Detective Comics is an institution and throughout the decades, it’s traditionally been a good superhero comic, but not much more. These days, however, Ram V and Dan Watters are writing excellent stories that make you think, push Batman in an almost spiritual way, and continue to tell a unique story. Some of the most out-of-this-world art also pull it off; this week, the story continues with part 2.
Detective Comics #1082 opens with Batman conversing with Dr. Hate as he continues his hallucinatory trek. Everything is fake, yet we see he can’t resist saving others. Even those others are psychotic-looking clowns. There’s a repeated line of Batman being able to turn “stone into bread,” which suggests that with all his wealth, he could save everyone but chooses not to. That theme is explored interestingly while Riccardo Federici dazzles with painterly art right out of a Renaissance art museum.
The Gotham we see is littered with people in masks, and Federici captures a certain horror in it all. They spout dialogue that torments Batman, as do the visuals, bringing a sense of chaos and unease.
Stefano Raffael takes over when The Question enters the narrative, which is intercut nicely with Batman. Ram V uses captions to link the scenes and create a thought puzzle to navigate. A certain Batman character enters the fray, and it’s interesting to see how she interacts with Question. These scenes also pair well with the dreamscape Batman is in as they are filled with action in an amped-up issue.
Kill the clown!
Credit: DC Comics
Federici is very good at creating horrific nightmare characters. The clown is particularly scary because of his clothes, the skin showing on his chest that’s all ribbed, and his long neck. This thing shouldn’t be saved but allowed to die, yet Batman saves him.
The main story continues to be like a dream with a warm blanket over you. It satisfies, yet it’s weird and hard to pinpoint what it all means. It’s starting to become clearer that Batman is on an internal psychological quest to triumph, but his path of exit is too obscure to see. It makes the story feel wandering rather than on a specific course.
The backup story continues to delve into Dr. Hate in intriguing ways. Dan Watters writes with Christopher Mitten on art, and the two reveal a massive party where all Dr. Hate’s victims are attending. The man is a master at mind control, so they’re all perfectly happy being his discarded playthings.
The art is great, with little details that make it feel even more creepy. Triona Farrell’s colors add nice hues and tones as well. A lot of sickly greens are used to convey the utter madness of the scene.
Detective Comics #1082 continues to explore the psyche of Batman on a hallucinatory trek for the ages. Paired with the equally fascinating psychological game being played in the backup, this is a great read.
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