Detective Comics #26 – Review

By: John Layman (writer), Aaron Lopresti (pencils/inks), Art Thibert (inks), Blond (colors)

Ever since Detective Comics #19 John Layman has been hinting big things for Man-Bat. When his departure from Tec was announced, just before New York Comic-Con, a Man-Bat series was practically expected, sitting comfortably on con predictions as reliable as Bleeding Cool’s. Obviously that series never came to be, but the inevitable end to Layman’s Man-Bat saga is here.

Layman has already proven himself to be an adept of the near-forgotten art of the single-issue story. Building from the backup in last month’s Zero Year tie-in, Layman quickly sets up the action for this issue and provides the Man-Bat v. Batman action his readers are undoubtedly looking for.

While there isn’t a lot of hard detective work in this issue, Layman does continue his work of returning the cerebral elements of the “world’s greatest detective”. While Man-Bat is not usually a foe who can challenge the Dark Knight on an intellectual level, Layman’s old-fashioned, heroic Batman insists on saving him, requiring him to cure Man-Bat without endangering innocent lives. Batman comes up with a couple of clever methods of dealing with this problem, but I can’t help but wonder if the final plan that he puts into action was really the most effective way to handle things.

Indeed, while Layman’s story is an impressively economical one, it’s a highly protracted ending to a fairly long running subplot. Given Layman’s track record and the clear teaser for his Gothtopia cross-over, one has to wonder if the story was originally going to feature a more naturally paced conclusion. Alas, I have to review what is, rather than what could be.