Detective Comics #872
Dick manages to infiltrate the Mirror House and gets a step closer to apprehending the man behind the movement, but is the Dark Knight pursuing or is he being played by his prey?
The Good
Love, love, love this cover!!!! It's mysterious. It's macabre. It's ominous. And it perfectly reflects this issue. Oh, and yes, that is "THAT" crowbar you're seeing.
With every page turned of this comic one can't help but think that this team was meant to be paired together, and even more so, that they were meant to work on Batman. Jocks's of kilter artwork continues to delight , and was made to be paired with Snyders writing. Jock's penciling really captures that Gothic, shadowy, feel of Batman's Gotham. It's especially suited for this arc and this issue particularly. He perfectly renders a world that's dripping with atmosphere. The architecture of Jock's Gotham is truly alive and has that macabre Silent Hill feel to it. The best example of this is when Dick goes undercover at the Mirror House auction. The location and the way it's rendered is just superb. The way the crowd of bidders is presented is genuinely creepy and has a truly occult vibe to it. Those gas masks worn by the attendees of the auction bring to mind all my worst memories of Psycho Mantis. And to Jock's credit I've never seen a crowbar appear so potently malevolent. The shot of the faceless mob closing in on Dick at the end of the issue is great stuff.
Snyder's writing last issue was stellar, this issue, well, it's stellar. He has an excellent handle on Batman's world. His city, his supporting cast and his relationship to them are all accurately and perfectly portrayed. Dick Grayson is depicted perfectly under Snyder's pen. He genuinely reads like Dick as Batman, not as Robin in a bat suit. His interaction with Babs in this issue was great, and really felt organic. Much like Dick's conversation with Gordon last issue, there's a good bit of humor dispersed throughout it. There's a lot that isn't said between the two in these panels that comes through loud and clear. You get a great sense of their history without it being spelled out in the dialog. I also got a genuinely brotherly feel from the time he spends with Tim this issue. I really miss seeing those two interact in the other Bat Family titles.
I love the villain for this arc, especially his design. Kudos to Jock for making this fragile, be-caned old codger appear so unnervingly menacing. The Dealer has a supernatural quality to him, you really get the feeling that there's more than meets the eye to this guy. He's dangerous, and you feel it on a primal level. You can't quite explain your fear of him rationally. He evokes that same pure, transcendent terror that the darkness does in children. I've always been a fan of mephistophelean villains and this guy really delivers. He and his cult of criminality are amoral to the core and have the money and power to indulge their darkest desires. His speech about the nature of man is definitely unsettling, but the truly creepy thing about it is that his grandiose musings make more than a bit of sense. The moment when he presents that bloody, brain stained crow bar to the crowed is haunting. In that instant he becomes the high priest of this twisted black mass that's unfolding before Batman's eyes.
Like many of Batman's best foes, he's lethally intelligent. The way he turns the tables on Dick in this issue's just awesome. He reminds me of Morrison's joker in his meticulousness, his attention to detail would make him a worthy adversary not just for Dick but for Bruce as well. Every thing this guy does in this issue is so perfectly calculated that you've got to admire it.
Much like last month the back up feature is great. The interaction between Babs and Gordon is spot on. We get some answers to exactly why we should be so concerned with James Gordon's reappearance into his father's life. on the art end Francavilla does a fine job and lends the proper atmosphere to this story. I particularly like the way he plays with colors. The way he uses red, blue and purple to present light and shadow is superb. This is especially true on the closing image of Jim and James.
The Bad
Jock's minimalist and oft angular artwork may not be for everybody. Can we nix the annoying Batman Inc. logo from the covers?
The Verdict
It's now official for me, this is the best Batman book out. And with it moving to 2.99 next month, this is a must read series. Years from now we're going to look back at this Arc and recognize it as a classic Batman tale.
