This week I am stepping in for fellow writer Brandon, as he has engagements that prevent him from being able to get a Friday Recommendation to you, our fair readers. However, that works out for all of us as that means you get a double dose of David, as this week and next week will be recommendations from myself. Consider yourself lucky.
This week, I want to spotlight the best Batman title on the market. No, not Grant Morrison’s Batman & Robin (although it would be if it had more consistent art), but Greg Rucka and JH Williams III’s Detective Comics.
Alright, you may have the argument that this isn’t a true Batman title. You’d be right, this is in fact a Batwoman title. Detective Comics (after R.I.P.) now follows the adventures of Kate Kane as she stalks the Religion of Crime and their creepy as hell new leader Alice and tries to take them down once and for all. With such a talented writer on the title, you know you’d get more than just the surface plot, as there is intrigue with the connection between Kate and Alice, the faction of the Religion of Crime who believes that Kate should be their leader (the twice named!), and many other things.
It’s an action packed storyline with sharp characterization by Rucka, one of the best and most underrated writers in the DC stable. Rucka is at his best when working with strong female protagonists, as his best characters have been leading ladies like Renee Montoya and Sasha Bordeaux, and Rucka’s handling of Kane is every bit as good as his work with those two vaunted characters. That Rucka also gets to handle Montoya in a backup story following The Question’s (Montoya’s new alter ego) side quest against the Religion of Crime is a bonus, as you get two excellent stories a month for one price.
The biggest difference between the main story and the supporting story, and frankly, the reason why this book goes from very good to elite, is JH Williams III’s absurdly good art. As I mentioned in my wrap up of September when I named Williams the artist of the month, we might as well name the award the JH Williams III award because he should win it every month until he stops illustrating this title. Opening Detective with Williams on it for the first time reminds me of the first time I opened Marvels with Alex Ross illustrating. I knew instantly that this was something unlike anything I’d ever seen or likely will ever see.
Williams is a chameleon and a half on this title, having two distinctly different styles for scenes where Kate is in costume and out of costume. His ability to render the action sequences in an entirely different look and layout as his more intimate scenes is paramount to the success of this title, and is so effortlessly intoxicating that it’s hard not to read this book twice just to get the full experience again.
The layouts are probably the most incredible of all the things he does on this title, as his layouts have a fluid and natural progression to them that makes absolutely no sense from a traditional comic book sense, but makes perfect sense when you sit down and analyze it from a progressive storytelling standpoint. There is a real sense of cinematic motion within these pages, as Williams renders each and every scene with true kineticism and palpable emotion. From the angle of storytelling standpoint, I honestly would argue with people who think that this isn’t the single best artistic storytelling of the year, and possibly I’ve ever seen.
I could go on and on about Williams. The guy is the absolute best artist working right now. It’s not even close. The only artists I say who are on par from a storytelling standpoint are possibly Ross (whose painted vistas are beautiful but not as energetic) and John Cassaday (who also renders his images in a more static fashion than Williams). Combine Williams’ exceptional work with another epic crime drama with another brilliant and sultry heroine from Rucka, and you have yourself one of the best titles in the industry, regardless of publisher.
