As a writer who is crafting a modern masterpiece with “Chew”, John Layman was prime for a big time gig. His takeover of Detective Comics was an immediate upgrade, but a few months in and right in the middle of the “Death of the Family” crossover, how is his run holding up?
Written by John Layman
Illustrated by Jason Fabok– A “Death of the Family” tie-in issue!
– As The Joker continues to wreak havoc on The Dark Knight and his allies, Batman is forced to cut a deal with The Penguin…one that will come back to haunt both of them when a new villain interferes!
– And in the backup story, Ignatius Ogilvy usurps The Penguin’s throne and decides to lead the underworld crimelords in The Penguin’s place!
How would one characterize John Layman’s work? “Chew” is funny as hell, with all manner of clever references and gross-out humor. At times, Layman can also get really down and dirty with the dark side of humanity. He has said that he didn’t really intend for “Chew” to be as much of a comedy book as it turned out to be. “Detective Comics” skimps on his trademark brand of humor, but continues to bring his dark, gruesome sensibilities to the heart of Gotham City where they fit in just fine.
To tie into what Snyder is doing with The Joker, Layman sets Gotham up as a breeding ground for Joker tribute gangs, allowing their madness to come out as a result of Joker’s inspiration. Batman spends most of the issue racing around Gotham trying to stop these wayward people at every turn. Each gang has their own trademarks and tendencies, but they all are clearly Joker-influenced. There’s some fun to be had with the pun-riddled names of each Joker gang and it’s a little tongue-in-cheek to read Batman saying these names with a straight face, but that’s where the humor ends. This book takes what’s going on very seriously. In a way, this makes certain aspects of the story seem patently ridiculous if you think about them too much. However, the book owns this ridiculousness and doesn’t try to have it both ways, instead choosing to play it straight.
Layman also effectively dovetails his “Emperor Penguin” arc into Snyder’s crossover by having the “new” Penguin, Ignatius Ogilvy, use the Joker rampage as a cover for his own crime spree. He’s very smart about the way he approaches the crossover, as we never spend too much time away from Emperor Penguin so it doesn’t feel like a dropped story point. The backup helps with this too, as it’s completely focused on this character. At the same time, this is not one of those tie-in issues that has almost nothing to do with “Death in the Family” (I’m lookin’ at you, Catwoman). Layman makes the line-wide tie-in work in his favor to tell a story that both builds on his own story arcs and widens the scope of The Joker’s return by highlighting how it affects the mentally disturbed throughout Gotham.
Layman has had a penchant for adding really brutal gut-punches to his stories and “Detective Comics” #16 is no exception. The final few pages of the main story turn the issue into a tragic (and pretty gross) affair that takes the reader by surprise in a thematically nice visual sense. In fact, so many of the strengths of this issue have to do with the work of Jason Fabok.
How often does your average group of goonish henchmen make any sort of visual impact on you, the reader? It’s probably not very often, because these characters are only there for Batman to use as punching bags, right? It is no less than incredible, the craft that Fabok put into the designs of every character in this story. Even characters that are only used for one panel get a fully unique, Joker-inspired costume, face paint, facial look and body type. And this is without ever skimping on the detail. His attention to detail is outstanding. Jason Fabok putting out work this detailed and well-designed month after month is putting most other superhero artists to shame. He draws Batman thick, like a tank that explodes into every scene and disposes of enemies with ruthless (non-fatal) efficiency. While Chris Burnham draws Batman as a little more nimble, and Capullo draws him with a little rough-around-the-edges, Fabok highlights his staunch tunnel-vision in the face of duty.
Continued belowFabok’s finest moment is in the issue’s final scenes. He sells the big, violent moment of the story with such accuracy and detail and in a way that makes the design of his “Joker gang” characters pay off thematically. Fabok’s work on “Detective Comics” has been eye-opening, but his issue #16 is nothing less than him stepping up to the plate and hitting it out of the park.
Shortly after putting Layman on “Detective Comics”, it became very striking how good the Batman books have been. Snyder and Capullo have been getting all of the press – and with good reason. Layman and Fabok haven’t yet started aiming for the major landscape-shifting stories that Snyder has in his pocket. But with a Joker tie-in issue that delivers on every promise it makes, this is a great opportunity for more comic readers to see why Layman and Fabok might be the next great Batman creative team.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy. It’s really very good.
