DETECTIVE COMICS #1050

The Tower

Part 4 of 12 

    Damn...1,050 issues. That has to be a record, right? Or is there, perhaps, some manga that's gone longer than that? Detective Comics started in 1939. That's insane to think a book started in 1939 still exists. Batman didn't even show up until #27, now on the cover it says "Batman: Detective Comics." I was reading the Wikipedia page for Detective Comics and it's pretty fascinating. They introduced Batwoman in 1956 because Frederic Wertham, an author and psychiatrist, said that Batman and Robin were homosexuals. But...it's not like Batman or Robin dated Batwoman, did they? Who the fuck knows what was going on back in 1956? Comic book stores didn't exist, I know that. I don't think I ever remember a time when comic books were sold in grocery stories and pharmacies. And I'm 42. Anyway, this landmark #1050 issue isn't really a "special" issue or anything. The only difference is that it has a second backup, which is a preview of Mark Waid's new Batman/Superman book. In "The Tower" part 4, we finally find out the secret behind Arkham Tower magically transforming their crazy patients into docile, controllable, regular folk. Turns out it's Psycho Pirate. The only time I remember him in a comic book is when Tom King used him in his Batman run. Psycho Pirate uses mind control. So that means the new Arkham Tower is using mind control. Okay. Kind of a lame reveal to be honest. Also in the story, Nightwing gets a job as a janitor at Arkham undercover. Batwoman also has a job there. Do they really need two undercover people? Kind of ridiculous. This issue also makes a big deal about Huntress, who was a Bat hero but is crazy and now in Arkham. I don't know Huntress. What books has she been in? I've been reading Batman books for 30 years and have no idea who she is. Writer Marika Tamaki and artist Ivan Reiss did this issue again. That's four straight weeks with the same creative team. Nice! The backup, with Scarecrow and his drug-fueled children attacking Wayne Manor, is good as well. The final backup, the Batman & Superman: World's Finest preview, isn't bad. I was trying to think what Mark Waid's been writing since he left Daredevil and I couldn't figure it out. I know he was writing an Archie re-boot awhile back so I guess that was it? So this was a good landmark issue. Crazy to think kids in the 30's were reading the same book I'm reading now. Worried about Hitler then...now me worried about the pandemic. And reading an engrossing fantasy to escape the world's horrors. Nothing changes, I suppose. **1/2

DETECTIVE COMICS #1049

The Tower

Part 3 of 12

    Writer Mariko Tamaki and artist Ivan Reiss are back to do this issue. That's a surprise. I'm curious how long we'll get those two on this book and if it'll get better or worse when they depart. The one problem with this issue is that this story is a bit too slow of a burn. Really, this issue seems ultimately pointless. Batwoman disguises herself as a psychiatrist and gets a job at Arkham Tower to look into what's going on there. Yeah, so? We kind of already went through that in the last issue when she had a job interview. One of the patients at Arkham Tower is The Huntress. I'm assuming The Huntress is, like Batwoman, a superhero in Gotham City. The problem is I have no idea who she is nor why she's in Arkham. I might know who The Huntress is if I had watched the Birds of Prey movie but after five minutes of watching it I decided that it was unwatchable. And remember how the studio figured the reason the movie didn't make that much money was because of the title so they actually changed it the second week it was out? That was weird. As for the backup this week, we get more of the kid whose parents were killed by The Joker. He's now in an orphanage that just happens to be run by Dr. Crane. The boy wakes up in the middle of the night to find Dr. Crane dressed up as Scarecrow doing fear experiments. That was a pretty creepy page. Kind of sad when the backup is more interesting than the main story. **

DETECTIVE COMICS #1048

The Tower

Part 2 of 12

    This issue, like Part 1, is written by Mariko Tamaki and drawn by Ivan Reiss. I wonder how many issues Reiss is going to draw, because he's obviously not doing all 12 since this is a weekly series. Reiss is one of DC's best artists. I'm not sure I can even think of another good one. In this issue, we do get a brief backstory of Arkham Tower's boss, Dr. Wear, but for the most part the book is set in the present. The big mystery behind Arkham Tower is what's the secret behind Dr. Wear's new patient remedy? The Dr. has all the crazies, like Dr. Freeze, walking around Arkham free as birds with unlocked cells. We do get a hint at the end of this issue that Dr. Wear is villanious. As a kid, Dr. Wear's mother was crazy and got sent to a psychiatric ward. The end of this issue has Dr. Wear as a boy saying, "Fuck her. Fuck them all." Meaning...fuck crazy people. Also in this issue, Batwoman goes incognito to get a job at Arkham Tower and Dr. Wear shows her around. So this issue has zero action in it, if that's your thing. In the backup, we get Bruce Wayne taking the boy, whose parents were murdered by The Joker, to Gotham Academy. Remember that short lived Gotham Academy book? I actually really enjoyed that. I also am really enjoying this book. The last time they tried doing a weekly Batman book it was kind of forgettable. It was called Batman: Eternal. It was so great I forget what happened and who the villain was and who wrote and drew any of it. Will I remember The Tower in the future? Even though this particular issue isn't fantastic or anything, the book is great so far so I'm going to say yes. **1/2

    

DETECTIVE COMICS #1047

The Tower

Part 1 of 12

    This is the first part of a weekly 12 part story called "The Tower." It's weird that it's called that, though, since it never says "The Tower" on the cover, it says "Shadows of the Bat." Either way, DC's idea to do a weekly event in Detective Comics got me to read this book, so perhaps it worked in getting more sales on this book. I have read Detective Comics off and on for the last few years and it's never been any good. The last time this B book was any good was when Scott Snyder and Jock were on it, and that was at least a decade ago. And while it's still early and this book could become a massive trainwreck super fast, so far this story is excellent. The basic premise is that Arkham Asylum is now a skyscraper tower led by a fashionable doctor with questionable beliefs and history that's trying a new way to reform the insane inmates. Quickly the book jumps into the future where Arkham Tower is in chaos and taken over by the inmates and the doctor is dead and Nightwing, among others, is trapped inside. I'm not sure if this first issue is just a glimpse into the future for one issue only or if perhaps they're going to split the book into an amalgam of past/future sequences. While it might have worked better to build up to the destruction and failure of Arkham Tower, immediately showcasing that did make this issue highly entertaining. The writer for this part is Mariko Tamaki and the artist is Ivan Reiss. Considering this is a weekly book for the 12 parts, I doubt we'll get the same writer/artist throughout. That's a shame, as Ivan Reiss really knocked it out of the park here (I still fondly recall how awesome his Geoff Johns written Aquaman was when the New 52 debuted). There's a backup in this book that's also going to continue for 12 parts. It deals with a child whose parents are murdered by The Joker and the kid is sent to Arkham Asylum for some reason. Matthew Rosenberg, who's writing one of the best comic books out there at the moment with What's the Furthest Place From Here?, writes the backup and it's at least readable and interesting. I haven't really enjoyed much of anything from the big two lately, so reading this book was a surprise because of how good it is. *** 

The Best Comic Book of 2021: THE NICE HOUSE ON THE LAKE

     

Kind of surprising that writer James Tynion IV wins the Best Book of the Year in back to back years (his book Something is Killing the Children won in 2020), considering most of what he writes I'm not a big fan of. His Batman and Joker books in 2021 were very mediocre, yet this book, The Nice House on the Lake, felt like one of the best Twilight Zone episodes ever written. The premise is fantastic; it's the apocalypse, end of the world, and a group of friends up alive, somehow, and safe, somehow, in a nice house on a lake. It turns out that one of their friends has been an alien all along that took part in the Earth's apocalypse. So...why did he save them? Why was he pretending to be their friend all these years? What's going to happen next? The first issue was one of the best first issues of any series I've read in a very long time. Yes, the book is super dark and bleak, but Tynion has a knack for writing catchy, fun, amusing dialogue for everyone. This makes the book feel like a Richard Linklater film...in a Twilight Zone episode. The art by Alvaro Martinez helped set the mysterious mood, and the covers, especially for the first issue, truly knocked it out of the park. Just a huge triumph all around.

The Best Writer of 2021: ED BRUBAKER

 

    Nothing changes, apparently. Ed Brubaker won Best Writer of 2020 by writing two issues of Friday, his college girl noir detective series, and writing two graphic novels. This year he also wrote two issues of Friday and two graphic novels. Maybe the one reason he's the best comic book writer working today is simply because he doesn't fuck around with the mainstream superhero books anymore and he doesn't stretch himself too thin by writing too much. In Friday we got the death of the main character's partner and the fallout from that. Friday isn't bonkers, but it's in a weird plane of existence where fantasy and reality merge. Brubaker's two graphic novels this year both featured his Ethan Reckless character, a sort of gun-for-hire/detective dude back in the 70's and 80's L.A. scene. Everything Brubaker writes is not only interesting and creative, it's super readable. You really can't put down his stuff or wait for the next issue/installment. Dude's a legend.

The Best Artists of 2021: DAVID FINCH & DAVE McCAIG

  

   I remember when David Finch jumped from Marvel to DC and it was this huge deal. Now, Finch doesn't even draw a monthly book anymore. This past year he only did covers for the colored version of The Walking Dead. Now, granted, we all know that publishing The Walking Dead in color is simply a money grab and utterly pointless, but at least we got Finch (and Dave McCaig, who colored them) to do some badass covers all year long. 

The Best Cover of 2021: POST AMERICANA #3