It’s not necessarily a new thing to explore the idea that while superheroes have a rigid “no killing” policy, there is certainly plenty of collateral damage in keeping the city safe from villains and criminals. The idea that even with the best of intention, superheroes aren’t able to control what happens to everyone. Innocent people will be caught in the crossfire. An ally might not make it back from the fight. It’s the idea of loss and damage that is the driving force behind James Tynion IV’s second arc in “Detective Comics,” ‘The Victim Syndicate.’ The exciting thing about the arc is that because this is a team book, not only are we given a glimpse of the different hero’s philosophies of dealing with trauma, but their philosophies of what it means to be a hero. ‘The Victim Syndicate’ pushes the new team to the edge and creates an interesting dynamic moving forward.
“Detective Comics” #943-947Cover by Jay Fabok and Brad Anderson
Written by James Tynion IV
Illustrated by Eddy Barrows, Alvaro Martinez, Al Barrionuevo, and Carmen Carnero
Inked by Eber Ferreira, Raul Fernandez, and Scott Hannah
Colored by Adriano Lucas and Brad Anderson
Lettered by Marilyn Patrizio
Published by D.C.
‘The Victim Syndicate’ begins a short time after the “death” of Tim Drake, The Red Robin. While the team continues to train and learn more about Jacob Kane’s plan for the colony, Bruce and Batwoman begin to grow concerned for Stephanie. Not only did Stephanie lose a team member, but she also lost a significant other, and because of this, she’s been off of her game. A lot of ‘The Victim Syndicate’ is spent with Stephanie as we see her dealing not only with her trauma but beginning to question the whole efficacy of being a superhero. After spending time with Harper, a former vigilante who is now working at a free clinic, Stephanie begins to question the best way to help her city. There are other ways to help people without putting on a cape and cowl and beating people up. Stephanie’s questioning about her place in all this extends to the team as well, realizing that the team is made up of potential threats to Batman. Spoiler, Orphan, and Kate are all children of people who tried to kill batman, and Clayface has attempted.l to kill him many times. As Stephanie says, the team is a “system for all of us, that would keep us active enough not to question whether anything we were doing had any impact.” On its own, Stephanie’s struggle with her role as a vigilante is impactful. Tynion takes it to another level with the creation of a villain faction that makes the whole team confront their roles as heroes, The Victim Syndicate.
Each member of The Victim Syndicate gained their abilities during an attempt by Batman to save the city. The Mute was a victim of Joker’s gas and can prevent people from talking. Mister Noxious was put under Poison Ivy’s control and is a literal poison cloud. After being the guinea pig of Scarecrow’s experiments, Madame Crow developed her own “anti-fear” toxin. Finally, Mudface was the victim of Clayface’s attack against Batman. She was simply a fan trying to talk to her hero. They are lead by “The First Victim,” a nameless entity, who claims that they were Batman’s first victim and have come for retribution. The designs of The Victim Syndicate make the villains instantly memorable. Eddy Barrows and Alvaro Martinez give each of them a unique style in ‘The Villains Syndicate’ with the clear standout being The First Victim. Their design looks like they’re almost dripping with blood, and the face ranges from almost featureless to slick and sinister. The goal of the Victim Syndicate is to reveal the identity of Batman to protect anyone else from being impacted like they were. In the team’s first scrap with the syndicate, Stephanie gets attacked, but the First Victim is able to get into Stephanie’s head by simply apologizing.
But it’s not only Stephanie who is impacted by confronting the victims of Batman’s past. Clayface begins ‘The Victim Syndicate’ more comfortable with his role on the team, but dealing with Mudface reminds him of the monster he can become. The longer he is Clayface, the less able he is to control his brain’s moral center. Clayface has quickly become one of my favorite characters, continuing to explore his struggle with wanting to change, but being constantly reminded of the pain he caused others. Kate is also dealing with her role as a team leader but also with the newest team member, Luke Fox. Kate sees Fox as nothing more than a playboy playing a superhero. In Kate’s mind, he is merely looking for fame and applause but doesn’t care about actually helping people. Batman needs Fox for his brain, but Kate doubts his commitment to the cause. Tynion excels at writing the group dynamic and creating unlikely pairings, which are just a delight to read. Tynion continues to build a dynamic secondary cast as well. Harper and Jean-Paul both bring a level of humanity and hope to the book, with Harper showing compassion for her friend while also showing here there’s another way. Harper got out. She found other ways to help. It’s impressive how effortlessly Tynion can juggle the large cast of “Detective Comics” but in a way that none of them feel left out.
Similarly, the art of ‘The Victim Syndicate’ also creates some excellent visual storytelling. One of the strongest is Stephanie’s conversation with the clay Red Robin. The face is always neutral with cold dead eyes, contrasting the strong emotions Stephanie is feeling during the scene. The action is also strong throughout, and there’s just something about seeing Batman mid pounce that will always be exciting. Finally, the coloring throughout helps to create a somber tone when they’re dealing with the syndicate. Each of the characters has an ominous glow, helping them stand out in their various fights.
‘The Victim Syndicate’ ends with Stephanie living up to her namesake, promising to be a spoiler not only to villains but to Batman and the team as well. In her world, the only thing that matters is keeping the people safe and breaking the cycle of hero, villain, and innocent victim. While Kate wants to bring her in, or at the very least stopping her from standing in their way, Bruce sees it differently. For Stephanie, this is her being her best self, and Batman won’t stand in the way of that. It’s interesting seeing fissures in the team already, but exciting to see that Tynion is going to keep his team dynamic in the quest to protect Gotham.
