Batman: Detective Comics #1071 – Ram V, Simon Spurrier, Writers; Stefano Raffaele, Ivan Reis/Danny Miki/Joe Prado, Eduardo Pansica/Julio Ferreira/Juan Castro, Caspar Wijngaard, Artists; Brad Anderson, Adriano Lucas, Colorists
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Ram V’s run has been one of the most ambitious and atypical Batman runs in a long time, because while it stars Batman, sure, he’s only a bit player in one of the longest-running battles in the entire DCU. The Orgham plan to take over Gotham has been brewing since the opening issue, but we’ve never known the true story—until now. When the story kicks off, Batman has a new urgency for the war—one spurred by the conversation he had with Talia Al Ghul, where she revealed the true links between the Orghams and the Al Ghuls, and how a betrayal fueled it and has been building for several thousand years. It’s pretty impressive just how well a tale of swords, sorcery, and lost cities fits into Gotham.
The tale draws back to an arranged marriage between an Orgham queen and a nomad king, which led to an Orgham plot to seize control of the Nomads’ assets. Ra’s Al Ghul began as a simple trusted advisor, but turned into something more sinister—potentially. V seems to have a surprising amount of sympathy for the entire Al Ghul clan, creating a tragic bond between Talia and Batman that explains why they can never work. Of course, the Al Ghuls and Orghams aren’t the only immortals in the DCU, which throws a new chaotic wrinkle into the story. Just as the Orghams are about to successfully make their play, a new player enters—and may just be the biggest threat to Gotham yet.
The backup wraps up the strange and disturbing Mr. Freeze story, which saw an unfortunate woman trapped by the mad scientist and frozen. As a mysterious man helps to free her and a strange phantasm haunts her, she’s able to get the presence of mind to call out the strange and screwed-up way Mr. Freeze conducts himself—only for there to be a shocking twist about exactly what Freeze is trying to experiment. The story is good, but the surreal art is the real highlight here.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
