Detective Comics #857 – Review

by Greg Rucka (writer), JH Williams III (art), Dave Stewart (colors), Todd Klein (letters), Cully Hamner (back-up art), Dave McCaig (back-up colors), and Jared K. Fletcher (back-up letters)

The Story: With Alice’s plot against Gotham revealed, Batwoman moves in to stop her once and for all.

What’s Good: This remains my pick for the best looking book put out by DC or Marvel for pretty much all of the reasons I’ve listed in past reviews of Detective Comics. Abstract, creative panelling which nonetheless flows effortlessly, an astounding level of detail and atmosphere, well-plotted action, and Dave Stewart’s amazing colors continue to make this comic fantastic as an artbook in itself. Williams also does a rather neat thing this issue, actually drawing red boxes around key details in his large splashes…. and boy, oh boy does he have some tremendous splashes, many of which tell a whole sequence of action within them, with Williams never content to risk a single static image in an action-heavy issue.

Williams also often uses his panelling to position Alice and Kate as foils, or diametrical oppositions, using their bodies as borders to the panels, or at one point, even creating a splash that is a mix of both their faces. Williams, through panelling alone, successfully enhances Rucka’s story.

As far as Rucka’s writing goes, there’s a bit of a reveal about Alice’s identity, though it was lost on a Batwoman novice like myself. The action was also really cool and very fluid, detail-oriented stuff, with a blow-by-blow feel. Kate’s relationship with her father/military superior also continues to be interesting, as they end up having a strange language all their own, a mixture of military jargon and imperatives and tender familiarity.

Meanwhile, this was definitely one of the stronger installments of the back-up feature. A good mix of the action we’ve been getting and the characterization we’ve not been getting, the back-up felt much more substantial this month. Hamner and McCaig also put out their best performance yet. While the Saturday-morning flavor is maintained, things feel sharper and more detailed. Add to that a good amount of blue and a thrilling ending, and it’s a winner this month.

What’s Not So Good: Greg Rucka writes a good script, but frankly, I felt that it wasn’t good enough for what JH Williams was doing on art. At times, the discrepancy made the book almost feel like a Williams showcase. Williams turns in ridiculously innovative and totally unique art, while Rucka hands in a script that, while decent, is nonetheless your standard fare.

The problem is, I suppose, that this is an action-heavy issue. As such, Rucka’s script is more minimalist and pragmatic, with fewer character moments. He’s content to just move the action along while Williams goes wild. This is probably Rucka’s blandest script on this title. There’s more or less none of Kate’s trademark humor or menace, as even Alice sounds more comprehensible than usual.

Conclusion: It’s a great issues with amazing art and the back-up is the best yet, but that still makes it a great issue following amazing issues.

Grade: B+

-Alex Evans

Detective Comics #856 – Review

by Greg Rucka (writer), J.H. Williams III (art), Cully Hamner (back-up art), Dave Stewart (colors), Laura Martin (back-up colors), Todd Klein (letters), and Jared K. Fletcher (back-up letters)

The Story: Batwoman narrowly escapes the clutches of the Religion of Crime, thanks to some unlikely allies. Meanwhile,  the Question gets away, only to return to deliver a beat-down.

What’s Good: The best thing about this issue is that it gives us a chance to get to know Kate Kane without the cowl.  A flamboyant yet oddly lonely character,  Rucka places her in a formal gathering at which she feels mightily uncomfortable.  It makes her all the more likable while also tastefully approaching her sexuality.  Stuck with a sense of otherness and the never-ending duties of being Batwoman. It’s clear that she feels that she doesn’t belong, but rather than try her best to  mingle, she goes the opposite direction, purposefully making herself stand out.  It’s nuances like this that make for a great, lively character.

We also get a look at Kate’s other familial relationships.  From the stepmother who doesn’t understand her to the tragically ignored cousin, it’s all fairly bittersweet stuff.  It’s hard not to read Kate’s cousin Bette, desperate for Kate’s friendship, and not feel bad for her.

On art, JH Williams continues to put out some of the best work in mainstream comics today.  The fantastic, dynamic, and endlessly creative panel layouts continue, with Williams doing some cool work with the gutters between the panels.  The really impressive thing about Williams’ work this month, however, is his versatility.  With monsters and hallucinogens abounding in the first Batwoman scene, JH Williams takes on angular, pulpy, horror-styled panels and a more blurred/painted feel.  Juxtaposed to this is the Kate Kane formal party scene, where the paneling suddenly becomes less abstract and the painted feel disappears for a more clean, defined, and “graphic” style.  Both sides are clearly and distinctly Williams, but he’s really showing two completely different modes here.

What’s Not So Good: I’m just not really digging the newly introduced characters of Abbott and his fellow “hybrids.”  Somehow, having a gang of Were-animals in a Bat comic just feels a bit too weird.  I feel like Batwoman just melded with an IDW horror comic.  It’s funny, since in human form, Abbott really is a great character and an effective foil to Kate.  But the whole idea of werewolf characters just seems silly and out of place.  The fact that Abbott in wolf form is written terribly doesn’t help.  Does he really have to say “rrrrr” and “grrrr” after every third word?

Rucka’s story also made me feel a bit out of the loop this month with all of Abbott’s references to past storyarcs regarding the Religion of Crime.  Surely I’m not alone.

The back-up story is also suffering a bit due to how good the main feature is.  Cully Hamner puts out his best work yet on the series, but it still feels like a drop after Williams’ work.  Meanwhile, the story is beginning to feel just a little overly straightforward.  It’s just another 8 pages of the Question fighting, proving herself to be a badass, and getting another location.  Again.  Entirely composed of action scenes. It’s also a lightning quick, barely there read.

Conclusion: Still a fantastic book, this time focusing more on charaterization,  making me  love Kate Kane even more.

Grade: B+

-Alex Evans

Final Crisis #1 (of 7) – Review

By Grant Morrison, J.G. Jones, and Alex Sinclair

As someone who’s not well versed in the DC Universe, I gotta say, this issue will do nothing but confuse and detract new readers to the DC line. The problem is so much of this story is entrenched in DC lore that it’s impossible for new (or maybe even casual) readers to grasp what’s going on. Grant Morrison does his best to provide a semblance of expository dialogue, but issue servers as a rare case where there isn’t enough exposition. And because of this, new readers will suffer. If DC wants to attract new readers, they need to make their summer blockbuster event *much* more accessible.

My familiarity of the “Crisis” events is vague; I know what happened with “Inifinite Earths” and 52, and I read Identity Crisis. And yet, due to my lack of experience, the only thing I can really draw from this story is the (once again) banding of super villains to deliver a killing blow to the super heroes. I did recognize Doctor Light – and he’s still creepy.

There’s definitely a lot going on here and I was able to understand the overall gist of the story and the subplots, but many characters were unrecognizable to me. This lack of familiarity has forced me to just “go along for the ride”. Other than the death of a major character – which I felt was almost forced just to make a statement that “no one is safe” – I can’t honestly formulate an opinion on whether what’s going on is stunning or not

One thing that had me interested, the return of Barry Allen in DC Universe #0, isn’t even touched upon in this issue. Instead, the story races around, establishing the players and what’s at stake (which seems like a lot given the cosmic level of what’s shown). Despite the convolution, Morrison’s dialogue rolls of the tongue of the book’s characters and J.G. Jones’ art is wonderfully detailed and easy to follow.

I’m going to stick around and see if I can make sense of everything. Hell, maybe I’ll learn some stuff about the DC Universe. But judging from the tone of this first issue, I’m going to have to do a lot of homework to make sense of it all. Readers who’ve followed DC’s line of books for years will most likely enjoy this first issue, but for the rest of us, it’s unfriendly nature to neophytes may evoke a hostile response. (Grade: C)

– J. Montes