Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Detective Comics #19
DC Comics
Layman & Fabok
What would have been the 900th issue of Detective Comics celebrates in a very unique way with a story around the number 900. I admire DC editorial for not re-numbering or pulling some numbers stunt that Marvel excels at. Instead we get an over-size, but over-priced ($8) comic book about a man-bat plaque. It's a good read but ultimately not worthy of the 900th issue or what I would have expected from the creative team attached.
The lead story is a 26 pager about a man-bat infestation that has taken a hold of Gotham. There are ties to the number 900 but it isn't anything terribly complex or cosmic. The story is fairly standard in its execution. We get an idea of the scope of the danger, we find out how it starts and the resolution of the storyline. Doors are left open at the end. The story ties in some of the elements of Layman's larger run as well as some of the components from the other Bat-titles. It's a decent standalone story.
The second story is only an eight pager but it really compliments the lead-in story nicely, which is basically how Layman's backups have been during his run on Detective. Again, the story feels familiar but it does have a unique combination of sweetness and creepiness that I enjoyed.
The third story is a ten pager about Bane. Instead of tying in to the other two, it seems to be a leader to the Bat-related book, Talon. This story just didn't do it for me. I don't like stories in one comic that are picked up in a separate title and this is basically just that. Add in that this incarnation of Bane felt completely foreign to me and I felt like this story just was out of place.
The fourth story was an eight pager that seemed to be sewing up loose ends from previous Detective issues that sort of wedged in a couple of man-bat elements to fit into this issue. I wasn't sure what to make of this, but it did feel like a deleted scene from an early Detective issue. It simply didn't enhance the package of this comic.
The fifth story was also an eight pager and told the story of one of the people that had been infected by the man-bat infestation but later cured. It was a decent story to end the comic with as it sort of showed Batman's relationship with the rank and file police force.
The book had very nice art throughout. All of the stories had a similar look and feel to the art. The comic had plenty of action and plenty of splash pages to mix with the dense stories that Layman tells. The art presented a very good Batman story.
Sixty pages of Batman for eight bucks isn't the best value in the world, but at least it was entertaining. Layman knows how to tell a good story and this issue is loaded with them. I'm not sure this was the big celebration I was expecting for the 900th issue and "900" mystery but I guess Layman will pick up the Emperor Penguin later on again. This was an entertaining and good read but nothing special.
3 out of 5 Geek Goggles
