DETECTIVE COMICS #48

[ RAINY DAY SALE ] 

Hello, has anyone seen Robin: the boy wonder? The last I heard he was hobnobbin' with Dobbin and getting a throbbin' from his nobbin'. Then again, Robin does take an awful lot of crack cocaine, doesn't he? If I was him, I'd rather relax by reading the following comic book created by Peter Tomasi, Fernando Pasarin, and published by DC Comics, in February, 2016.

TO QUOTE The Gustave Flaubert novel, Madame Bovary: 'Never touch your idols: the gilding will stick to your fingers'.

THE REVIEW:

At the start of this issue we see Batman standing on a rooftop, in the pouring rain, reflectively looking into people's apartments across the street. Warmly, the sight of others makes Jim call his daughter up on the phone -- namely, Barbra Gordon, AKA Batgirl -- who's currently in the process of catching a perp, even though she says to her Dad she's at the cinema with a friend, watching a superhero movie.

Now once this coy conversation has run its course, Bat-Jim then jumps into action with a case that starts off with him being shot in the head, whilst investigating the death of George Washington.

Hey! Don't worry, folks! Jim doesn't die. He can't because the bullet that hit him was made of rubber plus he's also wearing his kevlar suit. And as for George Washington, yeah, same thing! It's all a ruse. The man Jim discovers isn't George, it's some other poor sap dressed up to look like him, carefully placed in an alleyway for Bat's to find. And this, dear reader, ends up becoming one hell of a cracking story-line that I can't wait to read more of next month, especially when it's then revealed that the culprit is a hooded nutter who has a mad hard-on for iconic people.

And how did I figure that out? No. I'm not telling. Although what I will say is that I did love reading this issue of Detective Comics. In the art department I must applaud the crisp artwork provided by Fernando Pasarin: as I thought his bold yet expressive style suited a story that was a strange mixture of warmth and death. Where as in the story department, yeah, that was good too: as essentially what this issue did, is set up it's premise in such a way, that it makes us want to know more about it's main villain, as well as why Jim wants to still be Batman.

Well, let's face it. From the sight of him looking at other people at the start of this issue, to him talking to his daughter a few pages later, it's starting to become fairly obvious Jim is having second thoughts about his role as Batman. On top of that, seeing him misjudge his own footing whilst jumping from roof to roof, as well as how easy it was for the villain to take him down, also begs the question, if Jim doesn't quit being Batman, will his role as Batman be his fateful demise?

I hope not. I really do. As I love Jim as a character in his own right and it's nice to see him stepping out of his comfort zone, so to speak. But that said, how long will it take DC to allow this to play out? Another year? Another six months? Or maybe near the time they'll announce another Batman project? One to do with the movies perhaps? Hint-Hint!

All in all this was a good issue with some good solid storytelling and good old fashioned artwork. Let's hope next month is able to surpass it.  

THE MUSIC:

Now this months musical match-up would make an awful lot more sense, if you replace the word 'killer' with the word 'video', before replacing the words 'radio star' with the words 'mock idol'. So go on. Check it out. 'Video Killed The Radio Star' by the Buggles. Or in the case of this issue, 'A Killer Killed A Mock Idol' by me.

THE COMPARISON:

At the moment this story appears to be about a mad man wanting to kill icons. And to me, the only name that springs to mind where this is concerned has to be the man who shot John Lennon: Mark David Chapman. The b*stard!

THE CONCLUSION:

At the very end of this issue Batman and his crew discover another dead body hanging from the top of Wayne Tower. So, for the sake of peas, let's see if you can guess who this dead person is out of the following eight options. 

• Judge Judy: hanging onto every word she says.
• Gerry Lopez: hanging five whilst catching a wave.
• Doctor Dre: hanging with his peeps'. Word.   
• Paris Hilton: hanging with her handbags.
• Joan Crawford: hanging a dress on a metal coat-hanger.
• Kendall Jenner: hanging from her over inflated ego.
• Kim Kardashians kid, North: hanging onto his mothers huge ass without any hands.
• A spaceman: hanging from his parachute.

Nuff said.