Batman: Detective Comics #1082 – Ram V, Dan Watters, Writers; Riccardo Federici, Stefano Raffaele, Christopher Mitten, Writers; Lee Loughridge, Triona Farrell, Colorists
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Batman’s journey through the soul continues as this issue is essentially split between three narratives. The main and most impressive story has Riccardo Federici art as Doctor Hurt takes Batman through the Gotham he saved—a strange, candy-colored Metropolis that doesn’t exactly feel right and leads to some disturbing visuals. But that’s bookended with the Gotham he destroyed—a futuristic tech-city where Batman’s body became weak, but his will didn’t, and he essentially turned it over to a vicious AI that created a police state. All this in service of breaking Bruce down and getting him to surrender not just to Hurt, but to Barbatos—and to become the creature that Hurt wants him to be.
Then we have the Renee Montoya story, which finds the police commissioner putting on the Question mask again to try to avenge her friend and begin the process of restoring Batman’s legacy. With the Reality Engine in play, dominating Gotham for the Orghams, Batman’s memory has been systematically erased. That makes using Cassandra Cain here an interesting choice, as she’s one of Batman’s most loyal soldiers—but she’s also the one whose heroic legacy was around long before she met him. Stefano Raffaele’s art here is more low-key than Federici’s painterly style, but it’s no less beautiful and the two segments work together perfectly to create a fascinating story of Gotham without Batman.
And then there’s the backup, as Dan Watters takes us into a very different tale, as the survivors of Doctor Hurt’s manipulations make their move to finish him once and for all. To solve the Hurt problem, they head to an elite party where Hurt engages in twisted acts of debauchery for the entertainment of his rich followers—with a few unpleasant surprises for them along the way. This has a great suspenseful vibe to it that really surprises in places, with a dark last-act twist that sets the stakes high for the next chapter.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
