Four years and 43 issues ago, Jett took a chance and passed me the mantle of reviewing
DETECTIVE COMICS. Becoming a member of the
BOF family in those months leading up to the release of
THE DARK KNIGHT was a massive honor for me, because I'd always admired Jett's integrity in how he brought us Batman news. He wasn't about reporting it first. He was about reporting it best, and that "BOF Guarantee" will never go away as we prepare for the release of
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES next summer.
For the most part, this was the easiest job in town. I came in just in time for the amazing Paul Dini/Dustin Nguyen stories now collected in the PRIVATE CASEBOOK trade, right on through to the end of Dini's spellbinding HEART OF HUSH run. I remember being furious about Batwoman replacing Bruce Wayne in the pages of the very book that introduced him to us in 1939, only to be blown away by the deservedly award-winning tale spun by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III.
I was just as angry when new writer Scott Snyder came on board, because this time Bruce had actually fought his way back from his Morrison-induced space/time banishment and still wasn't going to be headlining DETECTIVE. How could this be? Hadn't I read enough of Dick Grayson as Batman in the pages of, well, every Bat-book in print?
It only took the first sentence of Snyder's first issue to prove me all the way wrong.
Though Snyder wrote of a Gotham hungry to devour every soul in the city, there was no hunger more evident than his own. Characters remained ever true, but interacted in ways that were exciting and refreshingly new. Action was huge, danger was everywhere and, under it all, darkness lurked in ways we couldn't possibly have predicted or imagined.
I didn't want to read issue #881 for two reasons. First, I didn't want Snyder's epic story to be over. But, more importantly, I was afraid of just how deranged things would get before it ended.
And though I previously thought I was done with Dick Grayson Batman stories forever, Snyder and his art team of Jock and Francesco Francavilla have left me hungry for more, more, more.
So much is at stake in this issue. Barbara Gordon's life. Jim Gordon's heart. Dick Grayson's ability to exist in a city in which the only thing he can give to combat it is everything. Snyder and the artists -- who split the issue in half -- use every inch of the 30 whopping pages DC thankfully gave them to tell a tale that ties up loose ends with just a little bit of hope while opening up impossible new doors of terror and fright.
As often as I felt my stomach rise into my throat, I also felt myself cheering. This book is filled with instantly classic moments both big and small, all culminating in a "thank you" from Gordon to Grayson that's loaded with a lot more than just casual platitudes. Days after reading it, I'm still smiling. Days after experiencing it, I'm sure Dick Grayson's still smiling, too.
All the fans who find themselves opposed to Barbara Gordon's return as a walking Batgirl in September's relaunch will love how this story gives us what's probably the last great Oracle story ever. Never has Barbara been as intellectually, emotionally, and physically resourceful as she is here. And though Snyder certainly doesn't leave Batman out of the action, he lets the Gordon’s story resolve in as satisfying a way for them as it can, given the circumstances.
And oh what vile circumstances they are. It's a wicked sucker punch to think that the little boy Bruce Wayne rescued in YEAR ONE could grow into something so twisted, and I hope we'll see more of James, Jr. in the future.
Francavilla's deceptively simple artwork, which appears almost childlike at first glance, packs enough creepiness to live under your skin for a lifetime. The red and purple hues of his color palette are rich in danger and sickness, while Jock's pages, colored with power and rage by David Baron, bring to bear the absolute best of his jagged, urgent art style.
From the beginning of my time reviewing Snyder's Batman stories, I spent every opportunity reminding DC that Snyder was the future of Batman if only they'd let him be. My dream -- and his, too, undoubtedly -- comes true in September when Snyder writes the all-new BATMAN #1 with art by Greg Capullo.
I'm thrilled to be following Snyder to the new gig. Jett will be reviewing the new DETECTIVE COMICS series by Tony Daniel, while current BATMAN reviewer Chris Clow (whose awesome TDKR articles on Movies.com are absolutely essential reading for every Bat-fan) will be reviewing several other Bat-Monthlies for BOF.
My deepest thanks to Jett for the continuing opportunity, to Dini and Rucka and Snyder and their perfectly matched art teams for all the awesome stories, and to all the amazing BOF readers who sent me kind words about the reviews. I'll miss writing about DETECTIVE, but I can't wait to review the era Snyder will be spinning for the one, true Batman, Bruce Wayne, in September. See you then! - John Bierly
SYNOPSIS: This is it – the finale so twisted, so shocking we can't even begin to give away details here! Be there for the extra-sized conclusion of the acclaimed run by Scott Snyder, Jock and Francesco Francavilla. DETECTIVE COMICS #881 is the issue everyone will be talking about. Believe it.
