By Paul Dini & various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-673-3
The second collection of post-Infinite Crisis Batman adventures from Detective Comics (issues #827-834) presents another fine crop of tales of the Not-Quite-So Dark Knight righting wrongs in the urban sewer of Gotham City, courtesy of Paul Dini and a stalwart team of associates.
‘Double Talk’, illustrated by Don Kramer and Wayne Faucher, introduces a new and nasty Ventriloquist as the mouthpiece of the murderous Scarface, whilst ‘Sharkbite’ is an old-fashioned murder “whodunit†with reformed villain-turned-consulting-detective The Riddler racing Batman to the killer’s identity.
Stuart Moore and artist Andy Clarke combine for the excellent two-parter ‘Siege’ as a human bomb captures the entire Wayne Tower skyscraper during a peace conference, and Dini, Kramer and Faucher return for ‘Kind of Like Family’ wherein Harley Quinn struggles with her decision to go straight when Scarface and the new Ventriloquist make her an offer she just can’t refuse.
‘Triage’, by Royal McGraw and Andy Clarke brings back Silver Age villains Fox, Shark and Vulture in a chilling psycho-drama before the volume concludes with the superb ‘Trust’ as warped stage magician Ivar Loxias returns in a chilling tale of slaughter and trickery guest-starring the bewitching Zatanna by the first team of Dini, Kramer and Faucher. And wait ’til you see the twist…
These tales of a renewed and determined crime-fighter look well set to overturn the Grim Sociopath image that has dogged Batman for too long. They are fresh, thrilling and powerfully compelling adventures that will astonish long-time fans and casual browsers equally. This is the best Batman in years.
© 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.