Detective Comics #41

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inferiorego

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Edited By inferiorego  Staff

The Good

Things have changed in the world of Gotham City. Bruce Wayne is MIA after a battle with the Joker and Commissioner Gordon is leading a new Batman task force initiative and leading the way as Batman himself. So where does that leave DETECTIVE COMICS?

Well, luckily, the focus of this book has been spread about since Brian Buccellato and Francis Manapul took over and we got to see a lot of Harvey Bullock. So, when the transition of this issue is more on Bullock rather than anyone else, it feels smooth and natural. Also, Manapul and Buccellato's take on Bullock is perfect. He's a noir private detective. He's hard drinking and doesn't mind throwing a punch. He's not your typical protagonist, but he's secretly lovable.

What really makes this issue the best is that Renee Montoya is back in town and teaming up with Bullock. What about continuity and the fact her picture was on the wall in BATWOMAN, almost like she was being remembered? Who cares! Montoya is awesome and she really fits into this book well. Bullock and Montoya, together, could easily carry this book through all this Bruce Wayne missing stuff. Buccellato and Manapul really have a great grasp on Renee. She's completely bad ass great at her job, and can hold her own in a fight. Actually, she's pretty dang handy in a fight, much more so than Bullock.

The art is a bit of a mixed bag, but there are some really cool looking moments to mention. Fernando Blanco delivers a pretty great two-page spread near the beginning of the book that has a great perspective to it. Blanco delivers action sequences in a cool way, giving the reader new looks and angles with every panel, as long as Gordon-Batman is involved.

If this book is heading the way the final panel sets it up, then I am easily on board for the rest of the arc. Without spoiling anything, the direction is very cool. If we get to see even more of Montoya, which has a likelihood of 99%, then this is the start to something pretty great.

The Bad

There was a little bit of disappointment with the fact we're not seeing Francis Manapul on art, since he breathed a lot of life into the book. In this new arc, we have Fernando Blanco doing the art, with Brian Buccellato on colors. There's a lot of things Blanco does well but the art comes off as a bit bland. He does well in action sequences but character's faces, during scenes of dialogue are either hit or miss. Sometimes, it looks great and other times, it looks rough. There's a bit of inconsistency here with the art.

The Verdict

DETECTIVE COMICS has it's own identity and feel that really separates it from Snyder and Capullo's BATMAN. The book transitions even more to be about Harvey Bullock, which works well if you've been reading the book for the past couple of arcs. Even more importantly, we get the return of Renee Montoya! The only problem with the issue is that the art is a little inconsistent and doesn't hit the mark when it comes to the emotional impact of some scenes. However, this book is off to a great start since the CONVERGENCE break, so I highly recommend this issue.

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Jasoninthewoods

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#1  Edited By Jasoninthewoods

I was kind of wishing that they would have ignored what was going on in Batman ,and just kept it staring Bruce...oh well.

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DarthDanMan

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Francis Manapul isn't doing any of the art for the whole Arc? I wonder what he's working on or maybe he's just taking a break?

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CaptainMarvel4Ever

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Great review, I may pick this one up

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VickBat

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#4  Edited By VickBat

Wow .. Bullock insisted that Batman is not dead.

Chappie slight decline

The bearded of the bar sounds like... is identical to one that came a chapter of "the animated series" I wanted to fight the fool who thought he killed Batman and the Joker wanted to kill him for it ..

Bullock poor World Above fall when told of Jim Gordon..

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GustavoBurciaga1

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Francis Manapul isn't doing any of the art for the whole Arc? I wonder what he's working on or maybe he's just taking a break?

This was the reason I didn't pick it up.

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detective38

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Gordon is ruining poor bullock's game

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son1new

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Really enjoyed this issue. Detective Comics is feeling more and more about the G.C.P.D. every issue and I love it.

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staypuffed

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No Manapul art?! I'm out.

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KASPERCOLE

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I don't know why anyone who read Batman 41 before this or anyone who wasn't a giant Harvey Bullock fan see this issue as anything more than okay. It is not even consistent with the timeline and some of the events defined in Batman 41. I've never liked Manapaul and Buccellato's first two story arcs on 'Tec and really wish they would go back to writing and drawing The Flash. I guess Francis Manapaul isn't even drawing the issues for this Detective arc. To me his art was the only reason to keep picking up Detective. Oh well.

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MPScrimshaw13

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#10  Edited By MPScrimshaw13

Anyone else disappointed when they came into the book expecting Manapul art (because of the cover art and the fact that his name is on the cover).

I feel like I'm experiencing this a lot lately, where a book sells based highly on the artist involved, but at some point the artist just stops doing interiors, but keeps doing the covers and keeps their name on the cover to try to get people to continue to pick it up.

Kind of like that Skottie Young Rocket Raccoon book for which Young only did interiors for like the first 4. I know its my own fault for not opening the book before buying, but come on, how about a little more honesty here?

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cerial442

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I'm not a fan of Batbot, but will keep buying the main Batman book (for now), to see where the last panel scene goes.

I did buy this book due to the amazing cover. But will be dropping it. I don't need two books of Batbot and this didn't seem consistent with the events in Batman #41.

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benicio

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#12  Edited By benicio

I enjoyed DC #41.

@cerial442 I see your point about consistency. It definitely works better if you throw out the time period references (3 weeks ago/3 months ago) between the two books. If you do that, the events all fall in line in a logical linear order. Here is my best guess as to how the events so far are unfolding:

Gordon receives pitches from both Geri Powers and Comm Sawyer; Gordon tries to convince Bullock to join Batman Task Force by telling Sawyer that he trusts Harvey and has asked for him by name; Comm Sawyer attempts to convince Bullock to join BTF; Gordon agrees to be Batman; Gordon fights Whisper Gang Electricity Monster, no GPD BTF assistance (appears to only have assistance from Powers team members and Comm Sawyer herself); Gordon gets Renee Montoya to join BTF; Montoya gets Bullock to consider joining BTF by stating she can get Yip on as well; Gordon and Bullock meet to discuss BTF; Bullock joins BTF as lead; Batman battles unnamed skull gang with BTF assistance.

In fact, it may be the writers best interest moving forward - Reducing the hard time line references within the arcs as they seem to pigeon hole themselves a little bit and make the different bat books struggle with continuity.

benicio

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roaris87

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I was so sad to see Manapul not on pencils, I was a few pages in thinking this really isn't his best work when it hit me. Especially with how good that cover is.

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VickBat

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#14  Edited By VickBat

yip that scares me ... that conversation by mobil suggests that you can not trust her ...A new corrupt police, poor Bullock..