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Review: Detective Comics #874

By | February 25th, 2011
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Written by Scott Snyder
Illustrated by Francesco Francavilla

“There are some cases that come screaming back at you…like phone calls in the night…” For years, Jim Gordon has been haunted by the unsolved case of Gotham’s notorious “Peter Pan Killer.” Now, armed with new evidence, Gordon is determined to put the case to rest. But as he digs deeper, he’ll unearth a shocking discovery about his own past — a revelation that will shake him to the core. Skeletons will be exposed and secrets revealed in this special issue featuring art by Francesco Francavilla!

The whimsically dark writing style of Scott Snyder has made Detective Comics the Bat book to beat according to many. However, with his first arc in the can and regular fill in artist Francesco Francavilla taking over for this mini-arc, is the standard set by the initial story met by this one? Click on down to find out!

I’m going to be honest, I was pretty happy when I found out that the story began in the Commissioner Gordon back-up was going to be shifted into the main book and the biggest disappointment of this issue is mostly that we didn’t get more of it. As we learned back in December, Gordon’s first child, James Jr. has resurfaced. However, during an extended half issue conversation with his father, we learn that Jr. has accepted his psychopathic nature, broken it down very scientifically and has put himself on what he hopes is a path to redemption. I found Snyder’s treatment of this particular disease illuminated, and far and away more detailed than any other villain analysis I’ve seen in a Batman book since the Dark Knight Returns. Approaching it from that bare bones, honest of an angle really makes me torn as a reader. I can’t decide whether I want the clinical trial Jr. is on to curb is psychopathic tendencies to succeed, or whether I want him to be lying and playing mind games with his father. This indecision is proving to be a back door into investment: I don’t know what I want to happen, so I have to read to see what actually does. Pretty sneaky, Scottie.

The tail end of the issue features an extended fight scene between Batman and Red Robin against some new, black market poachers active on the Gotham scene. I found this scene worthwhile in that it allowed us a window into the relationship of Tim Drake and Dick Grayson within the Batman Inc status quo. Their relationship is full of noticeably more camaraderie than the largely antagonistic relationship between Grayson and Damien Wayne, which allows both of them to “let their hair down” a bit and mouth off to each other in more than a few “Spider-Man-Esque” ways. While in some ways this might be jarring, Snyder makes it work by establishing the legitimate care they have for one another, making their conversation fluid and jovial almost by default.

On the art end, it would be hard to deny the monumental differences between Francavilla and Jock. That said, while the art in this issue absolutely accomplishes what it needs to and works with the story, I’m not sure it really clicks with me the same way Jock’s does. I also feel that Francavilla’s clean lines and conventional character designs fit the relatively calm Gordon scene a LOT better than the action packed Batman/Red Robin scene. His art lends itself very well to static, or downplayed imagery that builds suspense through subtle gestures, but when it comes to conveying movement and momentum it does fall a little short.

Overall though, I maintain what I opened this review with: this is the Bat book to beat. As long as Snyder is on board, so am I.

Final Verdict: 9.0 – Buy


Joshua Mocle

Joshua Mocle is an educator, writer, audio spelunker and general enthusiast of things loud and fast. He is also a devout Canadian. He can often be found thinking about comics too much, pretending to know things about baseball and trying to convince the masses that pop-punk is still a legitimate genre. Stalk him out on twitter and thought grenade.

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