Detective Comics 51 threw Jim Gordan back into his past as a soldier in the sands of Afghanistan while investigating a nightmare from his past. Issue 52 sees Gordan calling in the BatSuit from Gotham and teaming up with his old unit buddies. They go underground into ancient catacombs to finally put their past to rest. Once inside they quickly synchronize as though no time had past and begin checking corners and working their way through the ancient structure. Soon they find themselves attacked by more zealots and entering a huge chamber where their leader is gathering his strength. The last ancestor of Set gives the attack order and all hell breaks loose.
Gordan orders his pals to retreat and take their downed comrades. Gordan quickly beats back the remaining zealots and then Set steps into the ring and Gordan takes a beating so strong he feels every blow. Eventually he too retreats after sabotaging Set’s base. In true Batman fashion, even when over come by strength, the Batman is able to out wit his enemies, not to mention being able to rely on old friends!
At the end of the issue there is a touching moment where he delivers the bad news to one of the wives of comrades and it lets us peak even further into Gordan as a person.
The Good
Detective Comics #52 further showed the strength of Jim Gordan’s past. We get to see the he still respects and relies on his old pals as well as the strength of that bond. We also get to see Gordan using intelligence over muscle against the Zealous Set. The art team continues to use it’s superb inker to showcase some great tone changes between scenes and characters.
The Bad
Being able to see more communication between Gordan and his military pals would be better, perhaps in a future arc. The final fight, while interesting, could have been more climactice had it been longer, or incorporated more of Gordan’s old squad.
Overall, A good read, Very cool to see more of Gordan’s past and how he still supports soldiers as well as has their support!
