The New 52 : Detective Comics
Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 5:38 pm
Quite a few of the New 52 are being written AND drawn by people who are traditionally artists only. Detective Comics is the first of those to hit the shelf, written and drawn by Tony S. Daniel.
Now, of course, you know that I'm obsessed with comic book writing, and some of my favorite books (Gaiman's Sandman, for example), depend much more heavily on the writing than the art. Obviously, I was pretty wary about this one, but I was determined to give it a shot.
It was worth it.Is it the most brilliant Batman story ever? Of course not. Is the writing amazing? Nope. Is the art good? All except for a single panel (you'll know it when you see it).
I know that, to most, the writing is going to be plenty good. And it's certainly a decent enough story. So if you're not as picky as I am about writing (and who is, really?) then you're probably going to enjoy this book.
It's told almost entirely through internal monologue caption boxes, which bothers me, but is par for the course in comics. It all makes sense, it follows and explains its own story well, but it's missing voice, it's missing rounded characters. It tells its story effectively, but it doesn't take that next step into greatness. There are a few moments where the fact that the same guy wrote and drew shines through in a pacing / clarity misstep (such as the "teeth incident"...you'll know it when you see it).
In short, it's Batman, Joker, Jim Gordon, and a big, juicy twist at the very end. It's worth the read, even if you're a cranky old man like me. It would have been served well with a decent co-writer, but having a single person write and draw doesn't prevent it from being good. It only prevents it from being great.
[Edited on 9-7-2011 by Crawler]
Now, of course, you know that I'm obsessed with comic book writing, and some of my favorite books (Gaiman's Sandman, for example), depend much more heavily on the writing than the art. Obviously, I was pretty wary about this one, but I was determined to give it a shot.
It was worth it.Is it the most brilliant Batman story ever? Of course not. Is the writing amazing? Nope. Is the art good? All except for a single panel (you'll know it when you see it).
I know that, to most, the writing is going to be plenty good. And it's certainly a decent enough story. So if you're not as picky as I am about writing (and who is, really?) then you're probably going to enjoy this book.
It's told almost entirely through internal monologue caption boxes, which bothers me, but is par for the course in comics. It all makes sense, it follows and explains its own story well, but it's missing voice, it's missing rounded characters. It tells its story effectively, but it doesn't take that next step into greatness. There are a few moments where the fact that the same guy wrote and drew shines through in a pacing / clarity misstep (such as the "teeth incident"...you'll know it when you see it).
In short, it's Batman, Joker, Jim Gordon, and a big, juicy twist at the very end. It's worth the read, even if you're a cranky old man like me. It would have been served well with a decent co-writer, but having a single person write and draw doesn't prevent it from being good. It only prevents it from being great.
[Edited on 9-7-2011 by Crawler]