Review: Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 1- Rise of the Batmen
Quick Summary
Pros: This book does Detective Comics different by turning it into a team book rather than another Batman story. Minor heroes get some well-deserved spotlight. The art makes the book look and feel like a movie by giving the book a cinematic feel.
Cons: Readers going into this expecting it to be filled with Batman will be disappointed. The ending was a little disappointing in terms of decisions made.
Overall: With all of the books Batman has it becomes hard to avoid doing the same thing in all of them. This book does something completely different by putting the focus on a team of younger heroes rather than on Batman himself, which gives the story a new and fresh vibe. It also strives to make some of the best heroes from Batman’s past relevant again in a move that ends up great for the story and for longtime fans. Overall, this is a fantastic read that will hopefully only continue to be this great.
Story
Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 1: Rise of the Batmen is a departure from the typical Batman book in a way that makes it a fantastically different read. Batman is mostly sidelined in order to introduce a team of familiar heroes into starring roles; old favorites like Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Basil Karlo, and Kate Kane are all back and better than ever. New and old fans alike will be able to appreciate this book as it takes a cinematic and action packed approach to what a superhero team would be like in Gotham City.
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The concept of this book is what is perhaps the most interesting part about it, specifically in how it is able to stray from the traditional. Most Batman books focus on Batman solving crimes and taking on bad guys, with the rest of the Bat-family occasionally playing backup. This series is a complete separation from that overused formula and ends up being a team book rather than a solo affair. With the number of heroes in Gotham growing every day, it was only a matter of time before someone created a Justice League/Avengers focused entirely in the Batman Universe; the unexpected part was just how well something like this would work. It is great to see the traditional Batman formula shaken up and replaced with something equally good every now and then, which is exactly where this new series has so much success.
For a book with Batman in the title, this story had a surprising lack of the Dark Knight. However, with Batman oversaturation becoming larger, this will come as a relief to many. In fact, after Snyder’s run failed to use the Bat-family at all, this run is exactly what many fans were hoping to see from a Bat-book. Characters like Batwoman, Red Robin, Spoiler, and Orphan all have their time in the sun here and are all written in ways that show off their best character traits.
In particular, Batwoman is heavily highlighted here and actually ends up serving as the book’s main protagonist. Readers see her in her element as a military leader while also seeing her dealing with her own issues at the same time. She is determined, smart, and, all around, a great choice to lead the book. Plus fans of her character will be happy to see that she is getting more recognition and respect in this series.
Continuing with characters, the most surprising addition to this team is Clayface. Despite being the least expected addition, he completely owns the role. His debut in the movie theater is both touching and tragic as readers get to see him for what he really is, not a pure-evil villain but a man forced to become a monster. After this strong introduction, his character is unfortunately sidelined to make way for the rest of the cast’s development. Here he is relegated to being a plot device, shapeshifting his body to help the team pass obstacles. With such a strong start it was disappointing to see his character play such a minor role here but hopefully, with Red Robin’s departure, he will play a bigger part in the second volume.
In terms of negatives, the book does not have much to talk about as this was well written nearly everywhere. Except that, personally, I was a little surprised and disappointed about the decision to axe Tim Drake. I understand the motivation behind it as a “death” is always a cool and dramatic way to build tension and bring about character development; plus with Drake being one of Tynion IV’s favorite characters it is probably a “kill your darlings” situation as well. However, the question is why do this now? Tim Drake had a series of lackluster runs since Flashpoint and has never had a chance to connect with new readers. Now, in a series meant to cater to new readers, he is killed off within a few issues. Killing off a character who audiences have never had much of a chance to connect with takes some of the drama and tension out of the death and overall just cheapens it a little.
Another small flaw in terms of character actions was Batman’s reluctance to believe in the League of Shadows. With a story like the “Court of Owls” (Review) so recent in people’s memory, it seems incredibly odd for Batman to firmly doubt the existence of a secret society when he has already seen how well that works out. His decision to take down Colonel Kane makes sense either way but hopefully the next arc will show him wondering if the League of Shadows does exist.
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Art
The art in this collection is good throughout, however the thing that makes it really fun to look at is the cinematic quality it possesses. The story already has the writing of a big blockbuster movie; the art simply serves to further establish this. It uses techniques like close ups, lens flair, and dramatic angles to establish that this is more than a comic book, it is a piece of art. Besides just looking nice, this art is another factor to help prevent this from being “just another Batman book”. No other Batman book looks like this, allowing this book to look nice while also breaking the mold.
I will concede that the cinematic feel will not resonate with all readers. When I began to read this I did not care for it at all. However, as I progressed through the collection, I started to like how well it worked with the story being told and finished the collection thinking how different of an idea it was to draw the collection in such a way. So, if you do not like the style here, keep an open mind as you read and you may change your mind by the book’s end.
Continuity
This is the first volume of the Detective Comics Rebirth series. Rebirth is not a continuity reset at all; it is more of just a good jumping on point for readers. This means that, although there are stories that come before this, an in depth knowledge of Detective Comics is not really required to enjoy this series.
The story here continues in Batman: Night of the Monster Men (Review) (Reading Order) and Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 2: The Victim Syndicate (Review).
This volume also references and continues the stories from other comic books, all of which are detailed below:
- A lot of the characters in this volume make their first modern appearance in either Batman Eternal (Review) or Batman and Robin Eternal (Review).
- Azrael and his involvement in the Order of Saint Dumas is first shown in Batman and Robin Eternal Vol. 1 (Review).
- Stephanie Brown’s origin and involvement with Batman starts in Batman Eternal Vol. 1 (Review) and continues through to Vol. 2 (Review) and Vol. 3. (Review).
- Cassandra Cain is first introduced to this universe in Batman and Robin Eternal Vol. 1 (Review).
- Clayface mentions that there is a problem with his DNA. This malfunction is elaborated upon in Batman Vol. 6: Graveyard Shift (Review).
- “Zero Year” is mentioned. The entire story behind Zero Year can be found in Batman Vol. 4: Zero Year-Secret City (Review) and Batman Vol. 5: Zero Year-Dark City (Review).
- A mysterious character appears at the very end of this collection. Up to this point, he has remained an enigma but he clearly has ties to the DC: Rebirth event. This can be seen in DC Universe: Rebirth (Review).