Batman: Detective Review

Writers: Paul Dini & Royal McGraw

Artists: Don Kramer, Wayne Faucher, J.H. Williams III, 

                                      Joe Benitez, Victor Llamas, Marcos Marz, & Luciana Del Negro

Colors: John Kalisz

Letters: Jared K. Fletcher & John J. Hill

To those of you who think the one shot is dead: I highly suggest you pick this book up. Six of Detective Comics best one shots, most written by the OG of Batman comics: Paul Dini. The stories included in this book are as follows: The Beautiful People, E. Nigma, Consulting Detectve, Stalked, Night Of The Penguin, The Return Of Doctor Phosphorus, and  Slayride. All of these are done EXTREMELY well. Lets go into each story with a quick summary.

The Beautiful People: The story follows Batman as he takes a lead on a new criminal training everyday citizens to walk among Gotham's elite, how to fit in, and how to rob them without getting caught. Batman (this book is following Bruce Wayne, not Dick Grayson) discovers it to be Facade and, with a little help from Robin (Tim Drake, current Red Robin) takes him down and off the streets. Damn good issue, the only problem I have with it is Bruce Wayne looks HORRIBLE. Outside of that minor problem, the issue is a lot of fun.

E, Nigma, Consulting Detective: Is by far my favorite story out of this book. A murder has taken place and a Bruce Wayne lookalike is involved. Bruce discovers this after a recently reformed criminal, The Riddler, comes to his doorstep to disprove that Bruce could've been the man in the picture. The issue then swerves to Batman working with The Riddler to solve a murder. It was really interesting to watch the interaction, and even better to see the joy come from the Riddler's face when he believes he solved the murder... And even more entertaining after he discovers he was wrong. Pick up this book for this story alone.

Stalked: This story wasn't very interesting to me. I don't like Poison Ivy and have yet to read a story of her's that I like. So, instead of boring you with my extremely biased opinion, I'll skip it.

Night Of The Penguin:  Remember that story up above about Riddler becoming a reformed man? Well this story follows Penguin becoming a reformed man and opening up the Iceberg Lounge. How's the Penguin going to make money? Easy! By cashing in on his criminal record. The highlight of this story comes when Penguin wants to stay legit and Riddler is questioning whether or not they can continue to live the high life without crime. The end of the story shows Batman swoop down and give Penguin the money he had lost in a game of poker after Batman had discovered that the other man was cheating. He then told Penguin to keep his crime to selling overpriced T-shirts and he wouldn't get involved. Overall, another great story.

The Return Of Dr. Phosphorus: Three scientists had talked a fourth into investing in a power plant that exploded and gave Dr, Phosphorus his powers. Three corrupt scientists then kidnap the body of a skeleton radiating radio active energy in hopes to now cash in on the technology they can create from the skeleton. Just one problem: Dr. Phosphorus isn't dead, and he's back to take revenge. This one was a story I didn't think I'd like, at all, but ended up really enjoying. Just a good, straight to the point revenge story, an enemy you can feel bad for, and Batman. What else do you need?

Slayride: The only reason I bought this book. Robin (Tim Drake, current Red Robin) went in to take down some drug dealers and ended up getting caught in a gang war... Luckily a caring citizen stops to help him... Unfortunately, it's The Joker. This story shows Robin tied up in a car while Joker goes on a killing spree. Robin finally escapes and takes Joker down. That's the story. But the way it's played out is the genius of it. This story is a good one if you're like me and a HUGE Tim Drake fan. I'd suggest you grab this book for this story alone also (that's two stories I've said this about... Says something about this book...). 

Overall: This book is a damn good collection of one shots and some of the best Detective Comics has to offer. Paul Dini is, by far, the best writer Batman has had in the last decade (if not more). $14.99 gets you six of the most entertaining comic stories you'll ever read. Go to your LCS tomorrow and pick it up!

Rating: I'll give this book a solid B+ because I had to sit through a Poison Ivy story. Outside of that, this book is amazing. It also renewed my faith in the one shot. If you like this book, be sure to check out Paul Dini's new series: Zatana.

Until next time comic fans, I'm ComicBookGuyMark87 and I just gave you the best damn review on the net! See 'ya.