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DETECTIVE COMICS #768
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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DC Comics
"Purity Part 1 of 3"
Writer: Greg Rucka
Pencils: Steve Lieber
Inks: Mick Gray
Colors: Jason Wright & Wildstorm FX
Letters: Todd Klein
Editor: Bob Schreck
"Josie Mac: Lost Voices, Part Six"
Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Cliff Chiang
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: John Workman
Editor: Matt Idelson
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
Though this isn't officially marked as a "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive" tie-in, there are more than a few important developments in that overall story to make it worth a reader's while. More importantly, though, is the unrelated story, which finds Batman embroiled in street level drug trading (with implications of higher involvement) and features the always impressive team of Rucka and Lieber. And if that's not enough, the backup story, Josie Mac, features a few surprising turns of its own in this issue. Though I'm disappointed that the "Fugitive" story, which has hooked me so well, is playing out at a bit of a leisurely pace, I'm not disappointed by what we get in Detective Comics
instead.
The story of drug deals, bad heroin and a possible government (or criminal syndicate) agent involved in all of it makes for a compelling main plot. There are plenty of mysteries, including the motivations of the freakish being poisoning the heroin and the identity of David Said and his employers, which is only fitting in Detective, which has been based on Batman's investigative skills to a great degree. Though I wish that Ekin-Tzu, a continuing character from a previous Detective
story, had been better identified beyond the revelation in the letter column,
overall the complexity of the plot never lost me and I am as wrapped up in these
mysteries as I am in the overriding mystery of what happened with Vesper
Fairchild.
That storyline has been put
on hold, in a reasonable enough manner, by Batman trying to get on with his
crimefighting, ignoring the legal difficulties his alter ego faces. It actually
helps to establish the psychosis that has been growing stronger with him every
time we see him, and the terse conversation between Batman and Leslie is a nice
bit of psychological examination of his mindset. In the area of more
plot-related developments, though, Batman's single-minded focus has led a pair
of detectives into a logical direction that could endanger another innocent,
which I expect will be an important part of "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive" when all is
said and done.
Steve Lieber is an artist who
has never gotten the recognition he deserves, and his work on Detective will
hopefully help to rectify that. It seems that the regular coloring style is the
norm now, with the odd tones that had marked this title ever since "No Man's
Land" a thing of the past, and I can't say I'm overly sorry to see them go. But
in normal color, duo-tones or black and white, Lieber's work is always
impressive, and his attention to anatomy and very expressive characters make a
lot of the moments in this story work. Subtle moments such as the gun in Said's
hand, the lurker in the shadows during the opening drug deal or Batman's work
while he tries to listen in on Said's conversation all help develop the feeling
of paranoia that is a big part of the story arc, while the conversation between
Leslie and Batman takes on a human dimension thanks in no small part to the
expressions on their faces.
What I'm finding though, is
the same thing that happened during the "Catwoman" backup, and that's a strong
backup story actually overwhelming my interest in the main story. Much as I love
Rucka and Lieber's work, Winick and Chiang really kick Josie Mac into high gear
this issue, with a quick and brutal scene of violence and a revelation about
Josie's brother that puts a lot of her motives into focus. Josie Mac reminds me
of the best of television legal and cop dramas, with the same realism I'd expect
from human actors and a story that really works with the serialized
approach.
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