Get In, Bats, We’re Going Reporting — Reviewing ‘Detective Comics’ #1103

Batman and Superman team-ups are so yesteryear at this point. Batman and Lois Lane? Now we’re cooking with gas.

It’s time to get to the bottom of things as Detective Comics #1103 continues its arc without fear from Tom Taylor, Mikel Janín, and Wes Abbott.

Pieces are starting to come together (a bit too conveniently) as Batman races against the clock to discover the origins of the fearless virus ravaging his body. Crossing over into Metropolis, the latest chapter gets down to some light investigation.

No matter my other feelings about this series as a whole, these arcs are just so gorgeous to behold. Janín’s style is dynamic on every level and really frames the whole world and characters just right. He employs just enough slick smoothness to add to the liquid kinetic movement with additional texture and depth along for the ride. A smidge of roughness adds to those textures and gives the whole even more life.

The facial work is always one of the big draws, as there are little intricacies that play into it all. Not to mention the breadth of the emotional energy present in body language and facial expressions. It really delivers the tone of the moment in full view.

A lot of the color work is key too, really drawing from the gamut of palette tones here. Striking skies that are pink and blue with purples for the setting sun, alongside so much else that lets each sequence breathe uniqueness. All of it kept to a very natural level in so that the cases of flashier poppier vibrancy stand out even more in comparison.

That energy flows into the lettering as well, as Abbott really plays with spacing and colors among other things. He taps into the same emotional wells to allow all the words to pop accordingly. All of the voices are separate from one another and stand apart, even when they are similar in appearance. Just enough modification and connection give them differing voices.

While I’m not as keen on this virus bit, teaming Batman and Lois is some good stuff. It mixes up the dynamic as Superman plays just a small part here. Needing to get to the bottom of things is a skill that Lois has in spades, and it makes sense that Batman would not only want to use that but respects Lois’ skill. Their back-and-forth banter and how she can kind of push back at the big bad Bat is fun.

The Lion as a villain still feels hollow and directionless. We have some inkling about his origins and why he’s doing this but not too much. At this point he’s just a mystery baddie popping in to cackle and do a few things. I assume we’re about to get more, especially with the reveal about a potential trap, so I’ll wait it out a bit more.

Hopefully it’s not the part that ends up sinking this otherwise fine bit of story.

Detective Comics #1103 is now available from DC Comics.