Paul Dini and Don Kramer return to DETECTIVE in #837 after a two issue absence.

Too bad The Batman didn’t show up to greet 'em.

I’ve been very pleased with Dini’s run as DETECTIVE‘s primary writer since he took over the title a while back. Consequently, I’m going to consider “HONOR AMONG THIEVES” as simply a bump in the road of Dini’s stewardship of this title ‘cause this one, well, sucked.

To put it briefly, you’ve got Bruce Wayne making an appearance in one panel at the beginning, and then The Batman showing up at the very end. In between, all you get is an uninteresting story involving the “reformed” Edward Nigma and Harley Quinn in Metropolis.

So what brings The Riddler there and why is Dr. Harley Quinn hanging out in Superman’s hometown? Well, Mr. Bruce Wayne has hired Nygma -- who is now a private eye by the way -- to track down a Wayne Enterprises employee who has gone missing. Obviously, Bruce has an ulterior motive in hiring The Riddler. I mean, he IS “The World’s Greatest Detective,” right?

Anyway, most of the story takes place at this goofy Amazonian run women’s center where Harley has found employment. Frankly, I’m not interested in Batman stories that involve the Riddler and Harley Quinn reminiscing about old times…and fighting a she-monster.

A she-monster created via steroids and Amazonian magic.

*Rolls Eyes*

That’s all I’ve got to say about the storyline of this issue, and as you can tell, I didn’t like it. So how’s the art? Well, if you’re familiar with Don Kramer’s work on DETECTIVE, then you know what to expect. Don tends to have “same face syndrome” from time to time, but I absolutely love his depiction of Batman. And props to Wayne Faucher and John Kalisz for putting The Dark Knight in BLACK!

Also, I simply adore Simone Bianchi’s covers! This one features a very Michael Keaton-ish-Batman. Dude seems to honor all the Batmen on film from time to time, as I’ve seen covers with Batman looking like Bale and even George Clooney!

If you haven’t bought this one, definitely skip it. The big “Return of Ra’s Al Ghul” cross-over is coming next (I HATE this very 90ish cross-overs by the way), and it certainly seems to me as this issue was nothing more than a quick and lazy “filler” story.

Memo to DC: stay away from the fantastical with DETECTIVE. And to the great Mr. Dini, I KNOW you can come up with better than this!