Brethren! Seek not to ponder the Batman himself, instead, feast yourself on this massive volume of his stories! Behold the book of Detective Comics, chapter 1027, verses 1-144!
This is the scripture according to: Peter J. Tomasi, Scott Snyder, Greg Rucka, Tom King, Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction, James Tynion IV, Mariko Tamaki, Marv Wolfman, Grant Morrison, Dan Jurgens, Kelly Sue DeConnick
(Queue a dramatic inhale!) Illustrated by: Eduardo Risso, Lee Bermejo, Walter Simonson, David Marquez, Jim Cheung, José Luis García-López, Olivier Coipel, Riley Rossmo, Dan Mora, Chip Zdarsky, Jamal Campbell, Chris Burnham, Dan Jurgens
The official plot:
“Light the Bat-Signal, because Detective Comics #1027 is here! In honor of Batman’s first appearance in Detective Comics #27, this special, book-size celebration brings you the biggest names in comics as they chronicle the most epic Batman adventures Gotham City and the DC Universe have ever seen! The World’s Greatest Detective has a mountain of cases to crack: Who murdered Gotham’s most corrupt police officer? What does The Joker’s annual visit mean for Bruce Wayne? And most importantly, what WayneTech mystery will sow the seeds of the next epic Batman event? All this and more await you within the pages of the biggest Batman issue of them all!”
DC Comics
“Most epic Batman adventures…?” Not so much. “Seeds of the next epic Batman event?” Sure, I’ll give them that one. Look, it’s a collection of short stories, some good, some bad, mostly adequate. It all depends on your personal flavor.
My Impressions:
- Be careful where you set this issue down, it’s so heavy it could cause some damage
- Exactly what you would expect from a Batman anniversary issue…a collage of art and words. A chance for some folks to try new styles etc.
- Initially intimidating…but it should be, it’s lighter fare. Easily skipped if you don’t want to invest the time.
Notable Appearances/Events:
- I am not even going to attempt to list everyone appearing in this thing!
- The Silver Ghost (Detective #26) – We will probably never see him again, but I liked him!
Bottom Line: 3 Stars!
This thing is a BEAST to get through…144 pages. Seriously a multi-session read. In addition, it’s one of the better milestone compilation issues I’ve seen recently, including some sections that tie into currently running story lines. Of course there are those that go for the “deep” or “shock” stories as well, though none are specifically memorable.