If there's been any driving force for this story, it's been the mystery of who the killer Asema is. In and of itself, that's fine. Lots of detective fiction sets the villain's identity as its central mystery. In fact, early on I praised the story for making Detective Comics once more a comic about detective…

After last month's detour into the depths of the juvenile detention system, the story returns to the ongoing Asema mystery and the ethical question of who deserves to live or die. With still a few issues left before everything resolves, this issue brings us a small step closer to the identity of the Asema serial…

In the United States, over 25,000 children are currently held in juvenile detention facilities. For many, this can be a life-altering experience and be the start of a cycle of incarceration that will last throughout their lives. "Jackson", I hear you say, "why are you talking about this? Aren't you supposed to be reviewing a…

Last issue had a lot of what felt like "big moments", where there was some sort of twist or event that drove the story forward. This issue has less of that, as it's mostly reacting to those moments and preparing for what will be coming next. Well, I suppose that's not entire true. There is…

I love detective stories. You'd think that a series called Detective Comics would consistently be one of my favorites for scratching that itch. And yet, surprisingly few runs on the title actually focus on detective work. Even some of my all time favorites just treat it as "the other Batman comic". Taylor at the very…

Are some lives worth more than others? That seems to be the central question of Tom Taylor's debut story on Detective Comics. Spanning multiple generations via flashbacks, Taylor draws a parallel between the actions of Batman and the actions of his father decades ago, as well as the consequences of those actions. He also uses…

Now that it's over I feel I can finally review Ram V's story properly. Possibly more so than any other run on a superhero comic I've read, V's Detective Comics can only really be appreciated as a whole. It was always the most common complaint in my reviews that the pacing was too slow, and…

At long last the Orghams begin to crumble. Over the course of the entire run, we've seen their hubris grow along with their power, making them the kind of villain you desperately want to see fall. The fact that they repeatedly ruined Batman's life and everything he fought for certainly doesn't help in that regard,…

After months of setup while the Orghams and Batman's allies shifted all their pieces into position, this issue finally feels like the climax that everything's been building towards. Well, the beginning of it at least. It's a far more action-packed story than we typically see from this run, and just about every player has something…

The core theme last issue, and arguably the entire Intermezzo arc before that, was the idea of reconciling the different sides of one's self. Much of Bruce's internal conflict stems from how he deals with his trauma in the form of the "Batman" persona. Often this can lead to isolating himself from others (as was…

Batman has been gone for a long time, and Gotham has suffered in his absence. Well before his "execution", Batman's mind had been the victim of psychological attacks, leaving him helpless to stop the Orghams' slow infiltration of the city's power structures. Now he's back and ready to retake Gotham. At the dawn of Ram…

Last issue began an interesting narrative structure where the B-plot was framed as a totally different story that alternated back and forth with the A-plot. That Gotham side story primarily added context and perspective to the main events happening in Bruce's mind. It was in line with how this run has been using its backups,…