Batman is on a case involving a crooked company attempting to kill the witnesses to its misdeeds, just as Green Arrow and Black Canary come to town. Elsewhere, the Bat and Arrow families say goodbye to a recently departed mentor, and the mystery of a loss from their time training together draws Batman, Arrow and Canary to look to solve a personal mystery. Detective Comics #1,107 is written by Tom Taylor, drawn and colored by Pete Woods and lettered by Wes Abbott.
Will Nevin: A couple of weeks ago, I gave you a choice: thought exercise A or B. You chose B at the time, so now we come ‘round to A. Suppose whatever passes for television these days gives a big sack of money to Scott Snyder and makes him the captain of a writing room and/or showrunner. Who would you tap to take over Absolute Batman? (And, no, you can’t say Dan Watters.)
Matt Lazorwitz: That’s pretty easy, actually. It would be a short-time assignment, probably no more than two years, as I don’t think this person has a run longer than 24 issues, but after the Absolute Batman Annual? Daniel Warren Johnson all the way.
Will: In the abstract, this is a tricky assignment, at least if we’re going to keep the book as is (which I’m sure DC editorial would insist upon given the sales). So we’d need someone who could continue the all-gas, no-brakes approach while continuing to mix in the body horror and keep those groovy vibes. Johnson fits that, for sure. I have a couple of sideways names for you: Kyle Starks and Mark Russell. Both might have a bit more to say than Snyder at this point in his Batman career, but I think they’d also be able to keep up the frenetic pace.
Matt: Interesting. Kyle Starks has been getting bigger and better assignments, so this would be his big break into mainstream superhero comics. Mark Russell … I like Russell, but I wonder if he could keep his habits of unsubtle parody in check. I can’t think of anything Russell has written that doesn’t exist outside the realm bordering realism that mainstream superhero comics have to exist in; it’s why his X-Factor didn’t work for me and other readers; it felt like a parody of the X-Men universe rather than a comedic series set in it.
Will: There is something about the ultraviolence that borders on parody, but I think Russell could play it straight.
The out-of-towners
Matt: We haven’t done an issue of ‘Tec since the anniversary issue #1,100, which was a one-off that didn’t tie into anything else that has been going on throughout the series. When I first mentioned that I thought it was time to circle back here, I mentioned that this issue would feature a guest appearance by Green Arrow, and you immediately said what I was thinking, that Tom Taylor, whose social commentary can be a bit on the nose, was made to write Green Arrow. How are we feeling after this first issue?
Will: Not that I disagree with the sentiment, but AI “taking what the world actually needs to produce nothing anyone wants” is certainly Taylor’s brand of unsubtle. Also, “Klep Corp”? Pretty heckin’ on the nose as well.
Matt: I think Taylor absolutely has Ollie’s voice down. The back-and-forth between him and Batman is spot on. And every arc has dealt with someone wealthy screwing with Gotham, whether it’s the prison/industrial complex immortals from the first arcs or The Lion from the previous arc, so casting Ollie in this book — the other example of the most fantastical thing in comics, the ethical billionaire — makes perfect sense, and having Batman dealing with Klep Corp on the vigilante front while Ollie has to deal with their corporate takeover on the legit front gives a real solid reason for both of them to be involved and neither to feel redundant.
Will: I think you’re right in that the setup makes a lot of sense, but we’ll have to see whether Taylor can make the most of the toys he’s put in his playset — we’ve got potential here if nothing else. I will say the colors didn’t do much for me here, especially in the boxing splash. For something so physical, especially where we were supposed to see art and nuance in the motion, the oversaturated neons washed a lot of that out for me.
Matt: Neon yet dark. Nothing here seems to have a feeling of daylight. Now, that might just be Gotham being Gotham, but I can see where you’re coming from.
That whole sequence at Wildcat’s may or may not have gotten me a bit choked up.
Will: An absent friend and Tim Drake’s first appearance as a former Robin. I can only imagine the feels, Matt.
Matt: One of the things about a shared superhero universe is that it should feel shared. Not every little thing that happens in every book should be mentioned elsewhere, but the death of a major character should make ripples. And as is pointed out here, Wildcat trained so many heroes in the DC Universe, especially in the Bat family. So having his surrogate daughter, Black Canary, take up his legacy in Gotham? Makes perfect sense and is a logical extension of what is happening over in JSA. And I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about Wildcat in this column since he does pop up in Bat books occasionally, but if not, check out the Wildcat episode of the podcast.
While the colors on that two-page spread of Batman and Canary might not have worked for you, and I agree probably should have been more vibrant, the idea of Cass as the ultimate fight ref, being able to read the extensions of a pulled punch? Great idea there, Taylor.
Will: Who needs a Danger Room and/or Mud Room when you have Cass? Cool ass idea. Anything else before we get to the final page?
Matt: I don’t think so. We’ll include the runup to that last page here, which seems to me to be a bit more of Taylor being obvious. The old lady and the young girl there? The woman is running or involved with Klep Corp, right? And the girl is the daughter of the mysterious Prion?
Will: Your “mysterious” there suggests I’m not stupid for not knowing Prion, which I now assume is a new creation from Taylor? If so, it’s a pretty interesting idea — for all of the heroes in the DC Universe, at least one of them had to die with their secret identity intact, right?
Matt: Nope, Prion is a new character. And while I have given a myriad of writers shit for retconning characters into Batman’s backstory before, I found myself liking the idea of a mysterious hero who trained with Batman who not even the World’s Greatest Detective has been able to uncover the truth about. Add in the fact that I read it as he died in training with Canary, or on a mission with her, and you’re adding some new wrinkle to Canary’s backstory as well. And judging by the look the old lady gave her, Canary isn’t the only one who blames herself for Prion’s death.
Will: It’s a lot to unpack, but here’s a question for you: Is it enough to make this book feel essential? Taylor is a fine writer, but this book to this point has been fairly skippable (in that we have consistently skipped it). It’s not required reading. Why do you think that is?
Matt: There are a few things. Taylor’s run followed one of the most distinct and different runs on Detective Comics, well, ever. Ram V’s run will go down with Greg Rucka’s as truly memorable. This is perfectly fine superhero comics, but it’s not anything more than that. DC also didn’t push this run. It launched the same month as Chip Zdarsky’s final arc on Batman launched, but more than that, the same month that Absolute Batman launched. DC knew which run to hitch their wagon to. And we’ve gotten a Batman reboot since then, but Detective just keeps plugging along telling fine superhero stories.
As Green Arrow is in between volumes, as is Birds of Prey, this is the only place to get Arrow and Black Canary right now, so that will certainly draw a small but devoted fanbase (looking at friend of the pod Josh Weil here). I think that will certainly help get some eyes on it, but Detective, as we’ve said, is always at its best when it has a distinct mission or voice, and this just feels like another Bat book. A good Bat book, but not a great Bat book.
Will: They can’t all be great and transformative, can they?
Matt: Nope, but they can be entertaining and try to tell a story that means something to the writer, and I’ll take that over hack work anyday.
Bat-miscellany
- This week’s BatChat podcast features three stories about one of comics’ most interesting and strained parent/child relationships: Lady Shiva and Batgirl Cassandra Cain.
Buy Detective Comics #1,107 here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of 5. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the podcasts BatChat with Matt & Will and The ComicsXF Interview Podcast.
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
