Detective Comics - Before 2011 Renumbering

I’ve been enjoying Paul Dini’s run more than Morrison’s on Batman.

My only gripe with Dini’s run is the art, it looks too much like it was done in photoshop with the coloring(yes I know almost all coloring is in fact done in photoshop but good coloring shouldn’t look that ‘digital’) and the inking looks like it was done with ballpoint pens.

Most fans have been very pleased by Paul Dini’s run on Detective. I am, however, one of the few who haven’t enjoyed his run all that much.

Dini is, of course, a great writer. Batman: The Animated Series was probably the best interpretation of Batman ever, and Dini’s previous ventures into comics have been quite successful. That being said, I found his run on Detective to suffer from two major flaws;

The first is a part of the writing itself. Every issue of Dini’s run has been, without question, a pretty good one-shot take on Batman’s world and his villains. With pretty much everything you’d expect from a Batman story. Everything you’d expect…and really nothing else. That’s the problem for me. Every single story Dini penned seemed very “safe”, and thusly, very bland.

Don’t get me wrong, they ARE good stories. But they bring nothing new to the character, and there’s not many moments within those stories that I found particular intriguing or exciting. Dini gives exactly what needs to be given for a solid Batman story…and nothing else. In my opinion, at least.

Of course, I did like some things in his run. Every issue with Zatanna featured some really great interactions with Batman, and really seemed to add a lot to each character. I truthfully wish it was explored in more detail.

The second is the art. While Don Kramer and Dustin Nguyen are both acceptable artists, I feel neither did justice to Dini’s writing style. They never quite seemed to match is tone, and they seemed to make seemingly bland stories, even more bland.

Of course, this may all be a moot point now, as it hasn’t been stated that Dini will continue his run on Detective post-Battle for the Cowl, but, if he does, I certainly hope he can team up with some slightly better artists, and do some slightly more innovative things on the book. Then, Detective really would live up to the praise it’s been getting.

The plus and minus of Detective Comics:

First the plus
Detective comics is dedicated almost entirely to the batman section of the DC universe. So if you don’t follow DC you can still read this as long as you know what batman is up to.

The minus:
There isn’t a solid character for this series. You would think it would be batman but you’d be wrong. Its cycling cast of main characters. For instance you’ll get about 20 issues of batwoman then it gets followed with some Dr. Arkham then its Dick Grayson and eventually its Detective Gordon (you get the point).

This series is not meant for the devoted reader (unless you’re a devoted batman reader). You can just jump in and off at your leisure. You can keep your eye out for your favorite characters too.

Really though its a series like this that makes it easier to just avoid having random issues and just buy the hardcovers or paperbacks.

Of course there is also a revolving door of writers so quality will be all over the place.

Sad to say it but its best to just get the books rather than the comics.

Regardless of anything this is DC’s main title. If you aren’t a hardcore comic fan then you might not have known that DC stands for Detective Comics. As far as my knowledge goes it predates Action Comics (which is now almost at 900 (at one point it released twice a month)).

If you’ve decided to become a DC fan then this is definitely your book.

If you just want to read batman then I recommend you go buy the “Batman” series.

Ever since Scott Snyder took over the series this has been the book that I look forward to the most each month. The writing is top notch and the art is outstanding. Jock and Francesco Francavilla do an incredible job. The stories about James Gordon Jr. are the highlight of the run for me. If you haven’t read snyder’s run yet you need to pick it up.