It’s Time For A Bat-Heist: Reviewing ‘Detective Comics’ #1077

Time is running out as the Batman’s end is near, as forces within Gotham prepare for potentially history’s greatest heist.

The Gothic opera’s intermezzo continues, as Detective Comics #1077 moves the series one step closer to its final act. It seems grim as Ram V, Jason Shawn Alexander, Dave Stewart, and Ariana Maher deliver the second chapter of this five-part bi-weekly adventure. It comes paired with a Lian Harper/Shoes & Cheshire-focused backup story by Dan Watters, Casper Wijngaard, and Steve Wands.

Ram V makes each series (sometimes issue) of a project feel unique. Even if the same theme or characters are involved, the overall creation has its own energy and vibe. Much of that comes from the variety of amazing collaborators he manages to gain for these books. That being said, sometimes revisiting something of the past is just the right spice a current story needs at the moment.

Before embarking on the Batman side of things, it was Catwoman who gained greatly from his ministrations. A heist book that in retrospect set up a ton of what came in this series, and how some characters have been used since. A heist story, even one with Batman as the prize, fits this book like a glove. Having been there as a reader and a reviewer at the beginning of that run, it all just feels so right. I mean, things aren’t great for Batman or Gotham City, when are they ever, but Selina is just a natural fit here.

One thing that this run keeps proving is just how intricately he understands these characters. Not just Batman and Catwoman but seemingly every single Gotham character, old and new, that has shown up. A dedication to mining all the possible personalities, developments, relationships, and emotions. Creating a particular vision of Gotham and its inhabitants, but one so flexible that it feels different depending on who we are viewing or following at the moment.

We have a truly loaded affair here from Gordon and Selina to Cheshire and Shoes/Lian Harper to Mr. Freeze and Cass Cain/Batgirl. No one feels tacked on, their interactions feel real and organic with weight to them (calling back to their pasts or connections), and feel represented and seen. I can’t even imagine juggling an issue like this, let alone doing that for so many issues as part of a massive operatic run.

A truly living breathing version of Gotham City (and its inhabitants) captured on the page.

Boosting that, as I noted above, are the various artists we have seen hopping onto the series over the past year/17 issues. One of the beauties is that each act or section of this story has its own flavor alongside the overall dark operatic theme.

There is just something special about an artistic take on Batman that is greatly exaggerated, rough, and so sharp that it gives you a paper cut just looking at it. Alexander takes this character and his world and just makes it larger than life. I truly love the artwork that is very ‘real’ and grounded, where the city looks like a place we can visit in real life. Just as much, though, I love this type of artwork where it’s the opposite of that and just has such a wild personality.

Each of the characters is unique, with its own sharp lines, edges, and depictions. Emotions, and body language, are so crystal clear even as characters are larger or shaped differently than we might expect. It’s a city full of vigilantes, criminals, monsters, supernatural beings, and more. Of course, it’s going to make you feel like you walked into a nightmarish situation, and Alexander makes that work here.

Stewart’s colors blend with this feeling, coming off just as rough and sharp as the pencils. Bringing more weight, depth, and power to everything. Shadows are everywhere, as the more vibrant fantastical colors are reined in by the far more neutral and grounded choices. Heist stories always have a certain feeling to them, and the mix of colors and this style of artwork are in that wheelhouse. Gloomy, and dark, but hopeful and fun at the same time, even with such a dire fate at hand for the Bat.

Oh, I can’t forget to mention, I adore the paneling here. All those red borders around panels, the way they are stacked, and the ‘title’ cards of sorts. All really play into the heist aspect of this storyline, with the characters in the always fun planning stage of those stories.

As I mentioned, the characters shift and change within the artwork to suit their particular status and personality. We see this within the lettering that Maher delivers as well. From the white-on-black with purple borders caption boxes for Catwoman to the green speech balloons for Oracle when she’s on a device. Little flares of creativity in depicting these characters and aspects of their overall tone. Same with just the way that the various bits of lettering are rendered for others.

We hear their voices and can picture them in our minds.

Bubbles that shift to become a second skin to words, especially shouted dialogue, is just chef kiss stuff in comics. I eat that stuff up and ask for seconds. It’s just a fun visual concept that really draws the eyes in but also plays with the idea of how this voice is louder than others.

It’s no wonder that Ram V and Watters are friends and collaborators. They both have such a distinct view of things, and that ability to really mine characters for the best stories. The last issue saw Watters turn his eye to Renee Montoya and her struggles as the Question. Here though we get something of a different personal variety.

Cheshire is an assassin and not a great person, but we see the struggle here as mother and daughter are reunited and try to work through their issues. Some characters are evil for evil’s sake, but when the chance comes to humanize them, it makes the character even better. We’ve seen glimpses of that with Cheshire before, but Watters just makes it sing here while pulling every heartstring in sight.

If one is going to pull those strings, having an artist like Wijngaard to help with that is a great move. Such a powerful colorful distinctive art style, that also mines those emotions and allows them to burst on the page. A style that mixes the surreal and the real into some middle-ground concoction that has the strengths of both and becomes greater than the halves. Vivid colors from all over the spectrum make the story fun but also capture those emotions and reflect them back at us even more powerfully.

One of the stalwarts of these backups is Wands, who does such a wonderful job of finding and displaying the voice of any story. Allowing each letter on the page to carry energy within it, causing our mind to tune in and pick up the voices. Distinct and unique voices, that shift in size or style in order to convey their message best. From a shout to a whisper to the presumably gravelly voice that Solomon Grundy comes with.

Detective Comics #1077 is now available from DC Comics.