Detective Comics #1080: A Heart Racing Good Read

Detective Comics #1080 is a fast-paced issue that weaves many of the intricate plot points from Ram V’s saga, and brings them all together for a satisfying story that moves pieces of the Orgham chess game around with finesse.

Last issue it was revealed that Catwoman had orchestrated a plot to fake Batman’s death during the hanging and steal his body in time before he actually died. The heist level issue was hyper-focused on Catwoman and it worked well.

This issue, while still good, has a lot going on—although I am not sure how I would have suggested any changes. Throughout this run, characters such as Two-Face and Talia Al Ghul have appeared and their overarching impact is revealed in this issue. It works well and gives many non-Batman characters their moment to have time in the spotlight and makes sense in the grand scheme of things.

Where I feel this issue struggles is with the pacing. Writer Ram V has done a great job with crafting a unique and enjoyable Batman story, however, there are two elements that I believe are negatively impacting this run.

The first of which is the release schedule. DC Comics (as of this review) is releasing issues every two weeks. I mention this because this issue had incredibly fast paced, and combined with the release schedule, it feels like the story is being pushed to wrap up. I believe V’s run is set to be 27 issues and this would be issue 18–leaving nine issues left.

Much of the story from V has had a solid slow burn that worked well and while I appreciate how all of the elements have reached a boiling point and are now beginning to collide, it is almost jarring how much is happening in one single issue.

This isn’t meant to be a fully negative point, as I believe the pacing still does its job, however, there were almost too many aspects to this issue. There’s Harvey Dent appearing, Talia’s role being revealed, the mention of the Reality Engine, and a couple of Bat-Family members still fighting the good fight in the streets, the Question is becoming involved, and all of this happens after a car chase through Gotham’s streets with Jim Gordon at the wheel.

This series is still in good hands with Ram V at the wheel and artists Jason Shawn Alexander and Mike Perkins, and colorist Dave Stewart work their magic to create stunning visuals that ago along with the story. With deep blacks and rough textures, the art contributes to the somber tone and is a joy to just take in.

Helming the Damian-focused back up story is writer Dan Watters, the artist is Christopher Mitten and the colorist is Triona Farrell. The story is a demented dream sequence that in my opinion steals the show with its color and macabre art.