Detective Comics #845 Review

Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs

Detective Comics is one of my favorite reads on the market. Certain Gods have called me a Dini-apologist but if you have read Detective Comics you would understand that Dini is a fantastic writer, for the love of god the man made the Batman: The Animated Series and the Superman one as well. How can you hate on something like that? The big appeal of Detective Comics is that this is the only comic is when you see Batman do detective work. This comic certainly has a lighter feel than what Morrison is doing in Batman. This issue focuses on a serial killer who is terrorizing the city. Detective comics is written in a unique way. It has reocurring plot elements but no overarching plot like Morrison is doing. Here Dini introduces Catwoman back into Batman's world. I like the addition of Catwoman because she is a big part of Batman's history and the fact that she has been absent for so long doesn't seem right. You don't go into Gotham and not deal with Batman. I liked the chat room that Bruce uses to track down the serial killer. It's great a humanizing concept that Dini adds to Batman. Being the world's best detective means that you can recognize and put together patterns, not just stroll in the room and instantly now what went down. Dini continues to use the Riddler (who is also a member of the chat room along with a talking monkey which is pretty ballin) which is a great idea. It makes sense in this modern world that the Riddler uses his gimmick to get that money, money, yeah, yeah instead of trying a robbery. It only makes sense that more villains would cash in on their gimmick if they could. It seems with the upcoming Hush storyline that the Riddler is poised to become that big villain he once was before DC made him forget everything and essentially neutered him. I like the art here because it just seems to work for this noir book that Dini is crafting on this title. I enjoy Detective because it is a fun read and an actual mystery book that is what Batman is about. Dini is setting up for his own little blow-out with his upcoming Hush arc. I like the addition of Catwoman and how Dini is not afraid to play with relationships since we all know that Jet and Batman won't work out so bringing back Catwoman is a solid move. This is a great title and definitely worth a look.

Art: PHENOM
Overall: GET IT