Detective Comics #1090
Kevin Rossi
Recap
Long ago, the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne changed Gotham forever. But there is something you never knew about the Dark Knight's tragic origin, which has been lying in wait to strike at Batman ever since that fateful night in Crime Alley. And now, all these years later, this ghost of Gotham's past begins to reveal itself.
Review
Aside from Action Comics, there are not many series that can boast a publishing history like Detective Comics. For one, it led to the naming of DC Comics, but it also introduced the world to Batman. Since then, the series has pretty much been synonymous with the character. The series has debuted dozens of iconic characters and is helmed by some of the best creative teams in the history of DC. Each team seems to take the concept of Detective Comics and put their spin on it, but things always seem to revert to the core basics: Batman being a detective. With Detective Comics #1090, Tom Taylor takes on the series as writer with Mikel Janin on art duties and Wes Abbott as the letterer. This issue is a fantastic debut for this creative team and does a fantastic job of laying the pieces out for readers.
Taylor has a knack for serialized storytelling akin to earlier eras of comics and for long arcs. This issue throws the reader right in but Taylor knows that most readers have some degree of prior knowledge of the Batman mythos and takes advantage of that. His characterizations are strong and efficient, not wasting any time setting things up. There is a bit of time jumping back and forth from the series’ present-day to Thomas Wayne early in Bruce’s life. Readers will have no trouble connecting the dots between these jumps fairly quickly. The plot is straightforward and while readers may be tempted to make predictions, a lot is going on here thanks to Taylor. A new character linked to Bruce’s past offers him a medicine that could stop his aging. The reader knows he won’t take the medicine in the end, but Taylor plants the seeds that put the focus on the potential. It is all about the journey and decisions leading to Batman denying it.
Mikel Janin’s art is outright fantastic in this issue. As usual, his work is clear and concise with some fantastic-looking action. His choice of placement and layout of the panels also stick out here and paired with Taylor’s plot it feels very fluid jumping back and forth time jumps. Another huge strength of Detective Comics #1090 is the coloring. Janin’s art style would look fantastic with other colorists but by coloring his work, he is doing exactly what he wanted and putting it on the page. The color palette in general looks gorgeous and breathes life into this Gotham and story. Along with the art, Wes Abbott’s lettering is a highlight in this issue. The story beats move along efficiently because of the lettering. Lettering seems to be one of those things that it’s hard to notice when it’s good, but that’s because Abbott is on the same page as Taylor and Janín. At no point does the lettering have to compete with the art or background coloring, if anything it amplifies the twists.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Detective Comics #1090 is a back-to-basics detective story with strong subplots getting set up for both Batman and Bruce. Everything from the writing to the art is clearly laid out and presented so readers will have an easy time jumping in and already starting to make predictions. Taylor isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel here, so nothing is too out of left field. There are new characters introduced and certain characters from Bruce’s past included, but Taylor does a fine job balancing them and avoids trying to change the status quo or cheaply shock the reader.
Detective Comics #1090: Do No Harm
- Writing - 9/109/10
- Storyline - 9/109/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 9/109/10
