Batman The Detective #2

Batman The Detective #2

DC Comics 2021

Written by Tom Taylor

Pencils Andy Kubert

Inked by Sandra Hope

Coloured by Brad Anderson

Lettered by Clem Robins

Batman’s European adventure continues as the mystery around the organization known as Equilibrium deepens! Just who are these enigmatic villains, and why are they out to erase the Dark Knight’s legacy? And how does Henri Ducard play into all this-can this face from Bruce Wayne’s past be the key to it all?

I am totally digging this series. It is high time we felt like the word Detective in the title meant something again and not just another outlet for some outrageous Batman story fighting nothing more than his myriad of rogues gallery villains. All it took was this creative team and bringing him to London to make it happen. With a new villainess, who uses his likeness, on the loose killing off everyone he’s ever saved can Batman and Bruce Wayne manage to track her down and stop her before the death toll takes too high a price on him? It has this excitement to it that you really feel as the story moves forward and it just makes you want to like Batman again instead of seeing him as the man with a plan to kill off every hero on the planet.

I am in love with the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exquisitely. There is a completely logical way that we see this unfold before us and with some of the character interactions we see things get even more intriguing as the interest factor raises exponentially. The character development is phenomenal. How we see the dialogue through the character interaction is freakin dynamic and surprising, how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter really does continue to flesh them out even further. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way pulls you into this world beautifully.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue grow, strengthen and new ones emerge is sensational and showcases Tom’s ability to really show off his skill and talent. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is expertly achieved.

I am totally digging the interiors here as well. The linework we see is phenomenal and the inks on top make it all the more impressive. The fact that the work looks like one person did it tall is phenomenal stuff and shows how impressive Sandra is. The way we see backgrounds being utilised makes me an incredibly happy camper and how they work within the composition of the panels to bring about the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the stroy is immaculately rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work is divine. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is exquisitely rendered. That we can have something so dark and moody and yet still see so many shades within the colours shows us a very talented eye for colour.

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With the introduction of new characters to the story and what they bring to the table and how we see the new Squire working alongside Batman is beyond incredible. Just the sheer tenacity of this young woman and her fearlessness in talking to Batman makes me want to see more of her. Finally we’re seeing a real detective story involving Batman again and I have to say I couldn’t be any more pleased with what we see here. This is so intelligently written and beautifully illustrated that it’s a shame it’s only six issues long.