DETECTIVE COMICS, Vol. 1, No. 579 (Barr / Breyfogle; DC, 1987)

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Every Wednesday morning, I make a blind pull from Siri's (randomized) choice of one of the 20 alphabetically-organized shortboxes that constitute my comics collection, (re-) read it, write about it, and publish the resultant review/memory/whatever. Earlier installments live here.

(Box08): Simple and solid bit of done-in-one entertainment heavy on the "chum"s – "chum" and Jason Todd just don't mix – and foreshadowing of a larger Two-Face plot rendered in early Breyfogle which is always a delight: there's something about a good done-in-one that triggers – in a good way – a sort of nostalgia for the narrative craftsmanship of a tight, well-done adventure that makes one crave the next issue without resorting to "to be continued" (a la the best episodes of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES – though it had its share of "TBC," but NEVER out of anything other than the needs of the story being told) or interminable crossovers and year-long "this changes everything / biggest thing ever" cataclysms.

FWIW, the "simple bit of done-in-one" was and remains, to me, the biggest missed opportunity in digital comics: entertaining toss-asides that, in their physical manifestation at least – and in the right hands, become treasures passed through time but that's a rant for another time. For now, I'll keep this one short and as entertaining as I can make it, in homage to.

DETECTIVE COMICS, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Daniel; DC, 2011)

in

Every Wednesday morning, I make a blind pull from Siri's (randomized) choice of one of the 20 alphabetically-organized shortboxes that constitute my comics collection, (re-) read it, write about it, and publish the resultant review/memory/whatever. Earlier installments live here.

(Box08): For all of my consternation about the New 52, there were some solid exceptions, the Bat-family being among them – probably because, other than everyone being de-aged and Gordon's hair being red again, not much changed; this selective rebooting, while beneficial (bone=thrown?) in many ways was also a large part of the problem: if you're going to go for it, go for it all and don't waste time with half-measures. By the time the sun set on the New 52, we were left with little more than the sweat of an exercise in editoral bloodsucking, missed opportunities, and tarnished faith; IIRC, I checked out of comics for the second (or maybe third) time around here (though that had as much to do with relocation (read: lost first house) and burnout from writing ComicStoryworld - 300 pages in five months as anything), not to return in earnest until earlier this year.

But, the comic itself: Daniel is nothing if not a gifted visual storyteller and one of the rare artists (these days) to make the leap to writer-artist feeling as though they've always been writing. Doll-Maker is a fascinating villain and I dig the pulpier urban James Bond (New52 Bats got laid a lot, it seems) feel that Daniel brings to Bats – a far different vibe from Snyder's "grand stakes" storyweaving of The Court of Owls (excellent, too – though "Black Mirror" remains my favorite Snyder Bat-tale); not better, but different – complimentary in the best way possible.

One thing I want to add here about Daniel's art: I love how he constantly is evolving his style and changing it up: at some points, it's difficult to see that this was the same artist of Morrison's RIP storyline, just a couple of years earlier. Dark, kinetic movement on glorious display; might have to pick up all 12 issues of his run at some point.