To any Batman fan who wishes to read him in the comics medium for the first time ever:
Please don't bother with this and avoid it at all cost.
You are not missing out on anything.
I want you to enjoy your precious reading experiences when it comes to Batman, and Tony S. Daniel's two collected volumes entitled Faces of Death and Scare Tactics will never be a good place for you start. I would only recommend you to check out the first issue which included some information about the Joker. That was a fairly acceptable story. There is also the issue zero for New 52's Detective Comics which happens to be a part of this collection as well, but that's it.
I would not waste writing a longer review for this one because I quite frankly had no energy, let alone affection or love, to spare this shite some.
Daniel has proven himself a great artist; his illustrations for these volumes were superb and enchanting; but he certainly hasn't made up for substance or enjoyment which his stories in said volumes sadly often lack. It's a truly wasted opportunity for everyone.
So, new reader looking for a prospective Batman comic book to get started with, I advise you to take your bearings elsewhere and avoid this massacre of good sense. As you embark on your journey to read Batman for the first time, there are plenty of better and more enduring titles to start with than this one.
NOT RECOMMENDED: 1/10
I thought about giving a three out of five stars rating for Tony S. Daniel's first volume that is comprised of issues #1-7 for New 52's Detective Comics but quickly changed my mind when I took into account how much emotional abuse I endured while I was reading and reviewing each issue. It would have been a solid three but given how much this ruined an entire week for me, I felt obligated to shoot another star down and just give this a measly two for effort and visuals. I have stated time and time again that Daniel is a spectacular artist and his dynamic illustrations, particularly the action sequences and character poses/designs in this volume, are certainly the only things I love about it. The visual appeal is unmistakable. You can just look at the pictures and make up your own story too, if you want, which you might find yourself doing so instead of trying to understand the convoluted and often nonsensical plotlines that Faces of Death was all about.
I don't care about anyone in the story, heroes or villains alike, because I don't understand the motivations driving these characters to make the choices that they have throughout the story--and how they go about these choices. Detective Comics as a title that was supposed to showcase the crime-solving sleuth quality of Batman but much of the time in Daniel's story, all he did is employ violence every step of the way. I don't really feel like he's solving anything unless you count the number of times he beats up people as a way to get answers from everyone. Sure, Batman kicks ass but he's also the type to ask the questions either before or after the violent confrontation. He usually doesn't do this and doesn't bother unravelling whatever clues and threads he might find, seemingly more eager to jump from one action sequence to another in every issue. Whenever he does play detective, it comes off as pretentious and tacky as if Daniel doesn't even bother making it a serious venture and would rather make Batman utter cheesy lines that more than once made me cringe.
Another thing that disappointed me about this volume is how fucking MISLEADING it tends to be. Just look at that main cover as well as the ones that heavily feature the Penguin. Trust me, their time on the pages have little impact and enjoyment to offer. As gratingly inconsistent the seven issues had been as a whole story, the one consistent thing Daniel does manage to do is short change his baddies where they don't ever have that much of a significant role to contribute in his plots. In the first two issues (which, in retrospect, were actually the only decent ones in the collection), we get a story about the Joker but we never, ever get an explanation or even a theory as to why he had his face surgically removed by the Dollmaker, which should have been an interesting moment. Frustratingly enough, the Dollmaker story arc that lasted four issues too long was also handled poorly. This chief villain just disappeared easily, I may add, because Batman just stopped caring halfway through like a child with attention-deficit disorder, and focused his energies with the Penguin who was also cast aside to "develop" that character story concerning Charlotte Rivers and her evil twin, and it's not that engrossing. Like, AT ALL. Charlotte Rivers and her twin are unsympathetic and bland and there was no solid characterization that made me believe I should pay attention to what is happening in their cookie-cutter lives. To call them plot devices would be giving them the dimension they don't have.
And then there's that bit about Hugo Strange's bastard son and I actively fucking hate anything with Hugo Strange in it so, nope, I would rather not discuss any more of that bullshit because it was a passing storyline that did nothing for the main story.
Just explaining about the things that annoyed me the most while reading the issues is almost like re-living the horror for me so I'm going to end my review now. I also decided not to review the next issues (#8-12) individually anymore since they are written by Daniel again and I only plan to submit one review for the second volume that collects it. I just have to endure five more Daniel issues before I finally get to John Layman's run.
NOT RECOMMENDED: 4/10
It's pretty awful to start the second wave of my Batman comics diet reading and individually reviewing Tony Daniel's seven issues collected in the first volume of New 52's Detective Comics, sure, but I think it was a wise decision on my part as well. By starting with a horrible bunch of issues, I can get them over with quickly while the time is still early on my diet, and then I can start looking forward to the next comic series and graphic novels on my list which I know are guaranteed to be awesome. So all I have to do now is to endure through another nonsensical issue about a Batman I don't care about.
Like all of Daniel's previous issues, this one had top-of-the-line gorgeous and exciting illustrations that I had so much fun looking at right to the smallest details. However, once again, they are wasted on such a convoluted and underwhelming "story" that was so agonizingly confusing that I can't even call it dull. The weird thing about this issue is that we're supposed to get a climactic confrontation between Batman and the Penguin, who has been in the cover and succeeding variant covers for three fucking issues now. Instead, what we get is the worst anticlimactic bullshit ever where the said long-awaited big-boss fight between Batsy and the Penguin was rushed. This is also consequential to the overall lack of focus of the entire plot arc that Daniel is supposedly writing. I've said it so many times now and I will say it again: NOTHING MAKES SENSE.
Personally, I blame Charlotte Rivers who is an obviously piss-poor second-rated Vicki Vale. I don't know her and I don't want to spend time with her because she has not been a compelling character in any way. Her motivations are unclear and fickle, and her ridiculous timing and placement in the story are far too convenient. She doesn't add any kind of drama or intrigue and I don't like it when she's with Batman because it reinforces the notion that secondary female characters that are badly-written like this one serve no other purpose but as eye-candy fanservice (how many times does she have to cosplay her way in the plot, dammit?) and the trope-that-must-die damsel-in-distress shtick. Just stop, okay? But the list of offense just goes on. HOLY LOKI!
What's worse than a Charlotte Rivers in your story? Why, having a twin sister named Jill whose character arc is that she's a reluctant villain/anti-heroine, that is! While Charlotte's presence in the plot makes everything even more unconvincing, Jill actually does things to move it forward--even if those directions are questionable and unsatisfactory. I honestly can't understand who she is fighting against and why she's even bothering. Her relationship with her twin should interest me in some way because I like character-driven narratives about complicated relationships but theirs is such a boozefest filled with clunky dialogue and vague references. WHY AM I READING ABOUT PEOPLE I DON'T HAVE ANY EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT IN? Better question: WHY CAN'T YOU MAKE ME CARE ABOUT YOUR HEROINES, DANIEL?
I've been giving straight 4 to 5 out of 10 ratings since issue #4 and I believe it's time for me to even rank this lower because this should be the part where all the action and excitement would complement the story it's unravelling alongside it--but none of the elements work or blend well, and I am just so exhausted and negatively bias about this entire comic book series that I will no longer apologize for the bitter resentment I have developed for Daniel as a Batman writer. I understand that he has written another Batman story called Batman: Life After Death which was suggested by a fellow Goodreads person and I'm adding that to my to-read list next year. But for now, I don't like this author. He should have stuck with illustrating Batman comics because I have no complaints on that area of expertise. This time, though, not even his artwork could save the travesty that this issue has produced and continue to reinforce. I really am not in a forgiving mood whatsoever.
NOT RECOMMENDED: 3/10
NOTHING MAKES SENSE.
Hand to the gods, I'm embarrassed now to own a copy of the first collected volume of this series. I think I'll squeeze it underneath Frank Miller's All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder which was yet another shameful purchase, in a very dark corner of my bookshelves.
Look, I can't do this. I can't keep wasting my time and hope that things will get better. They didn't. They won't. They can't. Tony Daniel, you disappointed me and I don't even know you well enough as a writer to feel this strongly against your work here. You sure as hell were an amazing artist though. And your illustrations for your line-up were deceptive enough to keep me reading. But Detective Comics is THE WORST title in Batman's New 52 re-launch. It truly is.
As I write this, I also just finished reading the conclusion issue (#7) for this "story" "arc". And I feel nothing. This is the reason why I avoid reading bad books in general, let alone review them because they're just not worth the pain, especially if I gain nothing important or insightful in reading them. Daniel's sloppy, cliché and underwhelming writing for this series has left me with a bad aftertaste and I still have FIVE ISSUES to go before I thankfully step into John Layman's territory by issue #13. That was the Detective Comics I started reading in New 52, actually (notably issues #19 and #27 which received great reviews from me months ago) and now I understand why they have to replace Daniel in the first place.
I want to give Daniel another chance, though. Maybe it will get better...in some places, I dunno. I know this is merely wishful thinking on my part because I vowed to read ALL ISSUES of a New 52 Batman title and review them individually here and in my blog. But this is really the first time I consider RAGE-QUITTING halfway through. Still, I'm always the bloody optimist with a streak of masochism in me so, who knows, the next issues may be serviceable and I may find other redeemable qualities here and there. But I've calibrated my expectations to something very low in range at this point.
For now, I am officially declaring that the Penguin story arc was by far THE MOST NONSENSICAL BULLSHIT I have ever read in a New 52 Batman story (it inarguably belongs in the shelf next to Tomasi's three-issued Terminus story and two-issued zombie filler story). Ugh, I still have issue #7 to follow up writing after this and the official review for Volume 1: Faces of Death. I'm just really tired, mates. But I've made a commitment. I need to push through...holy Loki, give me strength.
NOT RECOMMENDED: 4/10
It's time for me to get philosophical.
How can a comic book series so visually stunning with dynamic panel layouts and great action sequences so well-put together have such A WORTHLESS CRAP OF STORY to tell?
I swear to all that is holy and Loki, Tony Daniel's Detective Comics has produced one of the worst Batman interpretations in recent memory. Only five issues in his run and I already want to bang my head against any if not ALL hard surfaces in close proximity. I haven't been this frustrated since reading Tomasi's traumatic He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named villain and that forgettable two-issued zombie fiasco of his. But at least Tomasi has also given me great stories in his Batman and Robin run that have more than equalized the bad shit he put me through sometimes. I can't say the same for New 52's Detective Comics since this is the very first Tony Daniel work I read and it's lousy and ambiguous at best, writing-wise.
The only thing that is redeemable about his issues is the consistently brilliant artwork he presents readily but I'm sorry to say, Mr. D. You're going to have to give me something more than pretty pictures now. Sadly, any hope for that is squashed by this "story".
Actually, my biggest problem is that this issue is composed of TWO UNRELATED STORIES. The first part is the continuation from the previous issue where Batman IS STILL NOT LOOKING FOR the Dollmaker IN ANY SHAPE OR FORM for NO CLEAR REASON WHATSOVER WHY THE FUCK NOT, and was more focused with the mob of Joker supporters that are occupying Gotham streets in protest. Also, there's the Penguin. And Charlotte Rivers, Bruce Wayne's journalist girlfriend, who cosplays her way into the Penguin's lair. My notable complaint about EVERYTHING is that THE CHARACTERS' ACTIONS HAVE NO PLAUSIBLE MOTIVATIONS. Why are the Joker supporters fighting for the clown prince? Why is Charlotte Rivers going undercover to expose the Penguin? What leads does she have in the first place? Why should I care if she's in danger?
None of these simple plot elements are answered because we only have 12 PAGES TO TELL THIS STORY AND THE BREVITY COMPLETELY MADE IT SUFFER WITH ITS LACK OF DEVELOPMENT.
But this is surprisingly not the worst offender of them all. It has to go be the second "story" that came out of nowhere. Artist Kudranski has some interesting art choices for this issue and I certainly want to see more of his work on other comic books, but it was still a "story" written by Daniel himself. And the reason why it is yet another bullet-point to the growing list of offenses that this series has committed that personally offends me is that the story is about the illegitimate son of...ugh, I can't believe I'm typing his name again...Daniel's second "story" is about the illegitimate son of DR. HUGO STRANGE WHOM I BLOODY HATED in Prey, and in fact was the reason why I didn't always enjoy Dough Moench's graphic novel while I was reading that last February because Hugo Strange is the most unlikable, ugliest and lamest Bat-villain EVER. And you want me to believe that HE somehow PROCREATED WITH SOME POOR WOMAN AND HAVE AN OFFSPRING WHO NOW BECOMES A NEW VILLAIN FOR NEW 52--this is getting ridiculous! There are tons of exciting and complex iconic Bat-villains already. We really don't need new ones. Sometimes they do work for the story framing they are told in (Tomasi's NoBody and Erin McKellen are great examples) and sometimes they just take away significant page time from well-established characters from the historical Bat-canon.
This new character Eli Strange does absolutely nothing but sit there and play cards while talking like any boring immovable plot device as opposed to a dynamic character. Catwoman appears for a shitty reason to save this man's ass and then I was left feeling numb in the precious corners of my soul. As you can see from my caps-locking, I AM EXTREMELY UNHAPPY RIGHT NOW. I still have TWO ISSUES LEFT OF THE FIRST COLLECTED VOLUME and I am not looking forward to reviewing them by the end of the week at all. Luckily, I have the third episode of Gotham to review tomorrow. Thank Loki. And fuck the rest with the hammer of Thor.
NOT RECOMMENDED: 4/10
Wow. Just...wow. Did I say 'wow' twice there? I actually meant to say WHY. Secondly, THE FUCK?!
The Dollmaker plot was actually a four-issued story arc and it ends here. Or does it? I don't know, guys. I never understood the story to begin with and there was nothing meaningful to it for me to latched onto intellectually and, most importantly, emotionally, so I received no kind of pay-off whatsoever once I closed the comic book and put it back in my bag, wondering why the fuck I even skipped eating breakfast to read it first.
After I had a well-deserved meal, I started writing the reviews for the last two issues of this plotline as quick and as coherent as I can manage even though I haven't been this pissed about a Batman story since Tomasi's colossal failure that is TERMINUS (a cardboard-box "villain" whose name I was hoping I will never write in my reviews ever again, but since I'm reviewing yet another shitty issue, it seems rather serendipitous to do so). This...just...EVERYTHING about this story was awkward and insipid. The artwork and the illustrations are superb, yes, but the story and the characters are incredibly, unbelievably inconsistent unless we're talking about their inconsistency being the only consistent thing about them. Nothing makes sense as soon as this issue finishes. There was so much anticlimactic bullshit that has happened at the end that the definition of 'butthurt' or 'nerd rage' may not even be enough to cover the range of emotions that has overtaken me.
There was no story. There were odd narrative boxes and weird dialogue that takes itself too seriously that it's laughable. There were so many amazingly drawn action sequences but with no nutritional substance in its story to back them up. Harvey Bullock is such a competent police officer (le gasp?) and the only character in this mumbo-jumbo parody of a Batman comic book who feels real even though he's just in the background, doing his job like a boss while everyone is outrageously cartoonish that I would have ripped the pages as I turned them one after another to witness the debauchery escalate until it just falls flat in a very disappointing crescendo. REALLY? AFTER ALL THAT EFFORT TO GET THROUGH THIS?
The Dollmaker's appearances are just misplaced in so many ways. The potentials were not realized to the fullest and his motivations are cliché at best. There was also this shoehorned character named Raju who should have been introduced two issues ago and not when he now conveniently serves a plot point. We were able to hints about the Penguin who will be the focal point after this story (predictably so) but it's a vital piece of information I had to ignore because I was too busy being annoyed by this issue in general. I mean, at the end of it all ,Batman does absolutely NOTHING to follow-up on the Dollmaker when he escaped. The Dollmaker who brainwashed a little girl, aided the Joker in the first issue, almost killed Jim Gordon--yeah, Batsy just gives him the longest headstart ever to the most non-existing chase ever and packs up his costume so he can go frolic with Charlotte Rivers, some current girlfriend of Bruce Wayne who has no impact on the events of the story in this issue I'm supposed to care about whatsoever.
You know, before I began typing this review, I was thinking that this should still be a recommended one because if you wasted your time reading the first three then at least solider on and finish everything but fuck it, reader. You deserve to keep your sanity. So I'm giving this turd of an issue the vehemence it earned.
NOT RECOMMENDED: 5/10
So that wasn't Commissioner Jim Gordon after all. I confess that I was half-hoping that it was which is odd because it's not like I'm actively wishing harm on Jimmy but I thought that if that ragdoll semi-alive body was his then things might finally get interesting for the plot of Detective Comics and it's a pretty embarrassing thing to admit here because now it seems like I want the people I care about in this comics to actually die if it saves me from the humdrum material I've been reading so far. Three issues in and Tony Daniel is consistently underperforming, writing-wise, but his illustrations are nonetheless deftly produced. The man knows how to draw visually-gripping action sequences. Sadly, I could not praise him for his writing.
The Dollmaker storyline is all crazy fun with lots of punching and kicking from the Dark Knight--but my biggest complaint of the four issues I just finished (my review for the next issue is not going to be more encouraging, sorry) was that the story lacks heart in general which I can give a pass because this is clearly more of a plot-driven narrative than a character-driven one. HOWEVER I would like my Detective Comics to show me Batman solving something; to perform the detective function of his job description. I could be wrong but this title is supposed to showcase Batsy uncovering and unravelling cases through his mental faculties. And I think that's what's so hard to swallow about Daniel's interpretation of the character. Batman in here feels like he's always beating up villains which is not what all that he's about, of course. Batman doesn't just flex his muscles and showcase his fighting abilities when he could use other means to press for information and that's why this take is beginning to irritate me.
And every time he monologues or speaks up--I have to stop myself from flinching violently away from the comic book I'm holding. He just sounds wrong. He sounds like some 'roided-up machine seething with barely-controlled rage and always so goddamn eager to prove that physical strength wins all the time--and that is not the Batman I know and admire. It's one thing if Daniel wants to have his own distinct interpretation of Batman but this is just inconsistent with the way Scott Snyder and Peter J. Tomasi have been writing him in their respective titles (and those two styles of characterization for Batman actually complement each other). Something just feels out of place when I'm reading Batman in this title. I am not enjoying the story unfold because I don't care about ANYONE, not even Jim Gordon who was at least someone I recognize.
As for the rest of the elements, particularly on Bruce Wayne as his own character, I feel nothing for him especially since all I see him doing is canoodling with some reporter who barely has any intact personality to actually make me want to see her make-out with Bruce whenever she's in the pages. I have no idea this is how I feel until I wrote this review. Glad to have this out in the open then. Once again, the rating I've chosen is reflective of the artwork which is probably the single thing I could praise for in this issue alone.
RECOMMENDED: 7/10
I'm still amused by the story though I'm not sure I'm exactly enjoying everything it has to offer which isn't really a lot.
I can't exactly connect to anything about Daniel's writing right now which is frustrating to me because I still maintain that he's a very talented artist and I have never liked looking at the action sequences of a Batman comic book so much like I had with his. This weirdly dissonant feeling reminded me of something I'd rather not revisit; reading Frank Miller's All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder whose lazy and unappealing material was redeemed only because Jim Lee, one of the comics industry's most splendidly astute artists, has illustrated said shite. And now that I'm at the second issue of Tony Daniel's Detective Comics, I'm somehow rendered nostalgic about something that's so terrible in scope and I'm not sure I'll be able to handle walking down that memory lane again. I'm panicking a little about this..
But I digress. I might be harsher than I'm supposed to, and probably still hungover from Hellblazer and I shouldn't force myself to read Batman when I'm clearly not in the right state of mind just yet. Or I should just keep reading and let the story and its characters grow on me. The key is to take things slow so you may have to bear with me in my next reviews for Daniel's line-up because I'm still gathering my bearings and trying to get myself in the right track for this. It happens even to the most Bat-fanatic of us, I suppose, but I know that I'll overcome this and sooner or later I'll be once again carried in the loving arms of my fierce Dark Knight as we go on adventures together.
This issue marks the actual appearance of the Dollmaker and the rest of his children who are as equally mentally unstable and grossly sadistic as he is. Their delightfully repugnant family is like a comic book rendition of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre/The Devil's Rejects and Batman is unfortunately caught up in this deranged serial-killer party of fucks. As much as I'm not emotionally clicking with Daniel's story just yet, he does provide effective cliffhangers (the first issue was a full-paged view of the Joker's face skin plastered to a wall which would give my eight-year-old self night terrors if I read that as a child) and now we get Batman angrily embracing a--chopped-up (?) and badly-sewn together (!) Commissioner James Gordon. I'm not even touching this. Is this like a planned marketing style to make sure the sales of this title don't drop because everyone who would get to the last pages and see those disgusting images of a clown face skin or one of Batverse's beloved characters looking like a ragdoll would almost definitely buy the next issue just to see what happens next? THEN IT WORKS and luckily I own a copy of the first volume of this series and only have to go to the next page (issue 3) already.
But I won't be generous of my rating like the last time. I sure hope Daniel steps it up and gives me more than cheap parlor tricks of gruesome imagery to keep me glued and invested on his plot and characters. I am waiting to be impressed, mister.
Here we are again as I officially open the second wave of my Batman Comics Diet for the months of October to December this year! Three months of everything Batman once more! I'm starting with the New 52 Detective Comics written and illustrated by Tony S. Daniel. Personally, I started reading bits and pieces of the more recent ones of this series which were penned by John Layman about the Emperor Penguin storyline and quite enjoyed that. I wondered about Tony Daniel writing this series because this would be the very first comic book I will ever read of him. I was actually more appreciative of his artwork. That was instantly what got me hooked with his first two issues so far.
It's been two months since I took a break to read Vertigo's Hellblazer so I'm still trying to gain my momentum in my Batman readings this week. Upon reading the first issue for Detective Comics, I had to keep myself focused in the story because I keep trying to figure out about the timeline and continuity of this one (considering I've read all of Snyder's Batman and Tomasi's Batman and Robin in my first wave and I was more immersed in their material) and just decided to go "Fuck it, the Joker's still here and has yet to disappear as what was established later on in Snyder's Death Of the Family and Batman is basically still pursuing him. Get with the program, Eka." After conditioning myself with that, I was finally able to enjoy myself--to a certain extent.
The thing about this first issue was that the illustrations are outstanding. I "Ooh"-ed and "Ahh"-ed almost every time I turned a page. Every action sequence felt dynamic and it's not every day for me to encounter a comic book whose pictures are enough to tell the story. But that's probably because, in a way, Daniel's artwork fared better than the actual writing itself. I'm not entirely convinced that the tonality of his narrative suited a Batman story. There was something conceited and self-aware about it that made me pause every now and then, wondering why that particular dialogue box or narration was placed in that page at all. Maybe I'm being too hard because overall it was a great, daring adventure. Batman chases leads about the Joker. Bruce Wayne has a new girlfriend who is also a journalist. And we get the Dollmaker as the other main villain for the plot that Daniel is crafting for his line-up. It's pretty cool, I can give him that, but the characterizations of our hero and the supporting cast have yet to impress me or at least give me something to discuss in length for this review.
What made me giggle and uncomfortable at the same time was that brief monologue from Batman as he contemplated why the Joker was naked when he found him in the beginning pages. He then had followed it up with the most awkward question ever: DOES THE JOKER ALWAYS TAKE OFF HIS CLOTHES BEFORE HE COMMITS A CRIME? I had to do a double-over to make sure I fucking just read that. To be fair, that's not really the exact statement but it might as well have been the unintended interpretation. Here is the said panel:
This issue ended nicely with that memorably disgusting spread of the Joker's face being surgically removed by the Dollmaker. I almost forgot how gross it was. For that ending shot, I'm giving this issue a higher rating than I'm supposed to. I'll try to be fair because it's the first issue after all. I definitely want to see what Daniel intends to do next.
RECOMMENDED: 8/10
