Change is something you very rarely see in superhero comics. It’s a baked in assumption that there’s a certain status quo that needs to be maintained for a rotating cast of writers to build around. Unlike creator-owned comics that tell a singular story, superheroes are more of an idea (or brand if you’re feeling cynical) that can be reinterpreted and persist so long as new stories are written. That’s why it’s so surprising to see the direction Ram V has taken with this run. From the very beginning he’s brought up the idea that Batman is reaching an end to when he can keep doing what he does. Now, he’s resolved Batman’s core driving motivation.
Barring a brief cold open with Catwoman and Joker, the first line of the issue is “He’s different somehow”. It comes from one of the Orghams as Batman begins systematically attacking their means of control, and they’re right. Rather than his traditional M.O. of working out of the Batcave and going after criminals, he seems to almost be operating like a guerilla fighter. He’s decentralized, working out of multiple mobile and replaceable bases. He strikes at critical infrastructure that the Orghams use to assert their power. His wide array of disparate allies act independent of one another up until the critical moment arrises.
More than that, Batman, or should I say Bruce, is a changed man inside. Despite being labelled as an intermission, the last arc is proving to be a critical part of Bruce’s character development. His internal triumph over the Azmer demon did not simply defeat the Orghams’ attempts to brainwash him, but also resolved his underlying personal demons regarding the trauma that’s driven him for the past 30-ish years. No longer is he obsessively consumed by their deaths, but is instead able to separate his “Batman” and “Bruce” personas. It’s a healthier, more holistic way of dealing with his trauma.
It makes me very curious as to how this development will play out as the run comes to an end. It’s a fundamental shift in how Batman’s character works, and would theoretically be permanent, as opposed to Bruce’s situational guerilla tactics. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love if Bruce was able to grow and develop like that. However, like I said in the beginning, that’s not really how superhero comics work. Even if something major ever does change in the world of Gotham, it’s almost certainly going to happen in the main Batman title, not Detective Comics.
In the meantime, it’s exciting to watch Batman do his thing as he takes down the Orghams piece by piece. Each scene where he confronts a group of soldiers from the shadows, striking fear into their hearts, reads like classic Batman. After so much time spent on heady philosophizing and abstract concepts, it can be fun to get back to basics of what Batman does best. Stefano Raffaele’s use of heavy inks in his art creates a dark, almost grungy sort of atmosphere that stands in stark contrast to the etheral pencils and colors from the dream sequences of the prior arc. It’s not quite as realistic or detailed, but it still elicits a gritty mundanity that works for the tone.
While most of Batman’s rendezvous meet-ups with characters like Jim Gordon and Mr. Freeze are well done and give some more insight into what will soon be coming, it’s the opening scene between Catwoman and Joker that gives me pause. Joker can be a difficult character to get right, especially in darker stories where you can’t lean all the way into his goofy hijinks. That being said, this seems to be the type of characterization that replaces genuine attempts at (albeit murderous) humor with just a love of murder that happens to sometimes involve puns. However, it’s probably too early to tell for sure, and we’ll see how his “chaos” gets thrown up against the Orghams’ “order”.
Score: 8/10
Backup: Auto-Da-Fé
Alex Paknadel’s exploration of Freeze’s motivations uses a new character, Magda, to look at his past. Now a wealthy and corrupt lobbyist who flippantly evicts the poor from their homes, she was once a philanthropic activist who fought for the rights of the underprivileged. Over the course of her career, she had multiple run-ins with Freeze during several notable events including his Silver Age debut and when he acted as a warlord during No Man’s Land. Each time Freeze hoped for her to prove that Gotham doesn’t corrupt everything it touches.
The reason this ties in with the main story is because Freeze is looking for an excuse not to enact his plan to freeze everyone in the city. Unfortunately, I don’t think it quite works. I can see how she acts as a case study of how Gotham degrades people’s morals, but is “makes people into high-powered lobbyists” a great example of that? That feels like a very different type of corruption than Gotham’s. Moreover, There’s a very sudden jump from two flashbacks of her being totally good to now when she’s all about stepping on the poor. I would have liked to see more of a progression, or at the very least incorporate the events of the flashbacks into what happened to her.
That being said, the ending acts as a gut punch that gives the story a lot of impact. It gives Freeze plenty of motivation and context to move forward with what will surely be the next phase of this story’s arc. Christopher Mitten also does a good job emulating the art styles of the past while still keeping a consistent tone and style.
Score: 6/10
Recommended If
You want to see Batman take on the man as a guerilla resistance fighter
Batman doesn’t need to constantly obsess over his dead parents to be Batman
You’re excited to see Batman finally start taking down the Orghams
Overall
Detective Comics #1085 shows a new kind of Batman. Both in tactics and in disposition, he’s able to finally move past his childhood trauma in order to act as a more well-rounded human being as he takes down the Orghams’ oppressive state from the underground. It’s a much grittier atmosphere than what we’ve seen from this title recently as it lays the groundwork for the run’s final act.
Overall score: 7.5/10
DISCLAIMER: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purpose of this review.
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