Detective Comics #872

Well this one snuck up on me. I have absolutely no recollection of reading Detective #871, the beginning of the run by writer Scott Snyder and artist Jock, although I'm pretty sure I did in fact buy and read the thing. I mean that as no slight to the new creative team, it's just that the smorgasbord of Bat titles is ridiculously diluted and I have the mental capacity of a giant ground sloth.

This one is good, though, and I'm pretty sure I'll remember it come next month. To be honest, I don't like the first eleven pages. Jock's art is attractive throughout the book, but Snyder's script is a bit flaccid initially. It reads like police procedural gobbledygook, like Law & Order: SVU only without the personality.

Then page twelve settles and we arrive at the creepy fucking Mirror House auction. Snyder's script all of a sudden comes alive and Jock's art goes from attractive to delightfully deranged. The auctioneer's speech is wicked and the coloring by David Baron changes the tone entirely. And the splash on page 22 is ferocious.

But my favorite part of the issue is the second feature by Snyder and artist Francesco Francavilla. I love the taught dialogue between Barbara and Jim Gordon, and Francavilla's layouts are awesome, particularly all the closeups on Babs and Jim's eyeglasses. He's got some really delicate and emotive line work, and the washed out reds and purples are perfect.

Detective is definitely king of the Batcave.