Also Orpheus and Onyx have to gain a reputation in Gotham's Underworld, but to do that they'll have to go through Batman first.
The thing I love about Detective Comics is that it’s one of the few comics that I can pick up and not have to worry about continuity or a long convoluting plot line. It’s usually a good quick read and this time it’s no different.
All fans of Spoiler-Robin get to see her written and drawn by the ‘Tec-team of Gabrych, Woods and Massengill, and one thing I can surely say: They won’t be disappointed. Not being much of a fan of the new Robin or Robin in general I was dreading this issue. I’m happy to say that I actually liked Stephanie here. The main problem I had with Robin was the ease with which Batman accepted her as his protégé and I was surprised when Willingham did not really answer this question. Well… Gabrych doesn’t answer the question either, but he follows Willingham’s lead and gives us an insight into why Batman has adopted Stephanie as his student.
This issue sports an excellent cover by Tim Sale and Mark Chiarello, although at first glance I noticed a weird resemblance between Robin and Harley Quinn. It’s the smile I guess.
Batman and Spoiler are out on a normal patrol and are informed of a brutal homicide in a subway coach. Upon investigating, they stumble onto Mr. Zsasz who is once more menacing the innocent of Gotham. The backup story continues from ‘Tec 795. Orpheus and Onyx have to get a reputation in Gothams’ underworld. But to do this… they must face Batman…
I’m starting to like Gabrych more and more with every issue. He uses the right characters from Batman’s history for excellent and well thought out encounters, like in the last two issues. The characters were used well for the situations they were put in. This time, too, his Stephanie maintains the humorous side Willingham has made her well loved for; and Zsasz also remains as psychotic and menacing as ever. His Batman is sombre, melancholy and methodical; everything I look for in a Batman. The plot is simple, not complicated at all. The point of this issue was to set up another test for Robin to prove to people that she can cut it as the “faithful sidekick�. Zsasz, in my opinion, was particularly well used here. In one of her first appearances as Robin outside of Robin, it was clever of Gabrych to have her face one of the deadliest murderers in the DC Universe and not a super-villain like Mr. Freeze or Poison Ivy or even the Joker (although I want to see Mr. J’s reaction). Having Stephanie bring down a super-villain would be asking for too much at this stage of her training.
Kudos to Pete Woods, Nathan Massengill and Jason Wright; for not making the Robin costume bright and garish and keeping it in tune with the gritty nature of the book. The rest of the art is as usual, excellent. The panels in which we get to see the world from the point of view of Zsasz were particularly amazing. Pete Woods’ Batman is perfect and his Robin was also excellent (and she doesn’t have the bizarre Lisa Simpson hairstyle that Damion Scott has given her - a plus in my book). He’s emphasized the dichotomy that exists between Robin and Batman. Batman is always covered in shadows while Robin rarely is. It is perfectly in tone with the theme and the realistic artwork that this book has. Gotham City and it’s inhabitants have rarely ever looked this good.
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The backup story is written by Gabrych as well. Batman, Orpheus and Onyx have a plan to infiltrate Gothams’ Underworld and to do so, Orpheus has taken over control of the Hill Gang. However, Orpheus has yet to establish a reputation for himself. Therefore, to gain this reputation he and Onyx must defeat Batman in front of all the distinguished members of Gotham City’s Underworld.
The story is pretty basic and obviously Gabrych plans to use Orpheus, Onyx and the Hill Gang in next month’s War Games. There’s really not that much to say about this story, there is very little dialogue and the plot is extremely simplistic. Last month I said that I wanted to see where Gabrych took this story… Well, I wasn’t impressed with where he took it.
The art for this story, while not excellent, is good. Brad Walker is definitely an artist to look out for. The only character I felt that didn’t look good was Onyx. Penguin, Batman, Orpheus and Batgirl all looked excellent. Onyx looked a bit different in some panels than others. The rest of the art was good.
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