The Heart Behind The Mask — Reviewing ‘Detective Comics’ #1100

There’s nothing to be afraid of when it comes to big monumental numbers on the cover of a comic book. DC Comics embraced that return to form many years ago, which is why two of their most famous books are well into the thousand space.

It’s time to celebrate again as Detective Comics turns the big 1100 in it’s latest giant sized issue. Led a story from regular series creative team Tom Taylor, Mikel Janin, and Wes Abbott, they’re joined by Mariko Tamaki, Amancay Nahuelpan, Arif Prianto, Ariana Maher, Greg Rucka, Álvaro Martínez Bueno, Giovanna Niro, Dan Watters, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Tom Napolitano for a handful of dynamic tales.

For all the grief that I’ve given this current run of the series, damn if the regular creative team didn’t get me with their intro story.

One of the things I’ve maintained about Taylor as a writer is that he writes a damn good Batman/Bruce Wayne, always willing to showcase the human side behind the grim vigilante exterior. What was once a “lone wolf” character has been anything since for decades, with a large family of allies, pupils, and children. Some runs ignore that, but Taylor always makes sure to hit those notes.

A fully silent issue that utilizes sign language where Batman is hunting for a boy’s lost dog…oh my gosh yes. Finding out he has a whole wall of lost pets he’s worked to return? Even more yes.

Janín always draws such a beautiful, imposing, and powerful version of Batman and his world. He creates really dense character and world building with a lot of structures and tangibility. I love the dense nature of the color choices, making them feel hefty but also light with flashes of fantastical vibrancy through the filters and light choices.

While there isn’t dialogue here, Abbott still does what he does best with the lettering elements we get, helping boost the issue with a deft touch.

All the rest of the stories are just as heartening, as the issue really focuses on the positive impact that Batman/Bruce have on their world.

It was really good to see Tamaki and Nahuelpan reuniting. I was really big on their era of the title a few years ago. We get a really nice tale about a dinner for Gotham’s heroes, where Bruce Wayne shows up late. He’s grilled about if his place there is just part of paying a large check. Through cutaways, we’re shown that his real impact was saving the life of one of the award recipients from drowning during a Joker rampage.

That all works well with Nahuelpan’s really smooth detailed style that blends serious and whimsical with major ease, showcasing emotions to the highest degree and making the people talking pages as engaging as the cutaway action sequences. Prianto is a colorist I follow a lot, through Poison Ivy, and the very toned down but prominent color palette works here. He allows the smaller scenes to feel authentic (in scope and lighting) while the other sequences feel dark, heavy, and beyond us in the right way.

Lettering of this story falls to the always amazing Maher who finds ways to keep the dialogue and captions solid while adding some flair in a few spaces, like the balloon shaping to Joker’s horrible laugh.

Batman comes in like a wrecking ball. Fists, batarangs, and feet flying leaving people reeling from the blows. These people end up in the hospital, needing care too. Rucka takes us on a trip through a night at the hospital where the change that Batman’s presence has made to the types of things seen at the hospital is discussed. Like the others the story is more about Batman as a presence than as a character and it works.

Rucka is such a solid writer and his dalliances with Gotham are always welcome. There is a really watercolor painter style to what Martínez Bueno and Niro present on the page. Washed out with bright white and darker colors dominating the imagery. Everything feels dense and confining as we spent all our time in this enclosed space with these characters, the world outside being something beyond them at this moment in time.

Conversations dominate this piece, a back and forth between doctors. Napolitano keeps it rapid and flowing, letting the words hit with the right impact each time. He gives their words some modifications here or there to enhance tone, volume, and emotion.

Last, comes a tale with a very unique approach.

That’s because Sienkiewicz is such a visually dynamic and out of the box artist. His visuals embody a very detailed but also blurred roughness, creating delicate imagery that flows through the page. Colors are washed out in tone but striking in their overall light and impact. It flashes before our eyes to keep everything bright but spotted in darkness simultaneously.

Penning the tale of leap to stop a serial killer from dying before facing justice is Watters, a writer who is no stranger to this side of the DC Universe since joining the publisher in recent times. So many things can describe the range of stories that Watters can not only tell but seemingly master. This brings with it a succinct brevity that speaks to who and what Batman is, and what he can and often must do.

That ending though, a poetic cliffhanger for a story of falling.

Another wonderful lettering job by Napolitano here. Scattering the captions throughout bringing the anticipation higher with each utterance. Brilliant work.

Detective Comics #1100 is now available from DC Comics.