Detective Comics #32 Review

Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato keep the story moving in Detective Comics #32: Icarus Part Three. Batman is in detective mode after his lengthy fight with Sumo. He even helps out our friendly or not so friendly Detective Bullock with an anonymous tip. As expected Bullock isn’t thankful at all; he is rather upset and decides to take it out on the rest of his investigative team.

The contrasting nature between Bullock and Batman is definitely a theme Manapul and Buccellato are pushing. Batman, uses his detective skills and finds leads, while Bullock bullies and orders his fellow police officers around to do the job, he should be doing!

The book shifts drastically into an emotional scene with Annette and oddly enough Batman attempting to console her on a pier. The scene is very strange, although it definitely creates a bond between the two and hints at where Manapul and Buccelatto are going to take her in the future. The scene doesn’t really engage the reader in the emotions it is attempting to harness; mainly it seems too contrived.

Following the rather lackluster sequence with Annette, Manapul and Buccelatto get back to pushing the story along and giving the reader a taste of mystery with the introduction of Wayne Enterprises employee Jeb Lester and his mysterious friend. Unlucky for Mr. Lester, Bullock actually appears to be doing his job. The mystery or Mr. Lester and his friend will have to be solved another day, since Batman is on the trail of “The Squid”.

Unfortunately, Buccellato and Manapul forego direct interaction with Alfred and instead use him as plot device to triangulate “The Squid’s” location. They do make up for it, with some comedic relief from screw-up Johnny and his antics. The comedic relief sits beside a wonderfully drawn action sequence, where the World’s Greatest Detective has to deploy all the tricks in his utility belt, and even suffer a not so subtle entrance from our favorite Kings! The dialogue through this entire sequence is absolutely wonderful and does a great job of foreshadowing the cliffhanger ending.

8.1	Detective Comics #32 has beautiful art on every page but lacks in the mystery and detective department compared to the previous issue.

Detective Comics #31 Review

Manapul and Buccellato begin Icarus Part Two smack dab in the middle of a crime scene at Wayne Manor. The reader is finally introduced to the title story line “Icarus” an addictive drug that cost the life of the investigating detective’s (a familiar face) partner six years ago.

Batman, now has a mystery on his hands, and creates an excellent opening for Manapul and Buccellato to embrace the detective in Detective Comics, which they do fabulously. The two do a remarkable job of displaying Batman’s ability to recreate the crime scene and visualize the crime as it happened. The use of panels within panels and the placement of Batman’s face above the panels really hit home his ability to visualize the crime.

The story progresses with an interesting compare and contrast between our police detective and a drug dealer, named Ash. Both are attempting to pursue the source of the Icarus narcotic, but both take different paths. Our detective attempts to interrogate a few of our street thugs from last episode, while Ash is working the streets looking for a supplier. Both paths lead to completely different results, with one being a complete shock, but a very pleasant surprise that really reinforces the Detective aspect Manapul and Buccellato are aiming at.

Detective work often leads to venturing into the dark and dirty areas of Gotham, where action is bound to occur. The creative team doesn’t disappoint when Batman follows a lead taking him to the inside of a loading container. This is no ordinary loading container but is filled with peril. The ensuing fight is a warm welcome and excellent climax to the buildup. The combination of the reds and blacks do a great job of portraying not only the violence in the scene, but also the intensity and willpower inherent in the Dark Knight. The intensity is also enhanced with the sheer number of panels with a total of 14 on one page really giving readers a blow by blow of fists smashing into heads and knees crunching into stomachs.

Manapul and Buccellato fleshed out the intriguing story line, but still kept many secrets close to the chest. They did an excellent job using the frictional relationship between Bruce Wayne and our ‘friendly’ detective to drive the story with Bruce giving some sound advice “Follow the Evidence”. Advice our hero does an excellent job of following.

8.9	Batman’s detective abilities are truly embraced, whether it is the visualization of a crime scene or just good street work. The World’s Greatest Detective is living up to his title.

Detective Comics #30 Review

Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato begin their journey into the world of Gotham with Detective Comics #30 letting the readers know flat out “It’s a new start.” And what a start it is. Manapul and Buccellato take us from a hostage rescue to the streets of Gotham for a non-stop hold your breath chase scene.

The co-artists/co-writers do an excellent job of conveying the emotions and attitudes of the characters, not only through their facial expressions, but also in the characters’ body language. The reader is easily able to recognize a range of emotions from fear to smugness. The author-artist combo do a superb job with the lighting of each panel that helps enhance the emotions the characters are feeling as well as the mood of the panels.

However, the detail in the characters wasn't the most impressionable part of the artwork. Gotham hovering in the background of every page is vibrant. People are milling around, moving from shop to shop. Gotham is very much alive.

Readers are introduced to Elena and Annie “The Eagle” Aguila. A tried and true Batman theme unfolds as Bruce Wayne negotiates a deal to improve a destitute and downtrodden area of Gotham with his vast wealth, but if only negotiating such a deal were so easy in Gotham.

Manapul and Buccellato only give three pages to introduce the villains, which raises many questions and answers little to none. Mr. Squid, in particular is ruthless and his name appears well deserved, but there is little back story fleshing his character out.

The book has very hard transitions jumping straight from one scene right into another, leaving it up to the reader’s imagination to fill in the gaps.

It takes almost the entire book but Alfred finally makes an appearance, but it is well worth the wait. Alfred is able to connect on such a deep emotional level with Bruce both through dialogue and the artwork it weighs down this reviewer’s heart.

The end of the book leaves the reader questioning what exactly happened. One might think this would be a negative, but it is Detective Comics and sets the stage wonderfully for the world’s greatest detective to prove he can live up to the title.

Detective Comics #30 is a good start for Manapul and Buccellato. They introduce a number of new characters begging to be fleshed out at the same time leaving readers with a sinister plot only the world’s greatest detective could solve.

8.6	Excellent artwork combined with great dialogue really convey the emotions of the characters, however the hard transitions and lack of character development especially of villains weakens an otherwise great book.