Detective Comics #21 - Shadows and Ghosts; Territorial

can't wait to read it!

I thought this issue was great except for the backup story. I'm not really sure we need a two-part story for that character. I felt like it was paced kind of slow just so it could be made into two parts.

I hate Harper Row...but I'll probably still read this issue.

"The assassin here happens to have a deeper connection. Is that too coincidental? If so, it's fine with me. I love where Hickman takes the story and how it ties this all together. The opening pages gets me even more excited for future events."

Read this back to back with Avengers, eh?

I was a pretty big fan of Layman, but his Detective has swayed me even more in his direction. I love his writing. Is he the best writer? Probably not. But he IS my favorite writer.

Ugh.. No matter how hard I try, I just can't like Harper Row. She's actually starting to turn me off from anything she's in.

What does this mean?

Harper Row isn't just passively unappealing, she's actively off-putting. Since the reboot, some characters seem to be passively unappealing to me, like Green Arrow. There's nothing that bothers me about him, or his book, it just fails to grab me like Animal Man did in Rotworld, or Earth-2. But the way Harper's written, especially given Damian's death and the way Lobdell RUINED Tim Drake's origin, she went from a mildly irritating know-it-all to a crappy imitation of a beloved Robin, meant to replace another beloved Robin.

Layman holding the key to Bat-canon? *vomits*

Wait, people hate Harper Row? Weird. Personally she's one of my favourite new characters. From the looks of it, they're looking at maybe transitioning her into the next female Robin, which would be cool; with a female Robin I think there may almost be as many women in the bat-family as men.

Thanks for the cool review.

I don't understand the hate either.

When she first appeared, but briefly, I was immediately intrigued and actually added her to my list here of characters I wanted to see more of. I've liked her from the beginning. Some folks seem to have missed that Snyder introduced her well before the whole Damian mess, and are now holding the potential she has to be made into Damian's replacement against her, and loathe anything about her that remotely suggests her being important in Batman's life. Which I consider quite petty.

The one semi-valid complaint I've seen is that they seem to have borrowed a lot of her backstory from Tim, whom many fans consider the New 52 to have ruined.

Dont really Care for Harper. There is nothing really original about her. But im going to pick up this issue anyway.

Ugh. Crapper Row.

Harper Row is a bad character, not sure why DC is forcing her down everyones throats.

@akbogert: Dunno about the rest but I hate her because I flat out dislike her personality :P

Good issue, though.

@smashbrawler: It just annoys me because people are disproportionately hostile towards her. Honestly, if Damian were still alive, most people would probably not have thought twice about Harper. Now they assume she'll be the new Robin and that magnifies whatever traits might have just been eye-roll-worthy earlier. I get people finding her unlikeable but calling her a terrible character or hating her makes no sense.

Moreover, Snyder created her years ago. Whatever purpose DC is bending her towards, putting her in other books, etc., it really isn't his fault, and it doesn't make her a bad character. People don't have to like her but I think the majority of the hostility is completely unwarranted.

@akbogert: Yeah, I see where you're coming from. It kinda annoys me at times too because, like you said, it's an argument that doesn't really make that much sense.

I find it funny that anytime Harper Row is the focus of an issue, the main artist takes off. She needs to permanently go bye bye.

Gotta say, I find it amusing that the next comment after that was

...you know?

I can't tell who's lazier/less thoughtful: the fans who want anyone they find uninteresting to be killed off, or the writers who actually kill them.

@akbogert: yeah, having an opinion about a character isn't the way to go about life, from now on I'll just take what they give me and beg for more no matter what it is...

@iaconpoint: Disliking a character is one thing. Saying that they should be killed off because of your opinion is a different thing entirely, and unfortunately a very prevalent thing at that. Which is what I said: that death is a lazy way to deal with characters.

@akbogert: you assume an awful lot, I never said death as that usually means more press , I honesty don't care if she falls off a cliff, moves in with Peter Parker or gets a bad case of diarrhea so long as she disappears from the Batverse

Can someone please kill off Harper Row already?

havent read detective since issue 8, picked this up for the cover. too bad mio seemingly is dealt with, another cool female bites the dust. one of the many reasons zenescope is surpassing other comic companies