Batman: Detective Comics #1105 – Tom Taylor, Writer; Mikel Janin, Artist; Wayne Faucher, Norm Rapmund, Inkers
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: The mysterious villain known only as the Lion has been haunting this arc since the beginning, infecting Gotham and Batman with a plague that removes the capability for fear. As Batman’s own personal clock before he loses his mind ticks down, he continues to search for answers – and he’s finally found them in the form of the identity of his new villain. It’s a boy whose father he arrested years ago, and the boy wound up a traumatized agoraphobe. But sealing himself away in his foster mother’s home, he became a scientific genius and obsessed with eliminating fear’s power over him. His quest to make himself stronger took him all over the DCU – all funded by one man. This is actually a really cool dynamic, because Leo deeply admires Bruce Wayne, but absolutely hates Batman. And now, he’s ready to take the “Gift” he gave himself and spread it to everyone.
With time running out, Batman has assembled a team of the best scientists in the world to try to find a cure for him – and for the little boy they found in the hold. This is a great opportunity to bring in some of the top science heroes from around the DCU, although Lana Lang being included always seems like such a random addition – her being a scientist was barely even a plot point until a few years back! But Gotham is quickly plunging into chaos, and it becomes clear that the Lion’s agenda is much further along than anyone knew. The use of Scarecrow in this arc has been pretty clever – of course this is a plot he wants to stop – and the Lion makes for a great villain because his MO is genuinely something we haven’t seen much of in comics. The tension has been building with every issue, and now that the Lion is ready to bring his war to Gotham, we’re headed for a tense conclusion.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
