Detective Comics #880 Review

DC Comics
Detective Comics #880 Review
By Dan Horn
July 28, 2011 - 10:52

DC Comics
Writer(s): Scott Snyder
Penciller(s): Jock
Inker(s): Jock
Colourist(s): David Baron
Letterer(s): Jared K. Fletcher
Cover Artist(s): Jock
$2.99 US

Joker has escaped yet again from Arkham Asylum, forcing Commissioner Gordon to abandon the case involving his son, which I'm still scratching my head over--I mean, if your psychotic son was about to poison the people of Gotham, wouldn't you put someone on a detail to stop him if you're not going to take care of it yourself? I guess not. Here, Jim's too busy attempting to protect the ones he loves from the Joker, including a sudden and inexplicable reappearance of Barbara Kean-Gordon, who hasn't played really much of any sort of role in the story other than a brief appearance in Detective #875. I know comic books have a wealth of continuity to mine in each and every case, but I felt that Barbara Sr. hadn't been given a sufficient amount of "on-screen" time in Snyder's run to justify readers giving a damn what happens to her in this issue, and we're also talking about a character who's had one of the most muddled continuities of anyone in the DCU. I had to retrace all of the ridiculous retcons just to assure myself that she wasn't still dead. But I'm nitpicking, I think.

Other than the two flaws I've already mentioned, this is really a great issue. Jock's artwork is incredible, at times neon-lit noir and at others unrelenting, Gothic horror. As Batman descends into the sewers to track the Joker, we see the classic villain re-imagined into a truly horrifying and insane incarnation of the iconic rogue. Snyder and Jock's Joker is absolutely unsettling and nightmarish. I'm not sure I would let my kids read this if I had any. This is the stuff bad dreams are made of. There's a pretty decent twist at the end as well, though you'll have probably figured it all out within the first few pages of Detective Comics #880.

It's sad to say that this issue is the penultimate chapter of Snyder's stint on Detective, which I suppose also means the end of the line for Francavilla, Jock, and Baron's regular duties on a Batman comic, but I'm anxious to see what the writer cooks up when he has fewer time constraints to worry about in the pages of the Batman reboot. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though. We've still got the climax to this epic storyline just over the horizon, and while I sympathize with the Comic Con panel attendee that shouted he wanted a Detective Comics #900, I'm glad to see Tec go out on such a high note with such a fantastic creative team.

Rating: 8.5/10