DETECTIVE COMICS #18

You've got to feel sorry for Cobblepot. He doesn't really know an awful lot. He thinks monkeys can write. He thinks he can fight. Plus never does he know went it is hot. Yeah. Ask Batman. And if not him, then the very cleaver creative team of Writer: John Layman; Artist: Jason Fabok; and Publisher: DC Comics in April 2013.

Using GENERAL terms, answer the following 5 questions about this STORY entitled 'Return to Roost'.

WHAT'S THE MAIN THRUST OF THIS TALE: Poor Bruce (Batman) Wayne. With his son dead. Mister Zsasz recently escaped from Arkham Asylum. And the Penguin walking around a free man once more. Is it possible for him to turn all of this around?
ARE THE MAIN OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED: Nah! Not really. But then again he doesn't have to, does he? The Emperor Penguin has made life a living hell for... errr... the other penguin. Using Batman and Zsasz as 'tools' within his very-very nefarious game of gain and loss.
ANYTHING ELSE HAPPEN: The Penguin gets buggered.
HOW DOES THIS STORY END: With the 'Emperor' having the solution to all of his problems firmly in the palm of his hands.
WHAT'S THE BACK-UP FEATURE ABOUT: We learn how the Penguin prompted Zsasz's to turn nuts all those years ago, as well as how the Emperor Penguin enlisted his services quite recently.

All in all, what is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?

Out of all of the great sections of dialogue written within this issue, for me -- personally -- I thought it very memorable when Batman said to the Penguin...

'You know what brought down Al Capone, right? Tax evasion. You belong in Blackgate, Cobblepot. It does not matter how you get their'.

Ha! I love it when history and fiction come together. Reminds me of the A-team. Hoooo-Yahhhh!

What are the BEST bits about this issue?

(+) There was a double page spread drawn by Jason Fabok in this issue that was absolutely out of this world. I mean, just look at the picture up above. Isn't it as bold as bold could be?

(+) I did enjoy how the Emperor Penguin's master plan connected all of the sub-stands together by the end of this adventure. It's wasn't done in a blatant manner either. More of a subliminal manner that made a lot of sense at the end of this tale.

(+) I've always liked Mister Zsasz ever since I first saw him in the pages of the now defunct 'Shadow of the Bat' title. Now though -- in the pages of the New 52 -- well, he seems the same really; yet kind of less grandeur and more earthy in retrospect. Know what I mean?

What are the WORST bits about this issue?

(-) Ouch! Now this a really tough question to answer, folks; mainly because I loved reading this story so much! Still, at a touch, I'd say that I didn't like how the Penguin was played for a fool by the Emperor Penguin, plus how the 'prologue' acted as a 'plug' for the new 'Talon' series.

Choose TWO CHARACTERS out of this comic book, and then compare them to two REAL LIFE PEOPLE.

AL CAPONE AS THE PENGUIN: Now if you've read the Batman quote I've given previously, I'm sure you can understand why I've chosen Al to be Mister Cobblepot's other half.

HERBERT WILLIAM MULLIN AS MISTER ZSASZ: There are a lot of people I could have selected to fill this serial killer's shoes, but for me, Herbert has the right amount of righteous indignation needed to be this misguided loon.

What QUOTE would be appropriate to sum-up this story?

'Don't count your chickens before they hatch' -- Someone who likes puns

What SONG, THEME-TUNE, or MELODY, would complement this tale, as well as add and extra dimension to it by default?

'DON'T YOU WANT ME' BY THE HUMAN LEAGUE: OK, so maybe it's the more sardonic side of me speaking, but I feel this eighties classic gives this story a very satirical edge; especially if you imagine it through the eyes of the Penguin. Wak-wak-wak!

ANYTHING Else?

Now this is what I call a good comic book. Alright. I know I could call it something else. Like Gerald for example. But what would be the point of that, huh? 'Detective Comics' is back in business, and hopefully its business is to tell a good tale and spread some visual cheer along the way.

However, whilst saying that, this Emperor Penguin plonka -- nah! -- I don't like the look of him myself. At the moment he just comes across as a 'stop gap' between the Penguin and whoever else DC has up their sleeve.

Furthermore, couldn't John Layman have come up with a better name for this villain? Like Gerald for example. Whenever I see 'Emperor Penguin' in print, all I see before me is a waddling big bird like those at the end of the film, 'Batman Forever'.

Och! I'm starting to feel ill now. Wak-Wak.

GIVE IT, IT'S DUES: If This Comic Book Was an Egg, It Would Be A Cadburys Cream Egg Full Of Sweet and Yummy Goodness.