Detective Comics #1107: Wildcat’s Legacy

Detective Comics #1107 opens strong with a murder mystery in Gotham and a bit of AI commentary from Green Arrow. “Taking what the world actually needs to produce nothing anyone wants.” This line spoken by Green Arrow is a common sentiment and is especially relevant in art-driven industries like comic books.

As for the issue’s art itself, Pete Woods sketches a very blocky version of both Gotham and Bruce Wayne. The art has this subtle weight to it that is both interesting and a little dominating. Every character is completely shredded with unrealistic levels of muscle tone and takes up a large portion of each page.

On the other hand, the issue’s scenes all have a real sense of space to them, which avoids the “flat” look that some comics fall into. Character spacing and the angles at which action is drawn are also both really good here. The colors, also by Woods, blend into one another, forming gradients across various parts of the page, which causes environmental textures and the lighting in some scenes to look “off” compared to the rest of the issue’s artwork.

Where the issue starts to go off the rails is in the central plot it’s setting up for the next few issues. It’s revealed that Bruce, Dinah, and Oliver were all members of a team called “Flight Squadron Delta.” And not just them, but another mystery character named “Prion.” This history is setup contextually throughout the issue, Oliver knowing that Bruce Wayne is Batman and the way Dinah acts around Bruce during a sparring session in Wildcat’s gym where they mention Wildcat’s “star student.”

While it’s believable that Wildcat could have yet another star student, this is still an unnecessary addition to the lore of all three characters. The character, who we don’t even get to see in issue #1107, feels forced, not to mention that “Flight Squadron Delta” sounds like the name of a bad Marvel team from the ’80s.

The sense of continuity here is really bizarre. There are a number of stories where the members of the Justice League know that Bruce Wayne is Batman. However, this has not been the status quo for recent storylines, especially with how large the Justice League has grown in recent stories like the ongoing Justice League Unlimited comic. For Oliver to casually call Bruce Batman, even while he’s in a street disguise, and for Bruce to not react, is very out-of-character for both of them.