“Icebreaker”
Artists: Doug Mahnke, José Luís, Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, Mark Irwin and Matt Santorelli
Color Artist: David Baron
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Review by Steve J. Ray
Detective Comics #1015 continues the “Year Of The Villain” and Mr. Freeze storylines, developing the relationships between both the villain and Batman, and Freeze and his wife. The results are surprising, and sadly ironic.
Peter J. Tomasi is writing my favorite Mr. Freeze story in years. I knew that curing Nora would change things irrevocably, but the twists provided in this issue were completely unexpected. As a long standing comics fan being surprised by comics is becoming a rare treat, but Mr. Tomasi’s experience and talent have been in full force for many years, and particularly strong when it comes to his work on Batman.
There are plenty of writers who throw in shocks for shocks’ sake, sometimes at the cost of characterization and believability. Peter J. Tomasi is not one of those writers. Every twist and turn in these stories makes sense, works with what we know of these personalities historically, and helps make the world they inhabit feel richer, deeper and consistent. 22 issues in and this run of Detective Comics is already up there amongst my absolute favorites.
Different Strokes
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’ve also adored Doug Mahnke’s work on this book, and that’s also true of this instalment, but… one of my comics bug-bears is switching art teams mid-issue. I know that Mahnke’s been working his socks off and deserves a break – producing quality comics like these twice a month must be hard – but I’d still prefer for someone else to have drawn all of Detective Comics #1015, allowing him to have a real break, and come back fighting fit for #1016, than have a complete change of styles for five pages of this issue.
The fill-in pages pencilled by José Luís are very good, but with someone with my annoying nerd-eye vision, the changes in style and texture were just too great, and interrupted the flow of the story. Yes, I know that’s nit-picking, but I’m just being honest.
As always the great colors by David Baron and letters by Rob Leigh gave no cause for complaint. These two have kept Detective Comics looking and reading great for almost a year now, and I’m a huge fan of both gentlemen.
Conclusion
I love this series, and this new arc has been intriguing, surprising and action-packed. The art switch did lessen my enjoyment a little, but I realise that this is just a matter of personal taste, and should not be taken as a reflection on the incredible talents who are creating these wonderful stories for our enjoyment.
Images Courtesy Of DC Entertainment