I share my thoughts on why Snyder and Capullo’s run so far is the best place to start reading modern Batman while briefly discussing each of their main story arcs so far.
detective comics
Batman – Detective Comics Vol. 3: Emperor Penguin
Had I not bought the first three volumes of Detective Comics in one shot, I would have stopped after the second one. The first showed potential, yet had a few glaring holes, while the second only made things worse with a droning story that didn’t go anywhere. I picked up Vol. 3: Emperor Penguin with the mindset that I would just plow through to get it over with, but then I noticed that the names on the cover were completely different.
Kudos to Tony Daniel for all the work he’s done in the past. I think his art in Detective Comics is great. I even liked his writing in Savage Hawkman #1. But as far as his work with this series, it really fell off a cliff. With a new creative team at the helm, this may be the kick start it needs to get back on track.
Batman – Detective Comics Vol. 2: Scare Tactics
Gotham never sleeps and Batman is back on the patrol in Batman – Detective Comics Vol. 2: Scare Tactics. Last time out, I generally enjoyed the book, but felt it was a bit too straightforward and one note. Also, I had concerns with the revolving door of super villains that made it difficult for a story to develop into anything meaningful. Well, this time, Batman squares off against The Mad Hatter, Black Mask, Scarecrow and the Court of Owls. Also, Two-Face is heavily featured towards the end of this book. Uh…lesson learned?
Batman – Detective Comics Vol. 1: Faces of Death
The next stop on my Batman adventure is Batman – Detective Comics Vol. 1: The Face of Death. As an outsider looking into the comic book scene, I never understood why the same character needed different comic lines. Well, after reading the first issues of both mainline Batman and Detective Comics Batman, I decided to continue with both, as they told very different stories with a different narrative approach. It also didn’t hurt that the events of Detective Comics issue #1 directly tie into other comics that I’ve already read. Looking to flesh out that story, I dive into another Batman adventure.
In Third Person 