Wednesday 15 January 2014

Detective Comics #27 Review

Writers: Brad Meltzer, Gregg Hurwitz, Peter J. Tomasi, Francesco Francavilla, Mike Barr, John Layman and Scott Snyder
Artists: Bryan Hitch, Neal Adams, Ian Bertman, Francesco Francavilla, Guillem March, Jason Fabok and Sean Murphy

How will Batman’s 75th Anniversary fair? Read on to find out.

The official description from DC Comics:

DC Entertainment presents this mega-sized issue featuring an all-star roster of Batman creators past and present!

Don’t miss a modern-day retelling of The Dark Knight’s origin by the incredible team of writer Brad Meltzer and artist Bryan Hitch! Plus, all-new stories by Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy, Peter J. Tomasi and Guillem March, Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen, Gregg Hurwitz and Neal Adams, new art by legendary Batman writer/artist Frank Miller and more!

Also in this issue, John Layman and Jason Fabok kick off the new storyline “GOTHTOPIA”! It’s a bright, shiny, happy place where dreams come true...as long as you don’t look at things too closely.

As far as mega-sized anniversary issues go, this was probably one of the best in recent years, and was certainly the most value for money having seven stories over 96 pages. The stories were however as expected rather inconsistent, though most were fitting for a celebratory issue.

The main story was “Gothtopia” written by regular Detective Comics writer John Layman with the artwork also coming from the usual artist Jason Fabok. Now the story itself was very interesting, taking a very different approach to the Batman mythos. It was however the mystery behind the story that interest me the most, with it having a “Nineteen Eighty-Four” feel to it. The artwork from Fabok was also as usual extremely impressive, having a lot of detail to it. The layout along with action sequences also impressed me, adding a lot of excitement and intensity to the story.

The other stories came from various creators including Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy, Brad Meltzer and Bryan Hitch, Gregg Hurwitz and Neal Adams, Peter J. Tomasi and Ian Bertman, Francesco Francavilla, and Mike Barr and Guillem March. All of these tales were be very impressive, with most actually being better than the main “Gothtopia” story. It was however the charm and retro feel of Hurwitz and Adam‘s “Old School” and the fitting birthday celebration in Tomasi and Bertman’s “Better Days” that impressed me the most, with both adding a lot to the overall feel.

Overall this was a very fitting tribute issue and well worth the money. The stories were all interesting and exciting with the main story “Gothtopia” being the perfect start to Layman and Fabok’s final arc. Highly recommended.

Rating: 8/10

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