Art By: Brian Buccellato, Francis Manapul
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 7, 2015
Wearing Masks
Last issue of Detective Comics we had a lot of things going down. After Batman took down the Mad Hatter before he could go on one of his Wonderland murder sprees, the Dark Knight found the skulls of six children cast aside in the ice. That wasn't the only death going on in last issue, remember Jeb Lester from the Icarus story arc? Well he won't be dealing in anymore trafficking of people because we saw him thrown out a window of Wayne Enterprises by a mysterious figure but it would soon look like the perpetrator was actually Anarky because when Bullock went to investigate, they found a bomb waiting for them and at the end of the issue we saw the front of Wayne Enterprises explode into a giant A...........for Anarky...............I think it was for Anarky. Maybe Aleve is upping their promotions game and Jeopardy isn't cutting it anymore. Well that's where we left off, let's check out what this issue of Detective Comics has in store for us this month.
Explain It!:
Our issue begins not with the charred remains of Bullock and Wayne Enterprises employees but with a bunch of Bat JELLO. It seems that before the bomb went off Batman filled the sprinkler system with Bat Gelatin to suffocate the flames and when the fire was taken care of he put in a agent to dissolve the flame retardant gel before it goes and suffocates the people inside as well. So Anarky might have got his big ole A on the front of Wayne Enterprises but the casualties he was hoping for didn't come to fruition.............. Ha ha, big ole A.
In the aftermath of the attack, Anarky hijacked the airwaves and let the people of Gotham know that for this Christmas he was leaving them all a present and when everyone went to their doors, they were presented with a gift of a blank white mask that Anarky encouraged them to decorate in their own way to make it their own because now that he also erased everyone's digital footprint, they can truly be whoever they want............ I know that Anarky is the bad guy here but I wouldn't mind a little bit of erasing happening on the debt front myself.
After this broadcast you can imagine that Anarky is on the top of the news segments in Gotham and to talk about the new state of Gotham city Councilman Sam Young goes on television to bad mouth the Mayor and tell everyone how bad he had it growing up............. Now it can't be this easy..............I mean the dude is talking about changing the infrastructure of the city and how awful the government is right now..........This has got to be just a giant red herring because I don't think that Buccellato and Manapul would make it this blatant. Even with the Councilman not really talking to Bullock about if he knew Jeb Lester and why he'd have a bunch of pictures of kids from child services........ It's too easy. I can't say that Sam Young is Anarky but there is definitely something not right about him.
In the end, Gotham hasn't really changed with it's new status quo. I mean we've got a bunch of guys wearing their new masks to rob a bank..............Yeah, seems like Gotham to me. After Batman intervenes all but one of the robbers is apprehended and that last guy makes his way down the back alleys with Bullock, Detective Yip and Batman on his tail. Only problem is the guy ran out into the open and Yip took her shot and our issue closes with Batman standing over a unarmed boy with a gunshot wound who happened to be wearing a mask as well. The people on the street claim that they saw the police shoot the kid while others say Batman did it. Either way I think that Batman is going to have a serious talk with Bullock and Detective Yip next issue.. Shouldn't Gothamites know better than to be walking around with a mask? Shit never turns out well.
That's it for this issue of Detective Comics and even though I was back and forth with liking the Icarus story arc, I'm loving this Anarky story. We've got all these different elements being thrown at us like the six dead children,Councilman Sam Young and his connection to Jeb Lester and now the wrongful death of a child that everyone is swearing Batman was behind. All that and Anarky is still doing his thing. It's just a unbelievably awesome detective story that I love to go through each month. If all that wasn't enough to wet your comic loving whistle then add the fact that Detective Comics has never looked better than under the helm of Buccellato and Manapul. It's just a beautiful looking book with superior writing. It just feels like the unsung hero of the Batman books that everyone should be reading. See you next month as we continue Anarky and see where the mystery takes us.
Bits and Pieces:
Even if this book wasn't written brilliantly, I think I'd still pick it up just to stare at the pages. If for some reason this is the one Batman book that you're not picking up then you're missing out on one of the best books in the New 52. It keeps me guessing what doors it will go through each month and it's actually putting the detective in Detective Comics. Go check it out.
9/10
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