big stone letters, making the name of the book prominent. The font they use for the "Detective Comics" is an homage to the original font, so that's a nice little input. One thing that does make me tilt my head is how this is a "League of Shadows" prologue. It might be, but we aren't told anything of the League at all. Perhaps the end of Orphan's story is an indicator, but from what I recall the League had more to do with Batwoman than it did Orphan? Who knows. We'll find out soon, rest assured.
League of Shadows
Prologue: Shadow of a Tear
Written by: James Tynion IV/ Art by: Dean White
This is the biggest chunk of the book, focusing on Cassandra Cain as she goes through what seems to be a normal night for her. It's close, intimate, and gets new readers up to speed on what her character has been like thus far, and where it may be headed. It's important in big anniversary issues like this to not only acknowledge what's been done before, but also to make things flat so that new readers can jump aboard, see what's so special about a book that has so many issues.
One good thing I'll say about this being a "prologue" is that it's indicative of a story change, a new place to start reading. One of the many theories why Marvel and DC reboot their line is that they feel new readers are intimidated by such a large number. That they would rather pick up Action Comics #1 over Action Comics #1,000. A good comic will get new readers up to speed and make them want to read more, not necessarily force them to read more.
Speaking from my own experience, I read Blackest Night, which relies heavily on knowledge of the DCU beforehand, and had a blast. It made me want to learn more about the dead Black Lanterns that I didn't quite recognize. Once I did learn more, I returned to the miniseries and got a much better appreciation for the story.
The same can be said here. It's clear that Cassandra has had a tragic past, and that's touched upon by Tynion and beautifully executed by White, so new readers won't be completely in the dark as to what's been happening before. If they want to learn more, they can refer back to the issues mentioned in the comic.
But I digress.
I don't want to spoil all the events for you, though there wouldn't be much to spoil anyway. A character long-missing returns at the end, although their importance to the overall story is still in question.
This part of the story can simply be settled down to this: Cassandra wants to dance. But nobody knows what that means.
Tynion and White, together, take us on an emotional journey through a night with Cassandra. She just hangs back in the shadows most of time, watching them go about their business. Wishing she could go down and just have a conversation with them, but she can't. She's a weapon; that's all she was ever meant to be.
Tynion emphasizes this point quite a bit, and while it does teeter on annoyance sometimes, he does drive home the tragedy of her character. Cassandra is a good girl. She wants to be good. It's evident in her actions throughout the comic. Not to mention she just wants to be herself, to express herself. There are only two ways she knows how: dance...and violence.
The story takes us on multiple emotional beats with the various characters Cassandra is either close to or can relate to. Her scene with Harper Row is particularly effective, as it reinforces their sister-like relationship and how much the two really care about each other. Clayface's scene is pretty gut-wrenching as well, though it has little to do with Cassandra herself. Ironically, the weakest part of this story is where Batman appears. It's just a bunch of talking about...stuff.
While Tynion's prose can get a bit "wordy" at times, it's supplemented excellently by Dean White's artwork. If the comic didn't have caption boxes I'm sure you could get the same effect from the story. He draws Cassandra and her expressions just so well you know exactly what the poor girl is thinking right away. He even manages to two a two-page spread of sheer violence and make it seem as if Cassandra is going through a dance number with ease. I hope White sticks around some more on the comic, maybe even to do the "League of Shadows" arc.
Higher Powers
Written by: James Tynion IV / Art by: Alvaro Martinez
This little tale is a bit of a science vs. religion story featuring Azrael (a religious nut-ball) and Batwing (a science nut-ball) as they divulge the secrets of Azrael's powers. It's a good catch-up for anyone who doesn't know much of Azrael outside of him parading around as Batman in the 90s, and gets them up to speed on Batwing's character as well.
It's a much shorter story and involves a lot more dialogue, since it's basically one long discussion between the two. It does start off pretty sweet, and has a kick-ass shot of Azrael walking away from some blown-up robots. Hell yeah.
What's so great about this issue is the lack of any real tension. It's strange to say that about a story, but what I mean is that the two aren't shouting at each other. They aren't bickering, and they aren't ready to fight. They're having a civil discussion about the possibility that God is infusing Azrael and his suit with power.
His suit is actually the perfect representation of the story itself: a solid blend of science and religion. While they do confirm that it's rooted in technology, the thing that powers it is belief. The argument could be made that perhaps it's drawing on Azrael's courage, like how the Lantern rings draw on emotion, but perhaps it is the will of God (God does exist in the DCU, see The Spectre about that).
There are interesting ideas brought up here and it shows Azrael's development since he was brought back into the bigger Bat-story back in Batman and Robin: Eternal to fight off Dick, Tim, and Jason.
The art by Alvaro Martinez is standard, because the story is pretty standard. There are some standout shots of Azrael looking awesome and he handles the initial action sequence pretty well, but other than that there aren't any hiccups and he just draws the two standing around and talking. I will say that this story, of the issue, ends on the biggest and coolest cliffhanger in the comic, despite what the final story tries to pull off.
The Big Picture
Written by: James Tynion IV / Art by: Eddy Barrows
The original creative team behind the relaunch is back and it's...sadly the biggest disappointment in the comic. It's great to see Tim Drake (albeit in a flashback), but the story mostly serves as informing the reader of what else Batman is up to: training Duke, gathering the Justice League of America, the whole reason behind this run of Detective Comics. Not to mention the teases for the other Bat-related books: Nightwing fighting off his own monsters and Spyral, Jason Todd doing business in the underworld, Damian becoming the Robin of the Teen Titans (not to mention Dick being back with the Titans). It isn't exciting, really.
The only significant thing is that it points out how Batman is preparing for some kind of war and is properly positioning all of his players into place so that, when the big thing hits, they can all be ready. This story is probably meant to serve just as speculation, so, we'll speculate.
Is it the "Rebirth" stuff? At this point we can assume that Wally has appeared to Batman and that he's discovered the button in the Batcave. So maybe he's preparing for an interdimensional threat.
Is it the rumored final Joker story by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo? Perhaps. It's supposed to happen sometime this summer, and the indication of the end of this issue is that we'll get the resolution to Batman's plans this year. The Snyder/ Capullo Joker stuff has routinely involved the Bat-Family, so don't be too surprised if they make a reappearance.
It could also be a huge war against the Colony/ League of Shadows. Who knows? It's tough to say what exactly at this point and the story keeps it vague, though that is much to it's fault. It'd have been much more interesting for a final shot to give us an indicator of what it is. Maybe the Joker on one of the screens in the background, or positioning Batman in such a way that you see the Watchmen button, or maybe a shot of the massive enemy they'll be fighting, looming in the shadows and ready to strike.
Of course, the artwork by Eddy Barrows is as great as ever and it was so nice to see him back drawing Batman and Robin (Tim Drake). There's really not much else for me to comment on as far as the art. It's awesome. Good job.
Detective Comics #950 was an excellent issue, though not the best of the series so far. It sets up potential plot threads while celebrating the leaps that the characters have gone through thus far. It highlights out minor characters and really exposes them to make them interesting enough for the readers. We were given an incredibly emotional story about a girl who cannot speak but wants to scream her love for everyone, a compelling dialogue piece about religion and science and how they can work, and a dark mystery left hanging over the world's greatest detective.
If you haven't been reading the series, give it a look. I strongly recommend this run of Detective Comics, and it's in my opinion one of the better "Rebirth" titles DC has put out thus far.
Social media:
No comments:
Post a Comment