|
DETECTIVE COMICS #765
Recommended (8/10)
|
DC Comics
"Vacancies"
Writer: Greg Rucka
Pencils: Rick Burchett
Inks: Jesse Delperdang & Rodney Ramos
Colors: Wildstorm FX
Letters: Todd Klein
Editor: Bob Schreck
"Josie Mac: Lost Voices Part Three"
Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Cliff Chiang
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: John Workman
Editor: Matt Idelson
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
DC and Marvel both have their gimmicks for December, and DC's is "Full Coverage" which means fancy covers and, theoretically, books that have standalone stories. While Josie Mac doesn't really fit into the "standalone" category, the lead story is definitely an example of a story aimed at new readers, and while it's still quite good, it does feel a little bit overly talky to this reader who is well aware of recent goings-on in Detective. However, a little bit of extra exposition never killed anyone, and Detective Comics continues to stand as the best of the
current Batman books.
Sasha Bordeaux, the bodyguard character that Rucka introduced relatively early in his run, has become the point-of-view character for this book, and while I'm still more interested in the cops than in pretty much anything Batman does, shifting the point-of-view to a more neutral observer has given the caped crusader stuff a bit more freshness. I'm particularly enjoying Sasha's running analysis of Batman/Bruce Wayne, which seems to be taking a page from Devin Grayson's work in Gotham Knights. The story here is about Batman foiling
a robbery, but it's really far more about why he's doing it and Sasha figuring
that out.
Sasha also brings a joy to
the book that is not often seen from the dour Batman, or even his more upbeat
allies Robin or Nightwing. Her reaction when she realizes just how methodical
Batman is about the criminals in Gotham is a lot of fun, for example. In
addition, since she was an adult when she was recruited into Batman's "gang"
rather than a child, she's far more willing to stand up to him and to question
him, which makes her a more interesting character.
Artwise, the book is solid
but unexceptional, and I continue to believe that the unusual coloring scheme
often hurts more than it helps. Burchett is a solid penciller, Delperdang and
Ramos are good inkers and yet the work has taken on a "house style" appearance,
helped along by coloring that is striking in its unusual nature but is often a
bit bland and unexciting.
The same cannot be said of the artwork in the backup, as the beautiful color by Loughridge really brings Cliff Chiang's terrific artwork to life. Chiang measures up nicely to the last stylistic artist to handle the backup in Detective,
Darwyn Cooke, and I mean that as a compliment of the highest order. Chiang's
style isn't completely alien to me, reminding me of the aforementioned Cooke as
well as Javier Pulido and Steve Lieber at times, but it's beautiful stuff. And
Winick's story of a rookie cop with a slight psychic ability has grown even more
interesting with hints of a larger conspiracy at work.
Detective Comics has flourished since the end of "No Man's Land" thanks to a stunning creative team and a willingness to explore other areas of Batman's life, such as the cops and criminals of Gotham or the more mundane people in Bruce Wayne's life, and even with Gotham Central on the way, I'm hopeful that it will
continue to have that expanded scope.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board. |
