[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artists: Christian Duce & Alex Sinclair
Batman and Batwoman find themselves in the middle of a particularly slow night in Gotham with this issue. The Dark Knight prowls the streets coming up empty handed, but Batwoman is keeping her team on their toes in the Belfry’s mud room.
The leaders of the Bat-Family discuss the fates of their team and how best to connect Cassandra with her more human side. Meanwhile, dark forces stalk the streets unnoticed by those best able to help.
Positives
James Tynion IV has created another great issue! This book has a solid story and is structured very well to build suspense and throw readers for a loop with the ending. The tone and theme of #951 is distinct from the last few issues which breaths a lot of life into this story. The pencils of Duce with the inks of Sinclair only adds to this by making the world dark and full of shadows. I even enjoyed the thick black outlines used on the characters due to it working well with the extremely dark art.
There are two very human moments in this issue for Batman where he exposes himself to be more than just The Dark Knight, and really lets Bruce Wayne come out of his cell. It is a small thing but how it shapes Batman moving forward will be interesting to see.
Also the imagery of Penguin being a Kung Fu master is hilarious much enjoyed!
Negatives
About half way through the issue an event happens to put the cops on Batman’s trail but it is dropped for the rest of this issue. I’m sure it will be addressed in the coming issues but it feels as though it is somehow unimportant because of how quickly it is forgotten.
Verdict
Overall, I highly enjoyed this issue! I think the art is fantastic and what this issue means for the coming stories of Detective are really exciting.
