DETECTIVE COMICS #2
Written and Drawn by Tony Daniel
Inks by Ryan Winn and Sandu Florea
Review by Brad Jones
I loved this issue. I like the balance of Bruce-to-Bats, and while I think Bruce is a little one-dimensionally goody-two-shoes about his work to better Gotham, the dichotomy plays really well with the dreariness of the villains Batman is up against. In my opinion, The Dollmaker and his “family” are some of the most creative, terrifying new Batman villains I’ve seen since Clayface (the dude freaked me out in the Animated Series). I love the idea of a super-villain wearing the faces of his victims to inspire fear as a parallel to the why Bruce wears his cape and cowl. That these villains defaced (literally) the Joker at the end of Issue #1 blew me away…and the threat now to Gordon has me on the edge of my seat.
I found myself really studying the beautifully drawn panels in this issue, looking for the seams and different bits of each victim in the Dollmaker(s) faces. Batman has definitely gone very dark throughout the years, but Daniel has taken some cues from trends like torture porn and applied them intelligently to this new Detective Comics series. Some of the intensity of the panels harkens back to The Dark Knight (movie) “Wanna Know How I Got These Scars” craziness, and it’s a true testament to Daniel’s writing and style.
VERDICT
Buy It – Possibly the best of the New 52, this series is a do not miss!
