Review:Â Detective Comics #1055
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writers:Â Mariko Tamaki and Matthew Rosenberg
Art: Amancay Nahuelpan and Fernando Blanco
Colors:Â Jordie Bellaire
Letters:Â Ariana Maher and Rob Leigh
Reviewed by:Â Matthew B. Lloyd
Summary
The Tower is in trouble and with Dick, Helena and Stephanie trapped inside amongst the chaos Oracle and Batwoman must wait it out…plus, a new player enters much to everyone’s surprise.
Positives
We are back where we started in Detective Comics #1055 as the scene on the first few pages is another look at where “Shadows of the Bat” began back in issue #1047. We all knew that the narrative would bring us back to how it began in order to see how the rest of Day 24 unfolds. Dick and Helena each have their own challenges while their paths do cross briefly. Coupled with some good actions bits with Nightwing and Huntress, we also get to see how everything has crumbled around the Psycho Pirate. It’s a brief moment of empathy for him as he has stumbled across Mayor Nakano’s wife and shares his despair at the loss of his friend, Dr. Wear.
Overall, it’s a fairly tense situation for our heroes as well as the villains, Nero, Ana Vulsion and Siphon are not in complete agreement on their next steps. They know someone was controlling them, but not who. It all seems like their decisions will be rendered moot as another player steps out of the shadows. It makes sense, but possibly at the risk of recent overuse- at least it isn’t the Joker!
Positives Cont’d
Once again “House of Gotham” takes the reader back to a major storyline in Batman’s past-“No Man’s Land” apparently as our still unnamed, but seemingly supposed to be a young Nero runs afoul of Killer Croc. Croc recognizes him from their time in Arkham together and assists him in “escaping” from the Poet. This connection to the past again works well. More importantly, we see our protagonist begin to exhibit signs of seeking power and how to manipulate others for his own gain. It’s a nice chapter in this storyline that gets at the shift in character.
Negatives
It feels a little cliched that there was another villain lurking. He may just be stepping up now to seize an opportunity, but it feels like he’s been part of this all along behind the scenes. It could simply be how he debuts in this issue, though.
Verdict
Detective Comics #1055, while being more plot driven like last issue focuses just enough on some of the individuals of the Bat-family as well as moving the plot forward in a significant way. Furthermore, the second feature continues to be an interesting look at (presumably) Nero in the context of Batman’s known past.
