DETECTIVE #854 is my MUST READ AND SEE of the week! Not only is this a very enjoyable romp starring Batwoman, but the art is beyond breath-taking. JH has outdone himself here. Unbelievable. I want to own at least one of these original pages. Granted, they are WAY out of my means, but a gal can dream, can't she? Sigh....I just flipped through the issue over and over and over, savoring every single panel. This is one of those rare moments that the reader will really appreciate every detail the artist put into every panel. So many times, we all speed through an issue of a comic, looking at the art but not savoring the art. You have to read this issue slowly, maybe even read through it once to grab onto the story and flip through it several more times to see what JH poured into every panel with thought and direction. Innovative panel layouts starring our lovely red-headed Batwoman in all of her glory. My god, I don't care how slow this book comes out if every time Batwoman is in costume we have this caliber of artwork. Even the panels that star our gal in her every day garb as Kate, the panels are still rendered with precision. Of course, these panels that star Kate are done in a more standard layout, but nonetheless, wonderful. The story? Yeah, I almost forgot about the story, oops sorry Greg Rucka. The story is well done, but did we expect any less from the master that is Mr. Rucka? Thank you DC for turning over the Detective title to someone else for a change, ol' Batsy has more than enough titles to star in at present. Batwoman starring in Detective could possibly outsell several of the Bat books that star Batman. Great work Rucka and Williams! And yes the Question back-up story has me intrigued, it was short but sweet. I'm glad to see Batwoman an Question in the same book. Maybe these star-crossed lovers will end up together yet again somewhere in the pages of Detective? Wouldn't that be delicious? I know for sure it would be beautiful ... I want to see posters or maybe a nice DC print collection reprinting some of these Batwoman pieces for those of us that won't be able to actually own one of the JH originals.And I guarantee this book will be going to a second print in record time. Go to your local A/F Wednesday to get your copy. They will not last!
5 out 5 stars for the artwork alone! The solid storytelling is a wonderful bonus!
Ok, I gotta admit Lori, the first time you told me the art in this book was gonna be great I was a little skeptical. Not that I think you would ever lead me astray, but I really underestimated exactly how beautiful it would be. Now that I have seen some of the sample pages I think JH Williams could very well be one of those rare artists that you buy on name alone no matter what they do. Such as artists like Darwyn Cooke or Steve Rude, don't ask questions just buy it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not that big a fan of Bat-man and even less of a fan of Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing or Batwoman, and I haven't been a big fan of Greg Rucka's work in the past so I'm picking up this book mainly for the art.
That said, there are times when a great team comes together and magic happens. Sometimes characters you think you are only halfway interested in can become life long favorites when all the pieces come together. You just have to take a chance once in a while and try something different from what you're used to. I'm not much of a Batman fan, but some of the best comics I've ever read were Batman stories. So I'm eagerly awaiting when I can dive into this book and hopeful that it will be just a special to read as it is to look at.
Grant Morrison proved quite some time ago with his run on Animal man that any character could be great (except for Speedball) with a skilled writer.
I spent $43 this week. I wish I could somehow come across a large amount of money so I could buy all the TPBs I want.
ReplyDeleteBatwoman is awesome.
I am 100% in agreement with you on this book.
ReplyDeleteI just FINALLY got caught up with the Batman family, which I'd been reading furiously from around the time Heart Of Hush started in Detective up to the present. I waited for Battle For The Cowel to finish to get fully caught up. Finally got caught up to Batman and Robin #2 by Morrison and Quitely (which is also a great read so far.)
Batwoman in Detective Comics was a VERY pleasant surprise. The page layout is some of the most innovative I've seen since Devil By The Deed and this book really stood out for me. The writing AND the art were both excellent, and I wasn't expecting that out of this character at all.
I've been very satisfied with most of the Batman stuff I've been reading over the last year or so, but this one was a standout. It makes me want to get all the older Batwoman stuff that came out a while back. I am definitely looking forward to the next issue.