This is the end of Greg Rucka's work on Detective Comics, and it comes to a conclusion that is a little unsatisfying, but which ties up the most important loose end of his run. It's fitting that the artwork is by Rick Burchett, as it was his work that graced the Batman 10-Cent Adventure, where a lot of the story points wrapped up in this issue were introduced. At this point, the length of the "Murderer" and "Fugitive" stories had me mostly wanting this all over so that the new writers can have a clean slate rather than actually caring about the resolution, but I can't deny that this is a logical and believable conclusion, even if it renders the whole character and subplot of Sasha a little more meaningless than I would have liked.
I've always liked the idea of Checkmate, and while Rucka's view of the organization doesn't quite match the one I have, I'm glad to see them take prominence in this storyline. I was relieved to see the return of the classic black and gold costumes, and I like that Rucka and Burchett emphasize the acrobatics and super-heroic style of the agents in the field. Sasha is a special recruit, but she doesn't greatly outclass the ranks of Checkmate, and I like that take on the agency, as a sort of super CIA.
However, the focus this issue isn't on Checkmate and how the organization operates, but more how their recruitment of Sasha has affected Bruce Wayne. The romantic feelings Bruce has had for Sasha were more enjoyable when they were subtle, and I found Alfred's chiding of Bruce in this issue too reminiscent of similar scenes in the previous one, but the payoff is that Bruce Wayne has become a more compassionate person as a result of his relationship with her. I would have preferred more space for the talk between Bruce and Sasha, as it seemed like there was plenty for them to say, but Rucka does give the character a send-off that is considerably less deadly or amnesia-inducing than the one I expected.
Rick Burchett and Jim Royal do a solid job on the artwork this issue, particularly when we're seeing Checkmate in action. The opening scene, with the Batarangs seemingly coming out of nowhere, or Sasha's training module, showing her utilizing not just her Bat-trained skills but her bodyguard abilities as well, are great action sequences. It also seems that Wright and Wildstorm are using the two tone colors that Detective Comics had for a while in some places, but the addition of flesh tones and regular colors for some sequences makes them much more palatable and effective.
While the lead story is a solid if unspectacular ending to Rucka's run on Detective, the backup story continues to disappoint. Plenty of mystery and no answers leads to a lead character and a plot I couldn't care less about, and while Gaudiano and Hoberg's artwork is nice, reminiscent of Mandrake's work on the Spectre, it can't save a purposefully unclear script. It seems only a short time ago that I was enjoying each issue of Detective more and more, but the long-running crossovers and the loss of the strong backups, not to mention Rucka's departure, has killed a lot of my enthusiasm for the book.
