Detective Comics #27 (Comics Review)

Less than a year since Detective Comics celebrated its 900th issue with New 52: Detective Comics #19, an anthology issue which brought together several different creators, we have New 52: Detective Comics #27, which celebrates the landmark issue of the original series that first introduced Batman to the world as Bat-Man, the caped crusader and dark knight of Gotham who solved the city’s crime with acts of vigilantism. And again, we have an anthology issue bringing together different creators, and telling some really different stories while also giving some bonus art to fans.

I was really excited for this issue. I kind of missed the whole lead-up to Detective Comics #19 since I wasn’t reading the series at the time, but I am now. And one thing that happened this afternoon was that I was massively disappointed. This issue, in its first half, basically retells classic tales and does a hack-job. The second half, with original stories that will be carried over in future issues, is actually good. But the first half definitely bothered me, and it was the writing far more than the art that bothered me.

Batman and Robin #23.1 by Peter J. Tomasi (Comics Review)

Batman and Robin is not a comic that I’ve followed from the beginning, except for reading the first arc at some point late last year. And I wasn’t really taken with it in any way, largely because I found Damian Wayne to be incredibly arrogant and a bit of a jerk as well. Plus, the story just wasn’t all that exciting. So I’ve held off on reading any further issues till now. Damian’s death earlier this year, in the pages of Grant Morrison’s Batman, Incorporated made me want to go read the relevant issues however, largely because the first issue of Batman and Robin after that fateful Batman, Inc issue was a silent-issue, no dialogue at all. I saw the previews for it and the silent emotions that were packed into it amazed me, and even made me cry. Only that issue and Batman #17, which ends on a similar note, have gotten me so emotional across all the Batman titles I’ve been reading it in the New 52.

And now we have the Villain’s Month issues, the first one featuring one of Batman’s best-conceptualised villains, Two-Face. I’ve been a fan of the character for ages, ever since I first saw him in Batman: The Animated Series, and I was highly anticipating this issue last week. I didn’t get a chance to read it then, but I was able to get to it last night finally, and I have to say that I’m a bit disappointed with it.