Batman: Detective Comics #1055 – Mariko Tamaki, Matthew Rosenberg, Writers; Amancay Nahuelpan, Fernando Blanco, Artists; Jordie Bellaire, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: It’s pretty rare for an event to kill off its main villain halfway through, but Shadows of the Bat is making it work. The sadistic but pathetic Dr. Wear saw his many lies catch up with him last week as he took the long-previewed long fall off a tall tower. Now, in his place, the tower is ruled by a trio of sadistic villains—Nero, Ana Vulsion, and the mysterious Siphon. With hundreds of people trapped in the tower—including Nightwing, Huntress, and Mayor Nanako’s wife, it becomes a pitched battle for anyone stuck there to survive by any means necessary. New artist Amancay Nahuelpan is well-suited for this chapter of the story, successfully establishing a claustrophobic tone with a lot of shadings to the darkened tower.
Of course, not only the heroes are trapped there—Psycho-Pirate was left behind as well, mentally weakened and without Dr. Wear to hide him. Nightwing, who saw him collapse last issue, is doing his best to keep him alive. But bigger guns like Mr. Freeze are snapping out of their reverie as well and are out for revenge. This issue starts at a fast clip and doesn’t slow down, building to a surprising conclusion that reveals the biggest villain of the run so far—a major figure who many people assumed was gone for a lot longer. Overall, this chapter doesn’t advance the plot too much until the very end, but it does a great job at immersing us in the story as everything goes to hell.
The House of Wayne backup continues to be strong. After nearly dying at Azrael’s hands last issue, our unfortunate son of Gotham has spent the last few years recovering at the Wayne-Kord rehabilitation center. He’s able to walk again with a cane, but his recovery and re-entry into society is derailed by a massive earthquake and the coming No Man’s Land. The creative team does an excellent job of setting up the era each story takes place in, and soon our antihero is battling to survive and working for an abusive ganglord. That’s where a connection he made years ago comes into play, and he’s able to show the villain that there’s always a bigger predator. Excellent stuff, although I still wonder where it’s leading.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
