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Detective Comics #876 Review

By Dan Horn
May 4, 2011 - 11:15

Once upon a time, I had lost all hope that Detective Comics would ever truly find its own station in the Batman line of books. Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III rekindled that hope, but then that too eventually burned away to cold ash. Then, along came a Snyder...

In Tec #876, writer Scott Snyder diverts focus from his underlying James Gordon, Jr, story and begins a fresh narrative. "Hungry City" isn't unlike Snyder's first arc, in which a black market peddler named the Dealer showed Dick just how horrifyingly depraved Gotham City could be. In this tale, something unexpected and correspondingly strange happens: a dead orca is exposed in the lobby of Gotham Global Modern Bank. Commissioner Gordon once again utilizes the Wayne crime lab, this time to process the killer whale, but what Dick finds during his autopsy of the giant sea mammal is even more disturbing and unexpected than the original discovery, leading the young Batman down a terrifying rabbit hole of intrigue and deception that runs to the very core of Gotham City.

Snyder has crafted an appropriately grim saga with his Detective run. The skein of his mystery has been meticulously threaded through each issue, and when that string is pulled taut, the reveal promises to be sumptuously realized. That James Jr's subplot is always lurking just inches below the surface of the overall tale adds a fantastic depth and suspense to each issue. Snyder's trademark is a paranoid tension that makes your skin crawl, and the return of Jock to the series brings a suitable unease to the title's interiors. I found myself enjoying Jock's work much more in this issue than in previous installments. His work is more fluid, his scope is grander, and his sensibilities are a touch more truculent, giving this chapter hints of noir rather than the notes of horror he had previously depicted.

The story does falter toward the end. It's a little unnerving to think that Batman can't see a set up coming from a mile away, but it's one of those ubiquitous comic book double-crosses, lending an ounce of charm to an otherwise haphazard climax. Jock's vertigo-inducing car-compactor panels even make the scene's flaws that much more forgettable.

This is the quintessential Detective Comics, and it's disheartening to think that we're already well into Snyder's stint on the series, meaning it will be concluding in a matter of months. I'm going to cherish it while it lasts.

Rating: 9 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12