Comics! Detective Comics #8

Detective Comics #8

Written and pencilled by Tony S. Daniel
Inks by Sanou Florea
background assists by Joel Gomez


Back up written by Tony S. Daniel
Art by Szymon Kudranski

The Solicitation
Bruce Wayne's girlfriend, investigative journalist Charlotte Rivers, tries to protect a long-hidden secret even when her own life hangs in the balance. The Scarecrow is after knowledge only she possesses, and he'll stop at nothing to get it from her. Can Batman uncover Charlotte's secret past in time to save her future? With the clock ticking and a dose of newly designed fear gas in the air, Batman must first fight his own nightmare as all of Gotham City turns against him.Plus, don't miss the start of a new backup story written by Tony S. Daniel and illustrated by Szymon Kudranski (PENGUIN: PAIN AND PREJUDICE)!

Preview

The Comic
This is another comic that can barely say that it follows what the solicitation advertises as happening in the book. For one, Charlotte Rivers is no where in this comic. The only part that is true outside of mentioning the back up that starts this issue is the fact that the Scarecrow is involved.

Let me just describe the comic like this - the payoff for the comic was much better than the setup. If you ignore any dialogue, if you let your sense of imagination include the fact that this was probably one of Batman's first adventures and he is not a seasoned pro, then this comic can be good when seen through a dirty filter.

We have to roll with the idea that Scarecrow is able to manipulate Batman and have Batman run some errands for him. Batman is obviously smarter than this, but the script doesn't show it.

The back up is pretty bad. It is supposed to be the story of how Two-Face started in Gotham. It comes across as incoherent, and then jumps to Two-Face being a total bad ass. Or trying to be. It's messy and the art doesn't help.

I don't know why Tony Daniel is popular and has been since the relaunch. The stories just aren't good to me. He's definitely not for me, but I struggle to see why he is popular and why Detective continues to be selling so well.


The Art
Tony Daniel continues to ape from scenes and iconic images from Dark Knight Returns. One panel seems to be flipped upside down for no reason. Too bad its a one page spread.

The backup is the same artist from a couple of issues ago. Everything is dark, dark, dark. It is very muddled and covers up a lot of what is going on. With this going on and the words not helping, it really makes for a bad back up.

The Cover
Very generic, so it matches the generic story. I wonder where all the text is on this cover that usually covers up most other covers that DC puts out these days. I find it funny that Batman's cape is deciding to get in on the attack efforts on the right side of the cover. I wonder why the other side of the cape is as enthusiastic.

And I swear that the coloring is off again on this issue. I really think its because I have the Combo-pack edition of this comic. Man this cover sucks with the coloring change. I like the picture displayed here much, much better.

Grades
Words: 2/10
Pictures: 3/10
Recommend: A very skippable issue. Doesn't even do a good job of introducing any character.
Buy Next Issue: It is the Night of the Owls crossover. Let's see how Tony Daniels has to deal with other Bat-writers and their much better ideas with how to handle Batman.

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