Detective Comics #27 Review

Writers: Brad Meltzer, Gregg Hurwitz, Peter J. Tomasi, Francesco Francavilla, Mike Barr, John Layman and Scott Snyder
Artists: Bryan Hitch, Neal Adams, Ian Bertman, Francesco Francavilla, Guillem March, Jason Fabok and Sean Murphy

How will Batman’s 75th Anniversary fair? Read on to find out.

The official description from DC Comics:

DC Entertainment presents this mega-sized issue featuring an all-star roster of Batman creators past and present!

Don’t miss a modern-day retelling of The Dark Knight’s origin by the incredible team of writer Brad Meltzer and artist Bryan Hitch! Plus, all-new stories by Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy, Peter J. Tomasi and Guillem March, Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen, Gregg Hurwitz and Neal Adams, new art by legendary Batman writer/artist Frank Miller and more!

Also in this issue, John Layman and Jason Fabok kick off the new storyline “GOTHTOPIA”! It’s a bright, shiny, happy place where dreams come true...as long as you don’t look at things too closely.

As far as mega-sized anniversary issues go, this was probably one of the best in recent years, and was certainly the most value for money having seven stories over 96 pages. The stories were however as expected rather inconsistent, though most were fitting for a celebratory issue.

The main story was “Gothtopia” written by regular Detective Comics writer John Layman with the artwork also coming from the usual artist Jason Fabok. Now the story itself was very interesting, taking a very different approach to the Batman mythos. It was however the mystery behind the story that interest me the most, with it having a “Nineteen Eighty-Four” feel to it. The artwork from Fabok was also as usual extremely impressive, having a lot of detail to it. The layout along with action sequences also impressed me, adding a lot of excitement and intensity to the story.

The other stories came from various creators including Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy, Brad Meltzer and Bryan Hitch, Gregg Hurwitz and Neal Adams, Peter J. Tomasi and Ian Bertman, Francesco Francavilla, and Mike Barr and Guillem March. All of these tales were be very impressive, with most actually being better than the main “Gothtopia” story. It was however the charm and retro feel of Hurwitz and Adam‘s “Old School” and the fitting birthday celebration in Tomasi and Bertman’s “Better Days” that impressed me the most, with both adding a lot to the overall feel.

Overall this was a very fitting tribute issue and well worth the money. The stories were all interesting and exciting with the main story “Gothtopia” being the perfect start to Layman and Fabok’s final arc. Highly recommended.

Rating: 8/10

Batman: The Dark Knight #15 Review

Writer: Gregg Hurwitz

Artist: David Finch

This series has overall been disappointing, and although this story's been better than the rest it's been far from perfect, and I was actually considering dropping the series, for the second time, if it wasn't for this decent ending, and the next story featuring Mad Hatter (one of my favourite Batman villains).

Plot

This issue sees Batman trying to save Gotham City, which has been affected by Scarecrow's Fear Toxin. He realises the only way to make an antidote in time is to syphon it from his own blood (as he's built up an immunity, hence storing a cure).

Review

I was pleasantly surprised about this issue, as it was a brilliant ending to a mediocre story, and especially considering Scarecrow is barely involved. Despite the overall story being mediocre, I do have to thank Gregg Hurwitz, as he's taken this series, which was doing very poor, and turned it into a decent series, and I have ever faith that he'll do a better job in the next story. What I really liked about this story was that it was a bit more up beat than the rest of the story, as most of this story's been dragged out, with very little action. I also loved that Hurwitz made Batman a hero in this issue, and showed that he was willing to do anything to save Gotham. Although I think this story's been too long, and focused on Scarecrow to much, I have liked the new take on Scarecrow, and hope to see a more of him in the future.

Although he wasn't a brilliant writer on this series, David Finch was however a fabulous artist, and I will miss his art on this series, but will be looking forward to seeing his art on the upcoming Justice League of America series. I've always loved his art, and it's brilliant for a Batman series. Although I wasn't overly keen on the gigantic Two-Face, and Joker in the earlier part of this series, Finch has wowed with the rest of his art, and I have especially enjoyed it during this story. I love his take on Scarecrow, as he makes him look like the evil, psychotic individual all Batman fans will know, but at the same time makes him look innocent, and almost as much a victim, as anyone else. Besides that he's done an excellent job drawing all the other characters in this issue, whether it be Alfred, Damian Wayne, or anyone else. I also loved his version of the Bat Plane, and all the action sequences. There was also ton's of detail throughout Finch's art, and in backgrounds.

Toxic Gotham

Seeing Gotham in this state was brilliant, but I questioned if it was at the right time. With Gotham also in peril throughout the Death of the Family storyline, it wasn't necessarily the best time to have a similar, yet completely different scenario at the same time. Besides that small complaint I loved the sequence, and thought it was brilliant seeing Scarecrow turn an entire city like this. I've not read a lot of Scarecrow stories, mainly due to him not appearing much over the last few years, but none of them had him turn out this psychotic, and it was nice to see him cause all this chaos. At the same time I loved how Batman handled this situation, and like the true hero was willing to sacrifice himself in order to save Gotham. The thing I probably liked the most during this sequence was that despite Alfred's pleads for Damian to bring Batman back to the cave, that Damian wouldn't because he promised that he wouldn't till everyone was saved. I liked this part because it shows the respect Damian has for Batman, and that despite his love for his father, he'd rather honour his wishes.

Scarecrow Caught

I was however slightly disappointed that Scarecrow was barely in this issue. Between the big fight Batman, and Scarecrow had last issue, and the way it ended, with Scarecrow poisoning the whole of Gotham, I expected a bigger fight between Batman, and Scarecrow, but we didn't even get one. Although I would have preferred a fight, I did like that the sequence featuring Scarecrow showed that he himself was a victim, and that if it wasn't for what his dad did to him as a child he wouldn't have done the things he's done. It was also nice to see Scarecrow timid and scared, but not intimidated, as he doesn't want to go to get captured, but at the same time doesn't want to show his fear.

One Happy Spectator

It was also nice to see Natalya in this issue, as I've enjoyed seeing her throughout this series. It reminds you that Bruce Wayne has his playboy image, plus it's also nice for him to have someone to care about, besides his family. The way Bruce entered Natalya's performance was also very interesting, as once everyone leaves, due to her terrible playing, he enters saying that he loved it. I hope that we get to see more of this relationship in the future, and that it's not overshadowed by the main stories, although at the same time I don't want it to take to much away from the main stories.

Final Verdict

This was a brilliant end to a mediocre story. Although I've enjoyed the new origin for Scarecrow, it was stretched over too many issue, and I hope that Hurwitz doesn't do this with the next story. Although this was a good issue, due to it being the end of a story I'd only recommend it to people who have the rest, or parts of the story, or are considering getting the rest of the story. I'd also probably recommend the entire story, as it had a brilliant start, and ending, but unfortunately dragged in the middle. I'd probably overall rate this story a 4/5.

Rating: 4/5

Batman: The Dark Knight #14

Writer: Gregg Hurwitz
Artist: David Finch

I have never been overly keen on this series, and in fact dropped the series after issue 9, but after hearing good things about the series since Gregg Hurwitz joined the creative team I decided to give the series another chance. So far this story has been a lot better than what the series was like before Hurwitz joined, but it's not been anything special, and I hope the next story involving the Mad Hatter is better.

Plot

This issue sees Batman finally escaping from Scarecrow. Once outside Batman is then rescued by Robin who takes him home. Meanwhile Scarecrow isn't done and decides to bring out the super toxin.

Review

This was a good issue but the story is still nowhere near from perfect. I like how Hurwitz has given this series some new life, and made it a decent series. I still however think there is still more needed to make this series match some of the other Batman series, and with Detective Comics getting better since John Layman took over writing, this series has once again dropped to the worst of the solo Batman series. I did however like how Hurwiz put a bit more action in this issue, a most of the story so far has been Scarecrow experimenting on Batman, whilst the story showing Scarecrows past. Although this has been interesting, it was starting to get a bit boring, and I wouldn't have been surprised if the whole story was just that one big sequence, spliced with flashbacks.

I am happy that David Finch is still doing art on this series, as although the plot was very poor when he wrote the series his art was always stunning. This issue is no different, and there is only one thing I can fault about it. There is a sequence later on in the issue featuring Penguin, and I personally didn't like the way he drew him. I've liked how Finch has drawn most of the Bat villains in this series, even the overgrown Two-Face, but Penguin just didn't look right. Although Penguin is known for being very round it looked too unrealistic in this issue. His facial features were also a bit too much and slightly inconsistent from the Penguin we've seen in other series. His hair also looked very stupid, as Penguin always prides himself in looking tidy and well dressed, whereas in this issue his hair's all over the place which doesn't look right. Besides that the art was brilliant and I like how Finch's work really put's the Dark in Dark Knight. Whether drawing facial expressions, or fight sequences, it's always brilliant and a pleasure to look at.

The fight between Scarecrow and Batman at the start of the issue was good, and although it had it's imperfections, it was still good, and a nice change from the other issues, which have been filled with too much dialogue and nearly no action. The fight itself is very strange, and this is probably due to the fear gas. At one point Batman throws himself on Scarecrows scythe. He must have been really desperate, or really out of his mind if he was willing to impale himself to get a hold of Scarecrow. Scarecrow's expressions at the start of the fight was brilliant, as you could see he was happy with his work, and that he enjoyed seeing Batman go insane. It was also fun to see the expression change when he got Batman's Grapple Gun through his jaw. It is a bit weird how the claw on the end of the gun, which is the same size or bigger than a human's jaw could get through without hitting anything else. Batman must have either used all his skill to hit only the jaw or been that out of his mind he couldn't care, either way I enjoyed this mini fight.

It was nice to have Damian find Batman, and I liked how he mentioned that he'd been out every night looking for him. I also loved how the sequence with Batman recovering in bed how this showed more of the growing father, and son relationship between the two. I also liked how Damian was written in this issue, as some series, where he's not one of the main characters, they make him more serious than he should be. I like a more immature, Damian as it shows that he's still a child. It was also nice to see that Damian still had time to crack a joke whilst talking about how worried Alfred, and himself were.

I liked that the little girl Scarecrow had chained in his cellar got a chance to speak in this issue, as all we've heard her say is how she's scared whilst she pleading with Scarecrow not to scare her any more. Later on in this issue the girl has a conversation with Commissioner Gordon where she tells him about her time locked up in Scarecrow's cellar. I'm happy that her involvement in the story has been a little more relevant than just a test subject for Scarecrow to work on prior to capturing Batman, but I hope that she has a role in the final issue of this story making her even more relevant to the story.

Final Verdict

This was a good issue, but I hope this series starts getting good, and if the next story isn't better I will be considering dropping it again. I don't know whether to recommend this issue as it is good but isn't great. If you are a big Scarecrow fan, and open to the fact of his back story changing a bit I would recommend getting this. I would also recommend it to people who have the story so far, as it makes sense, but otherwise I'd recommend waiting till the next story featuring the Mad Hatter starts in issue 16.

Rating: 3.5/5