Rise Of The Darkest Knight: Reviewing ‘Detective Comics’ #1083

Batman is just a man, but is also a very powerful force. A symbol. A figure that transcends the ages. Risen from the brink of death, the bat must triumph over the forces beyond and within to once more save the city he so dearly loves.

One journey comes to an end as another is just beginning in Detective Comics #1083, the latest chapter of Ram V’s epic run brought to life by Stefano Raffaele, Riccardo Federici, Lee Loughridge, and Ariana Maher. Featuring the last part of the Doctor Hurt backups from Dan Watters, Jorge Fornés, Tríona Farrell, and Steve Wands.

Month after month, I’ve gushed about this run. How it’s truly amazing, beyond even words. A true character and human nature journey wrapped within the trappings of a superhero/Batman story. Well, that gushing (clearly) isn’t stopping anytime soon. Most definitely not in this particular review.

Rotating artists is common place within the medium at this point. When there is thought to matching story to artistic style or skill, magic can be made. That’s what has been done with this series time and time again.

What Raffaele and Federici each bring to the page just works for the different portions of the story they are handling.

Swirling visuals that have the epitome of a dreamy nature embedded within is right up Federici’s alley. Just a hint of hard life roughness which adds enough weight to ground this mind trip sequence Batman has been on for weeks (more like the whole run really). Emotions are screamingly obvious and striking in every stroke, the almost painting like quality of the work bringing something elevating to the whole affair.

A sharp roughness, befitting the streets of Gotham, comes quickly into play wherever Raffaele turns his gaze and pen. Every beat plays up the mystery and detective angle that comes baked into the story sections centered around the Question. It’s got a much tighter focus than the dream sequences, but just as much depth and detail in every one of those panels. Keeping us right up in the action as the story of a Batmanless Gotham plays out.

Loughridge continues to provide a colorful bridge to the two sections.

Both palates have a kind of washed out, almost neutral level appeal to them. Those on the Federici pages feel almost weightless at times, keeping things toned down overall. Some brighter vivid pops come into play on the Raffaele pages but mixed with heavier shadowy dark tones. Each has their own inherent energy that really resonates with the story being told.

It always strikes me to witness a colorist that creates two distinctively different yet similar color styles. Allowing them to have fully unique feelings while making sure there is enough shared DNA that changing pages feels smoother, never jarring.

Just as compelling and exhilarating as every other element of the issue is the lettering that Maher brings. So many colors, inspired choices for the font delivery, and power given to the emotional beats. It allows the voices and energies of the characters and world to speak loudly, so that we the reader hear and understand each moment. Grandness is very apparent, as she can turn even simple dialogue into something you want to study and read multiple times to truly get every crumb of power.

I like my Batman with a bit of that Michael Keaton 1989 Batman “You wanna get nuts? Let’s get nuts!” energy. Plenty of that is just radiating off every single issue of this run.

Yet, despite that wild energy, at the end of the day, this series always has that the nature of humanity type of bent that Ram V does so well. Exploring the effects of people and what humans can and will do in various situations. Batman is a force, with connections beyond the mortal realm, but ultimately he’s a damaged man trying his best to do what he thinks must be done to protect others from sharing his pain.

Whether he’s right or wrong in the approach is not the central focus. The humanity behind the mask, both his and that of the mask, which is Gotham, is what is important.

Both sections of the story give us a good path to really understand the vigilante and the city. How they tick, and how deeply connected they truly are. We see this new Gotham being a place that on the surface feels “better,” which is born out of the Orghams engaging in disgusting practices that harm or incarcerate the most vulnerable of the population. Each moment that Ram V shares in this series has a lot to say about both the fictional and real worlds without having to explicitly point it out.

All of that wildness that I spoke of liking above, bleeds into the backup pieces as well.

That’s because Watters and Ram V are seemingly of a hive mind, sharing many thoughts while forming their own. Everything about this Doctor Hurt trilogy has been wild, shifting focus and keeping the reader reeling with revelations. There was no way anyone could claim they saw the ending piece or even the middle piece coming when things began. If they do say that they’re probably lying or somehow happen to be of a very similar wild mindset.

Fornés and Farrell create a really sketchy rough colorful artistic show together. It’s heavy, with a touch of striking roughness, with plenty of encroaching shadows creeping around. Color choices are cool but dark, adding to the overall desired creepy factor for the story. It has a natural feeling that makes us want to believe its real, mixed with enough surrealness that it keeps us off guard.

It’s as tightly focused as the Question sequences of the main story. Allowing us to be right there alongside the characters in this trying time. Varied paneling choices allow the horror elements to permeate every second, keeping the goosebumps popping up.

Tight also describes the work Wands delivers letter wise. Keeping those beats of dialogue really close to things, letting it soak around the characters. He pulls back on the visual distinctiveness of the dialogue we are seeing. Everything has a very similar, clinical, approach to how it is presented. Which makes perfect sense when we learn the reality of this story and who all of these characters truly are.

Detective Comics #1083 is now available from DC Comics.