“Gotham Nocturne: Act Two – The Fall” and “Things That Must Die” – Part One
Artists: Stefano Raffaele, Ivan Reis, Danny Miki, and Lee Loughridge
Color Artists: Brad Anderson and Lee Loughridge
Letterers: Ariana Maher and Steve Wands
Review by James Attias
Detective Comics #1072 fills in a lot of the gaps left by the previous issue, but Gotham is still in dire peril!
Let’s discuss…
The Gauntlet
Last issue was a thrill ride, I was so excited while reading it, and even more excited to write about it afterward. This issue didn’t have the same breathtaking action, but it did add to the story. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with this run since Ram V took over. Some issues will be adrenaline-fueled comics awesomeness, and then the next few issues will feel like filler issues that are snooze fests.
I understand that developing the story and a lot of new characters is very important, but that’s what the backup stories in these issues are designed for! This issue takes my angry nerd wisdom in regard to the backup story as this time it’s relevant and good! (Don’t get me started on Si Spurrier’s tales, just read my angry review here (the opinions are purely my own, though, I know that other fans have enjoyed them).
Now, let’s talk about this issue. We start off with Batman getting his butt kicked and it’s not looking good. Then we go back to everyone just talking about all of the interesting things that will be happening. Showing a few of them, or the aftermath of them. Come on guys give us some action! The slow build of this series is starting to get to me.
Orgham Tower/Asylum will have its grand opening at some point, but I hope I’ll still be young enough to read it. The evil Azmer army is still forming, and Batman’s still beating Werewolves and men who are made of some sort of goo. The best part of this issue was seeing the Dark Knight coaching his team on how to fight the bad guys he’s previously faced in this run. Other than that we only seem to be two sewer tunnels further along than where we started.
Art To The Rescue Again
To all my loyal review readers, thank you for reading and putting up with all of my negative behavior towards this story every few issues. Well, I’m going to give nothing but praise to the artists this time, as the visuals are fantastic. The colors were popping, the letters crisp, and everything was really beautiful to look at. That’s the one thing that has been a constant through this run, whenever the story has been slightly dull, the art has always been there to wake me back up.
I’m being overly harsh now, but kids… this is Detective Comics! This is the book that launched that bat, so it must be shown the same amount of care, love, and attention as the main Batman book, which is awesome right now! All in all this issue wasn’t bad, it’s just that I just demand a higher standard for this series! Sorry for all the exclamation points, but I’m typing and exclaiming for dramatic effect.
Things That Must Die
Now, the backup story is always a complicated animal. Sometimes these tales can add greatly to an issue or suck the life right out of its angry nerd reader. Well, it’s finally happened, this story was good! It added to the saga, gave the villain a backstory, added depth to a new character, and another layer to an existing one.
We get to see some of the mind-shift from Arzen, his driving force and mentality. We learn more about why he wants to do what every villain in Batman mythos has ever wanted and tear down Gotham (maybe the world) to build a better one. Name any villain (not the Joker), and that’s probably their goal. Thankfully, this was just part one. I’m excited to see where our story goes next.
Conclusion
Detective Comics #1072 wasn’t too bad. It had highs and lows, but, as I mentioned earlier, as one of the two most important series in DC history, this title needs to be better than just ok.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment