Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Detective Comics #978 Review



I to Eye

Written by: James Tynion IV
Art by: Javier Fernandez, John Kalisz, and Sal Cipriano
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: April 10, 2018

I am looking forward to this last arc of Tynion even as I anticipate something new in this book.  I think that Tynion's Detective is one of the strongest books in Rebirth, but everything runs it's course eventually and I think a change of scenery will do him good.  Meanwhile, he continues to put a bow on his run this week and that means more Ulysses, Brother Eye, Colony and who knows what else.  So, was it any good?  Let's find out...




The issue opens with Tim and Batman in the Batcave and while it's odd to see Tim on crutches, we get a flashback that ties last issue's cliffhanger to this one.  Still, what's with the crutches???

After Tim throws doubt about Colony's true intentions and Batman throws shade at Tim's detective skills (oh Bruce, I thought we came so far last issue!), Bats heads off for a meeting while Tim continues his investigation into what made the two Colony soldiers go ballistic on those poor, poor gangsters last issue. We then head off to see what Ulysses is up to.  He's being his creepy self (of course), and the scene seems set up to show that, but also show us that he is a pretty formidable villain and remind us that Brother Eye is in the house.




I don't know what everyone else thinks, but I like Ulysses as a villain.  We found out some of his motivations last issue, but teaming his crazy up with Brother Eye tech is pretty cool and I laugh at all of his Batman swag.

We continue with Batman having a face-to-face with Kate and Jacob at his Mother's old house. While Jacob is playing the family card big time, Kate basically tells Bruce that Colony had nothing to do with the gangster attacks.  While this is going on, Tim (sans crutches, by the way) is joined by Cass, mentions running lines and then goes completely insane!  It's a really odd and forced progression that really doesn't jive well and really makes Tim come off as a mental patient.  However, he has figured out what is going on with the Colony soldiers...Nonobots!  "Why did it have to be Nanobots?" said Tim in my mind doing his best Indiana Jones impersonation.

Right on cue, Ulysses goes nuts himself, does a full out Briney Spears impersonation (where's Chris Crocker when I need him?) and activates his One Man Army...of many men!  The issue ends with everyone either being attacked, taken over or both.



Okay, my gut feelings about this issue are mostly positive.  I figured that we were going to end the run with Colony and the Bat Family on at least speaking terms and having Ulysses as a common villain makes sense.  As far as the Brother Eye stuff, I like it.  I know certain people (Eric) will probably have problems with it, but those people (Eric) just are stuck in their continuity prison and never want to be let out.  Also, I'm counting on Tynion to work it all out in the end.  That being said, I have never been a fan of Javier Fernandez's art and while this isn't his worst issue, it isn't going to convert me either.  Plus, the thing with the crutches was odd, Batman is back to being a dick to Tim and old Drake had a screw loose in the middle section of the book that was funny enough, but weird all the same.  Still, I finished reading on the positive tip and that's been few and far between recently.

Bits and Pieces:

Tynion's run of Detective is coming to an end and this issue continues putting the pieces together for a big finale.  Eye (!) am excited to see what comes next, especially after the crazy cliffhanger that ended this issue.  I was not a fan of the art and a couple characters go complete wacko, but overall, I liked it.


7.5/10


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