Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Detective Comics #991 Review


Two for None

Writer: James Robinson
Artist: Carmine Giandomenico, Ivan Plascencia and Rob Leigh
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: October 24, 2018
Cover Price: $3.99

James Robinson jumped on this book a couple of issues ago and I really liked how his Two-Face arc started.  Now he has a couple of issues left and I am teetering on not caring as much.  Robinson's story so far has been really slow with not as much Two-Face as I had hoped.  Plus, I still am left wondering how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together, but that can easily be rectified by the story going forward.  Does this middle issue shed light on everything and get us jump-started for the stretch run?  Let's find out...


We pick up right where we left Batman and Two-Face...in Harvey's secret bridge hideout discussing what has gone on.  It turns out that Batman was right and Two-Face did go after Twist because of his connection to him before his little "accident".  Jim Gordon interrupts them, but after Batman uses his zip line to stop Harvey from jumping off the bridge, it's back to question and answer time.

I think this was supposed to be a badass moment...Batman grabbing a falling Two-Face while Gordon casually lights his pipe, but the art was a little bit confusing and it just ended up feeling like silly filler.



Two-Face then reveals that the bad guy in all of this is Harvey Dent.  Most of the stuff after Twist's murder was just Two-Face covering up the tracks.  They go back and forth for a while, but it all keeps coming back to the same point...Two-Face can't have Harvey Dent being the bad guy.  That pretty much screws up his whole worldview.  Batman twists it all around by telling Two-Face that if they don't stop Kobra, that now is on Harvey too and that does seem to get the bad guys attention.

We then go to a flashback at the GCPD where a captured Kobra agent is being interrogated and if the setup wasn't forced enough, it's really obvious that the guy is just here to spit out enough knowledge to move us along before his neural bomb finally kicks in and he dies.  Plus, it's not really that much information anyway.



The issue ends with Two-Face showing Batman where Kobra is planning on attacking (how did he get that hi-tech coin table into that bridge maintenance office?) and then acting like Tom Hanks in Big to end the issue!

There just isn't much to this issue.  I liked Carmine Giandomenico's art enough and we did get a lot more Two-Face, but nothing happens.  Two-Face tells everyone that he is no longer Harvey and Harvey can't be the bad guy a bunch of times and then agrees to team up with Batman.  This feels like one of those issues that can be skipped without any consequences when you pick up the next issue.

Bits and Pieces:

We get more Two-Face this issue and besides some good art, we don't get much else.  Batman, Two-Face and Jim Gordon stand around talking most of the issue, but what little info we get is repeated and pretty dull.  I am hoping James Robinson can get something going next issue because right now, I am pretty bored.

5.1/10

1 comment:

  1. I found myself zoning out for most of that rooftop scence...which was 90% of the book. Was the artist just like....so I just draw 60 panels of these guys just standing around on a roof? Cool. Way to utilize a visual medium. This is a crapper. FLUSH!

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