Detective Comics (2011 onwards)

[Paul (ral)]

Discussion on "Detective Comics"

[Paul (ral)]

Detective #1 was released today with Tony S Daniel writing and doing the artwork.

The previews I saw looked great...anyone pick it up?

[Paul (ral)]

No-one's read it? 

I got it yesterday. A great starter....and pretty gruesome with it. The last page really is WTF!

[Silver Nemesis]

I read it. I wasn't really mad on it to be honest. The final page was intriguing. But the main narrative about Batman pursuing the Joker was fairly routine. And I thought some of the dialogue was a bit poor.

"Please, don't let the Joker kill me too!"
"Dizzy in seconds. But I can take it. I'm Batman."
"Mommy? Why are there so many strange people on the train? ... he looks like a monster! A giant bat-monster!"

What really disappointed me about it though was the characterisation of the Joker. I've gotten really bored with how he's been portrayed in recent years. There was a time when the Joker was funny and threatening. Tension arose from not knowing if he was going to kill someone or simply play a prank on them. Nowadays he's just a generic knife-wielding serial killer who hacks people to death in the bloodiest way possible. It's a very one-note portrayal that gets boring fast. I was hoping the 'reboot' would change this, perhaps taking him back to his more inventive persona from the 70s and 80s. But if this issue is anything to go on, that's not the case.

On the upside, I thought the artwork was great. Most of my criticisms are down to personal preference really. It wasn't a bad issue. I was just expecting something a little better based on the rave reviews I'd read.

[Paul (ral)]

I get what you are saying and do have to agree about the Joker. Yeah some dialogue was a little weak but i liked the "strange people on the train.." part.

I loved the art and Gordon. Yeah there was nothing new there but it was still fairly solid i think....

..however it wasn't the best thing I have read this month.

[Silver Nemesis]

They were obviously going for a basic Batman vs. Joker story to welcome new readers. And I'm sure it'll pick up when the main plot gets going in the next issue. But as an opening chapter, I found it a little underwhelming. Maybe my expectations were too high after some of the reviews I'd read. For example, IGN gave it an 8.5. Personally, I would have given it a 6 or a 6.5 at most. But that's just my opinion and I wouldn't want to deter anyone else from reading it.

[The Joker]

Dollmaker as a villain certainly has potential, and I'm very curious about the Joker's new look following the 'procedure'.

[Paul (ral)]

Tony Daniel is off Detective Comics after issue 12 - John Layman and Jason Fabok are taking over!
http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2012/07/05/announcing-a-new-writer-and-artist-for-detective-comics