Comic Books

Detective Comics #984 Review

Another intriguing and exciting issue that examines Batman’s bizarre penchant for having a host of acolytes and sidekicks.

Nick Nafpliotis

July 11, 2018

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Jefferson Pierce, aka Black Lightning, is offered what might be the coolest and most dangerous mentorship position of all time.

First Read Reactions

The lack of articles in this shady person’s speech tells me that she’s probably Russian.
Dang. Cassandra Cain doesn’t play.
Neither does this new villain-who-doesn’t-think-he’s-a-villain, apparently.
“He owes me his life.”
Poor Jefferson. Gets told how hard his job is right as another crisis hits.
Cassandra Cain and I have completely different ideas about what to do if our shoulder gets popped out of place (Hint: Mine involves a lot of whimpering).
“Of all the things to remember from that night…you chose pearls.”
Karma may be a badass, but he’s not above using the Ninja Turtle method of retreat when necessary.
“…they make me weaker.”

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The Verdict

One of my favorite things about Bryan Hill’s run so far is his examinations of one of my least favorite aspects of the Bat-mythos: His inordinate number of sidekicks and acolytes. The fact that they also appear to be the crux of Karma’s motivation/plan doesn’t make him a sympathetic villain, but it does give him a lot more weight than the usual machinations of rule and/or death.

Bruce Wayne’s response to all this is interesting, if a bit melodramatic near the end. But the best part of the issue (for me, anyway) is examining the challenges that Jefferson Pierce/Black Lighting will face mentoring the various sidekicks while Batman clears the board to take on Karma.

Add in a fantastic action sequence along with some Cassandra Cain badassery–both exquisitely drawn by Miguel Mendonca–and it’s another excellent issue…although once again, the color palette still feels way too bright. Maybe it’s my predisposition to the way I think a Batman story should look, but even after two issues, the effect is pretty jarring. Fortunately, it’s nowhere near enough to keep this from being a book that should definitely be on your pull list.