One of the great things about Tom Taylor’s run on Detective Comics has been his willingness to have Batman play off of others, particularly new co-stars Green Arrow and Black Canary. While the two mainstay DC heroes have had long histories at the publisher, they’ve struggled to keep a modern run, so putting them on a mainline Batman book could help keep them in the public eye while also giving fans of the characters a monthly adventure. Taylor’s current story with the trio investigating a mystery involving former ally Prion continues in Detective Comics #1109, and with the added benefit of longtime Taylor artist Mikel Janin back on the art.
As Oliver Queen falls from the Gotham City Queen Industries tower, he makes a daring self rescue with nothing more than a belt and his sheer muscle. After reuniting with Batman, the two realize that the young girl who pushed Oliver is far more accomplished than she seems, and more adept at deadly assassinations than someone her age should be. As Batman attempts to subdue the young assassin, he learns that she’s also going by the codename “Prion”, and when that name is uttered by Batman, she wonders just how he knows that name. After a daring escape thanks to an exploding backpack, the young girl makes her way to a safe house run by Black Canary, which of course means we’re going to get some more subterfuge next issue.
DC
Detective Comics #1109 is easily the most action packed issue of the story so far, and yet Tom Taylor still finds a lot of ways to pepper in some fun character bits throughout the issue. Using Batman’s narration, Taylor informs us of some really fun and ridiculous comic book reasoning for how Oliver Queen can save himself without dislocating his arm, as well as a truly funny moment when the two heroes meet after Oliver is on solid ground. This commitment to the characters and the universe they inhabit is one of the many reasons why I’ve found Taylor’s work to be so fun for the past few years, and really makes his work stand out amongst others who have worked on Batman titles past. Taylor knows that there are ways to make Batman slyly funny given the right circumstances, and he makes sure to play into that a lot here.
While there’s no shade intended on the other artists who have worked on Detective with Taylor, Mikel Janin is a surely welcome sight to behold on the book again. Few artists working today can deliver the detail and fluidity of superhero comics like Janin does, and his panel layouts as Oliver works to quickly save himself from free-fall are truly remarkable. Much of the issue is Taylor wisely getting out of Janin’s way and letting him tell the story through his art, and the issue is all the better for it. If someone told me that Janin took additional time to get this issue right and that’s why he couldn’t do the first two issues of this story, I’d believe them. But I’d also agree that it was the right call.
While the initial flashback opening this issue is too brief to really hit home, and the end of issue reveal with Black Canary seemingly welcoming in the new young Prion assassin in with zero questioning is a little odd, I have to admit that this issue continues the very strong upswing that this story has had from the first issue of the story. Taylor and Janin are a fantastic pair together, and letting them tell a story like this makes for a truly fun and engaging mystery that puts the characters front and center and lets them play off one another in excellent ways.
You must be logged in to post a comment.