Detective Comics #44 is one big…robo showdown, written and colored by Brain Buccellato, Fernando Blanco on art, and
Wes Abbott on letters.
It all comes down to this: Joker’s Daughter in a giant Joker-bot against James Gordon in a Batman-bot, Falcone orchestrating a hit at a giant dress rehearsal for a large official event at the cirucs, meanwhile Montoya and Harvey have to settle just a minor thing called Harvey’s former partner, dirty cop Nancy Yip. Seem like a lot going on? Sure is. But in general the writing seems to balace it all out, with relative good energy. While this is not quite the finale I had in mind, it’s quite satisfying.
It’s certainly a wild ride of an issue, plot hitting an all-time outrageousness. Yip is in deep trouble and it’s overall not looking pretty for her. Can she make it out all right? Check the issue to find out for sure but there are indeed quite a few shocking moments that make you
POSITIVES:
This is a page from the comic:
The strange mix of shonen big robo and the usual Detective styling of hard-boiled Gotham underground shenanigans colored this arc as wildly fascinating. I love Montoya. This just says it all really.
NEGATIVES
For all it was building up for I almost want to say this issue was a touch anti-climatic, not quite as dynamic with art or writing as the preceding issues that painted a very terse and complex picture that sort of fell apart much too neatly than anticipated, but like the giant robots within, it still packs enough of a punch. Coloring as always is strong, I couldn’t complain there. I still love the art on this, but it definitely felt less weighty and a bit lighter than usual.
VERDICT
While I do think this felt a bit..rushed for an ending, and overall this entire affair has been such a far cry from what I’m used to for Detective, this was still a good solid arc closer and I’m excited to see where this goes next. Montoya is quite awesome and I can’t wait to see more of her again.
I hope this is literally the end of Joker’s Daughter, I thought this new version of the character was just awful there’s really no reason to bring her back from Arkham or rehabilitation. But you know how comics go…
