Batman: Detective Review

Writers: Paul Dini & Royal McGraw
Artists: Don Kramer, J.H. Williams III, Joe Benitez & Marcos Marz

I have been going through my Batman stories over the last few months, mainly focusing on the key modern stories, having started with Hush, and progressed from there. This however is my first review of a story that's purely Detective Comics, though it's also my tenth Batman review in total since Hush.

Plot

Batman has to solve a series of cases, with some notorious Gotham City criminals getting in his way.

Review

This was a fantastic collection of comics, all being very unique, and entertaining. Most of the issues in this book are written by Paul Dini, with Royal McGraw writing the second last issue. Both writers did an excellent job in this book, but I have to give most of the credit to Dini, as besides writing all bar one of the issues, most of his were also much more exciting. What I loved most about the writing throughout the book though was how diverse it was, as although I love a story that progresses through a book it's nice to get a collection of one-shot stories, especially when they're all very unique and entertaining. I also loved how each story also had a slightly different style, and pace to it, as if one didn't appeal quite as much as you'd hope the rest most likely will. The action throughout these stories was also handled perfectly, as although some finished a bit suddenly they were all extremely exciting.

The art in this book was also brilliant, as although there was four different artists each one suited the story, or stories that they worked on. Don Kramer would be the artist to work on the most issues, having done three out of the six issues collected with the legendary J.H. Williams III, as well as Joe Benitez, and Marcos Marz working on one issue each. It's hard to pick who's the best artist out of these as they are all amazing, but Williams III probably just gets it, as his artwork is simply beautiful. Kramer however being on the most issues caught my attention more, and I especially loved seeing him draw the Joker as he looked as crazy as ever, and Kramer's tone made the story a lot more fun. All the artists also did a brilliant job of showing the characters facial expressions, adding a lot of depth to the issue as well as making it extremely easy to tell what they were thinking.

With a title like Detective you'd expect a lot of detective work to be going on, and you'd be right. It's always nice to see the Dark Knight doing what he does best, as although having his family, and technology has made it so he doesn't have to do quite as much detective work, it's always nice whenever he does. All the different cases that Batman investigates in this story are interesting, and I love the monologue narrative that we get from Batman during it. I did however feel that some of these investigations had rather abrupt endings, as with all the fantastic build-ups some of the endings felt rushed. This however is expected from stories that last one issue, and the ones that were brilliant all the way through were truly astonishing.

The second story in this book would see the Riddler turn over a new leaf, becoming a private detective. Now with Riddler being one of my favourite villains of all time I always like to see him make an appearance, though unfortunately he's not always used to his strengths. I however felt that this would be a great turning point for the Riddler, as although the concept would be played for too long, it was nice to see him go against the Dark Knight in a different fashion, sticking to the law. I also loved the dialogue from Riddler in this story, and also enjoyed seeing him continue his private detective job in the background of the remaining stories in this book.

This book would also see a lot of Batman's classic villains make appearances, with the key three noticeable ones being Joker, Poison Ivy, and Penguin. Now I'll talk about Joker's appearance a bit later, but it was nice to see both Penguin, and Ivy in this book, and I especially loved the way that they were used as it was so different to how they're usually involved with Ivy needing Batman's help, and Penguin trying to turn legit. Both encounters were extremely entertaining, with Ivy's being really exciting, and Penguin's being fun, and slightly humorous.

My favourite story in this book however would be the last one, which would feature Joker kidnapping Robin (Tim Drake). Now it's been clearly established that Joker likes to torture, and kill Robin's, even going out his way to try and kill Black Mask for taking his job when he killed Stephanie Brown. This story was however extremely lighthearted, reminding me of Batman: The Animated Series, which Dini was one of the key writers for. I also loved seeing my favourite Robin put in this position, as although I'd have been really upset if he somehow died, I enjoyed seeing him try and work out a way of escaping, and defeating the Joker.

Final Verdict

This was an amazing book, collection some outstanding stories, and although some were much better than others it was very fun, and entertaining. The style, and uniqueness of each story showed that this was written by Paul Dini, as it had a very similar feel to Batman: The Animated Series which he was a key writer for. The stories themselves were also extremely dramatic, and exciting, and I'd highly recommend this collection to anyone, especially if you were a fan of Batman: The Animated Series.

Rating: 8/10

The next Batman book I'll be reviewing will be Batman and Son.

Batman: Face the Face Review

Writer: James Robinson

Artists: Leonard Kirk & Don Kramer

I'm back to doing my Batman reviews, and I still plan on reviewing the remaining key Batman stories up until the start of the New 52. This is also my ninth review on the series with my last review being on Batman: Face the Face.

Plot

It has been one year since Batman left Gotham City in the hands of Harvey Dent, but when Harvey is a key suspect in a series of murders following Batman's return it makes things difficult, and it's questionable whether he'll fall back into darkness or not.

Review

This was an amazing story, and one of my personal favourite One Year Later stories. James Robinson did an amazing job with this story, and although he isn't quite as good at writing Batman as he is writing Superman, he did a brilliant job with the character. I especially loved the tone of this story, and enjoyed how Robinson took us back to a more classic Batman story, having it filled with mystery, and detective work, both of which added a lot of suspense, and drama to the story. I also loved the dark tone of this story, as it added a lot of depth to the story. I also loved the dialogue that Robertson added to this story, as it was very interesting, especially the dialogue from Batman. I did however feel that it dragged slightly at times, which reduced the overall quality of the story a bit, but besides that Robertson did a fantastic job of giving us a unique Batman story that was extremely interesting.

The art on this story was also very good, and both Leonard Kirk, and Don Kramer did an amazing job. I did however prefer Kramer's art overall, as I felt it suited the story more, with the dark, and gritty sequences really standing out during his artwork. Both artists work was however highly detailed, with little to no imperfections. There was however one small thing that I disliked about the art, and this was another reason that I preferred Kramer's overall, as I didn't like how Kirk drew smiles, as they looked very awkward, and unrealistic. I also loved the highly detailed backgrounds that both artists drew, as they were very realistic, and along with the layout added a lot of depth to the story. I also loved how both artists drew the characters throughout this story, with everyone looking amazing, though I did especially enjoy Kramer's artwork on Harvey Dent.

This story would come following the big Infinite Crisis storyline, where all the main heroes left for a year. Now they didn't leave in publication wise, as this would come straight after that event, but story wise one year had passed. I loved the changes that happened in that time, and how Gotham took a dramatic change, reverting itself back to the Gotham that it truly should be, with James Gordon as Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, and a lot of villains roaming the city. I did however feel that it was good that Robinson didn't have too many Infinite Crisis references, as although that was a good story, it had passed, and it would ruin it for Batman fans who don't care for Infinite Crisis. At the same time the few references were nice.

With a title like Face to Face it would be obvious that Harvey Dent, better known as Two-Face would make an appearance in this story. Two-Face is one of Batman's biggest villains ever, and like most of Batman's classic villains back then he needed a big development, and turning him back to Harvey Dent was that, with the Hush storyline revealing that. I did however love how this year without Batman around changed Harvey, as due to being put in charge of protecting Gotham, to then be accused of multiple murder on Batman's return would be a big blow for him. I also enjoyed how this story showed Harvey wrestling with his thoughts, not wanting to turn back to Two-Face, but at the same time furious about being accused of such a thing.

This story would see Batman, and Robin (Tim Drake) working together throughout, something that I was extremely happy about as prior to the Batman and Robin series there wasn't a huge amount of teaming up between the two (and the Batman and Robin series was also technically two different characters in Dick Grayson, and Damian Wayne). I also really enjoyed seeing the chemistry between the two, and how they are working better together than they ever have before. I also felt that this was a key point for both Bruce, and Tim, as with the recent events affecting Tim so much he needs someone to look up to, and Bruce also needs the same as to avoid possibly loosing another member of his Bat-Family.

This story would also have villains galore, having an array of Batman rogues making  appearances, with Poison Ivy, Mad Hatter, Ventriloquist and Scarface, Killer Moth, Killer Croc, Mr. Freeze, Firebug, and more being featured throughout. Batman has some of the best villains ever, so with all these amazing villains gathered in the one story it's bound to make things interesting. There was however a small part of me that felt that it was just a little too much, as although it was fun to see all these amazing characters, if it was slightly fewer it would allow them to do more, as most landed up being short cameos. I did however love the line Gordon spoke about Arkham Asylum having a revolving door, as these villains seem to have no trouble escaping time, and time again.

Final Verdict

This was a fantastic book, and was one of the better One Year Later stories. It showed Batman at his best, having his detective skills at the max, whilst also showing him taking out bad guy after bad guy. There was also some brilliant teamwork between the Dark Knight, and the Boy Wonder, and the turmoil that Harvey Dent was going through was outstanding, adding a lot of suspense. Due to all this it's extremely easy to recommend this story, and if you've read Infinite Crisis, 52, or any other One Year Later stories then you should definitely give this a try.

Rating: 8/10

The next Batman book I'll be reviewing will be Batman: Detective.

Batman: War Crimes Review

Writers: Bill Willingham, Andersen Gabrych, Bruce Jones & Will Pfeifer

Artists: Pete Woods, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Eddy Barrows, Ron Randall & Tom Derenick

I'm back to doing my Batman reviews, and I still plan on reviewing the remaining key Batman stories up until the start of the New 52. This is also my eighth review on the series with my last review being on Batman: Under The Red Hood.

Plot

It's one year since Gotham City's Gang War, and Arturo Rodriguez is reporting new information surrounding Stephanie Brown's death. There is also someone out to give Batman a bad name, going around dressed as him, committing terrible crimes.

Review

This was a fantastic story, and a terrific follow-up to the War Games crossover. The main writers on this book would be Bill Willingham, and Andersen Gabrych, with Bruce Jones, and Will Pfeifer also working on short stories at the start of the book. Both Willingham, and Gabrych did a terrific job of continuing from where War Games left off, as although a year has past, it felt very natural, having the exact same feel as it. The storyline itself was also very exciting, and dramatic, having a lot of suspense, and mystery around it. I also loved seeing Batman doing some detective work, as although it's not uncommon, it doesn't happen too regularly, and at the time due to having Oracle (Barbara Gordon) he didn't need to be a detective as much, so it was nice to see this again. The earlier stories in this book were also interesting, especially "Taking Sides" which was also written by Gabrych, but they were overshadowed by the main story.

The main artwork on this story would be shared by Pete Woods, and Giuseppe Camuncoli, with Eddy Barrows, Ron Randall, and Tom Derenick also working on the short stories at the start of the book. I felt that both Woods, and Camuncoli's art was amazing, but this time round I much preferred Camuncoli's art, as although I preferred Wood's art on Batman: War Games Act One: Outbreak, Camuncoli's art much suits Batman as a character and was only slight poorer that Woods during War Games due to his art focusing on Robin (Tim Drake). Both artists put a tremendous amount of detail into their artwork, and I really enjoyed how they managed to give the dark, and brooding tone to the Dark Knight (especially Camuncoli). I was however not a fan of Wood's Joker, and also felt that besides Batman that the characters expressions looked a bit awkward in Camuncoli's art, but besides that both were brilliant.

The main story in this book was remembering the gang war that happened throughout War Games, with it being one year since all that carnage. I personally really enjoyed War Games, with it being one of the better Batman crossover events, so the fact that they made a follow-up to it was amazing. I especially enjoyed how they went on to talk about Stephanie Brown more, as this would be the first sign that her death has had an affect on people. I also enjoyed seeing Arturo Rodriguez, but found his complete change of attitude strange, even though it was apparent that his views on Batman were different.

There would be a key question made throughout this story, and that was whether it's right for Batman to have all these children fighting crime in his name? Now in the real world this would be a simple no, but due to it being Batman's world things are different. To be fair he shouldn't have kids fighting alongside him, especially considering how many of them have died (three since Damian Wayne died). I do however feel that for his character he needs these children working with him, as having grew up with no parents, he feels the need to be a father figure, and feels the affect of every death. It is still a sticky question however, but due to it ultimately being fiction it doesn't really matter as long as we get great comics out of it (which we do).

A familiar villain from War Games would feature in this story, with the Black Mask once again making life difficult for Batman. This Black Mask was such a great villain for Batman, and I loved how he managed to get involved in so many stories. I also loved his character, and this story would continue to show it perfectly, showing how he's both power hungry, whilst deep down a bit of a coward. I also loved seeing Black Mask battle Batman in this story, and especially considering the amazing dialogue that was written, with the brilliant references to War Games.

Black Mask wasn't the only villain in this, as Batman's greatest nemesis the Joker would also appear, having a mysterious objective. It's always nice to see Joker, and especially when he's used properly. Now this may not go down as one of Joker's greatest appearance, but I actually rather liked seeing him take a back seat, especially considering he still had a lot of attention, as most writers that add him without making him the main villain neglect him, which ultimately ruins his characteristic in the story. The witty dialogue from Joker was also amazing, and when his real agenda was revealed I was so excited, with it adding a lot more tone, and drama to that part of the story.

Final Verdict

A brilliant story, and a fantastic follow-on from the outstanding War Games crossover. This showed just how much War Games affected the Batverse, and how everyone is dealing with it one year later. It was however still a very unique story, not just using the event of War Games for the sake of it, being very deep, and independent. Due to all this I'd easily recommend this to anyone, especially if you've read War Games, and if not I'd also recommend reading that as well.

Rating: 9/10

The next Batman book I'll be reviewing will be Batman: Face the Face.