Is ANYONE talking about Lapham's 'Tec?

[bannermanonemillion]

Man, this is some good stuff! Where the frell was this guy before War Games?!?!

If you hate what Batman's become thanks to the current idea that the only good Bat-Stories involve Bruce getting his life anal-raped repeatedly then check out David Lapham's current Detective Comics arc.

I won't give away specific spoilers, but I will say that there's real mystery (eat that, Meltzer!) action, a Tim Drake Robin that doesn't make you want to eat your own eyes and a Batman that while guilt-ridden (and in this story rightfully so) is also empathetic and actually takes time to comfort an equally guilt-ridden mother in what has to be one of the best scenes we've gotten out of a Bat-comic in far too long.

I'm shocked (SHOCKED) that no one's started a thread about this?

[ouiyahtsiouiyah]

i heard its pretty decent so far, I might have to pick this up, do you know what issue is run started on?

[Mia]

It started at issue 801. Personally I find it boring, I think that for now on it's just going straight in the box.

[ouiyahtsiouiyah]

dohhh, I think I'll just check out the trade if it ever comes out

[Captain Jim]

Personally I find it boring...

Me too. I read the prelude story in #800 and then the first part in #801, then I dropped it.

[Deathstroke]

I'm reading it, and finding it highly enjoyable.

I didn't feel like starting a thread and no one else had so that's why I was silent.

[UniqueFrequency]

I'm reading it, and finding it highly enjoyable.

I didn't feel like starting a thread and no one else had so that's why I was silent.

it's holding on by a thread on my pull list. #802 majorly disappointed me but #803 was good enough to warrant me looking at it for one more month

[Apathy Boy]

Awesome stuff. The best Batman story since Azzarello and Risso's "Broken City." I love how scary Lapham's Batman is, and how human Bruce is.

Having said that, the most recent issue (Detective #803) was a bit of a step back. I thought it was a really confusing read. Flashbacks and flashforwards should not be used unless they're necessary, and the writer/artist should make it clear when they're happening. Was the non-linear storytelling really needed? And I'm REALLY confused about who Theodore Washburn is and how Bruce figured out he was important.

I also think Bruce crossed a line in coercing information out of that thug. Yeah, I know Batman has done some nasty stuff in the past, but essentially burying a guy alive to get him to talk seems unnecessarily sadistic.

Having said that, I loved the scenes with the Penguin, a character I normally loathe. And a great, great cliffhanger with an unconventional choice of character-in-peril.

[tymac]

It's been okay, but I could live without another year long arc.

[Sean Whitmore]

I also think Bruce crossed a line in coercing information out of that thug. Yeah, I know Batman has done some nasty stuff in the past, but essentially burying a guy alive to get him to talk seems unnecessarily sadistic.


Hey, even Dixon had Batman shove a guy in a morgue drawer. :) I say anything that doesn't break any bones is showing restraint.


SEAN

[Windbreaker]

I love the story - and the art. If you're a fan of crime noir, then you'll love the current Detective Comics run. I'm a little surprised at just how gritty it is. The way in which people are dying is pretty gruesome.

[gketter]

I've been enjoying it. I was expecting it to be pretty grim considering his work on Stray Bullets and Murder me dead. What i was concerned is if he'd have problems like Azz did where he didn't get the characters. And i think for the most part he does ok.

The worst is tim is acting like a young dick grayson and not like tim.

[Apathy Boy]

Hey, even Dixon had Batman shove a guy in a morgue drawer. :) I say anything that doesn't break any bones is showing restraint.


SEANI dunno. This was a two-bit punk who looked like he would've spilled the beans if Batman had so much as cracked his knuckles. But instead of doing things the easy way, Batman freakin' drives the bad guy all the way to the Batcave and then buries him alive while he has a chat with Robin.

There was just something about that scene that made me say, "that ain't right."

[The Xenos]

I kinda liked that scene with the guy in the cave. The only thing that might have bugged me is that he's in the cave. Then again he's likey taken in blind or out and woken there. That was an interesting new scare tactic.

-Xenos

[DocSamson]

I took a chance on 803 and really dug it. I think Lapham gives Bats the right street-level/criminal flavor, which is a great counterbalance to other bat-titles in which there's more super-hero type stuff going on. He's made the Penguin more menacing and Freeze downright scary.... He also pushes the envelope in the violence dept. without making it cheap. It's back on my pulls...

[the Monitor]

A few issues in, and I'm really on the fence with this one. I'm a huge Stray Bullets fan; so I was very excited about seeing Lapham's take on Batman. The fact that the entire next year of Detective is set a year in the past continuity wise was....stupid imo...but I got over it.

The story is...well...I dunno. At times I feel like I'm bored with it, but then there are moments of pure genius. I'm wondering if (just as with "For Tomorrow" over in Superman) this one shouldn't have been released as an OGN. Don't get me wrong: I LOVE monthlies. But this story is sometimes moving slow enough in places that, coupled with a month long wait, it can really kill the momentum.

Most likely I'll keep buying individual issues, reading them lightly, then sit down and read the whole run at the end to get the whole story.

[ouiyahtsiouiyah]

I decided to pick this up and I'm glad I did...there have been some really great moments in this arc so far...

MR freeze is a ruthless mofo smashing people to bits after they're frozen, and the dialogue between Tim and Bruce is great, I didn't like how Robin let that Eric guy shoot his chic he better take that guy down next issue

and any thoughts on why Penguins man is made of dirt? clayface anybody or something different?

oh and Batman din't let that guy die he buried right?

[Windbreaker]

I have no idea what the deal with dirt man was.

And, are they really killing off the fat man? I sure hope not! But how can they explain surviving that explosion? It's not like the bomb went off in another room.

[Ned Leeds]

I'm not digging this at all. I groan outload when I think this is a year long arc. The only reason I am still pulling it is I'm a completist.

That said, I'm not really feeling Winick's Batman or the Hush-centric Gotham Knights either. I am enjoying Batgirl and Robin(beside Scott's art)much more.

[Matches Malone]

I'm totally loving it. Best Batman book being published right now. (gotham Central doesn't count.)

[The Shadow]

I know this thread hasn't been active for a while but I just read all my Detectives from 801 to the present and just wanted to say... *snoooooooze*

It's not bad stuff, and the ideas are great... Batman is characterized well too... but talk about decompression... for an action/adventure comic it moves at a snails pace. I'd hoped that it would pick up but the pace is just painfully slow... as I said, I like the ideas and think it COULD be a great run... if it were 2 books shorter.

I think Lapham is decent and he has a gift of the mystery (which Detective needs) but he's gotta make it quicker. It's reading like the Azzurello "Broken City" arc where NOTHING HAPPENED a lot of the time...

[The Shadow]

I'm not digging this at all. I groan outload when I think this is a year long arc. The only reason I am still pulling it is I'm a completist.

This is a YEAR LONG story?????????????

Shit. :mad:

[Apathy Boy]

I know this thread hasn't been active for a while but I just read all my Detectives from 801 to the present and just wanted to say... *snoooooooze*

It's not bad stuff, and the ideas are great... Batman is characterized well too... but talk about decompression... for an action/adventure comic it moves at a snails pace. I'd hoped that it would pick up but the pace is just painfully slow... as I said, I like the ideas and think it COULD be a great run... if it were 2 books shorter.

I think Lapham is decent and he has a gift of the mystery (which Detective needs) but he's gotta make it quicker. It's reading like the Azzurello "Broken City" arc where NOTHING HAPPENED a lot of the time...Heh, "Broken City" and "City of Crime" are my two favourite Bat-stories of recent memory. I loved the way "Broken City" portrayed Bruce Wayne as a character in his own right; I love the way "City of Crime" portrays Batman as the scary, nigh-supernatural mofo that he is.

Having said that, I agree "City of Crime" is moving kind of slowly right now. My enthusiasm for the story isn't quite as high as it was after reading the first couple of issues.

[The Shadow]

Heh, "Broken City" and "City of Crime" are my two favourite Bat-stories of recent memory.
errrrrrrrrr....... sorry! LOL

I loved the way "Broken City" portrayed Bruce Wayne as a character in his own right; I love the way "City of Crime" portrays Batman as the scary, nigh-supernatural mofo that he is.
I liked the ideas and characterizations too... but they are written for the trades and just moved TOO SLOW... Broken City, while I LOVED the mystery of it, should have been 2 issues shorter (IMO anyway) and City of Crime is only HALF OVER and it is draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaging!!!!

My enthusiasm for the story isn't quite as high as it was after reading the first couple of issues.
Mine either... started out witha bang and a great mystery... I hope it picks up to the more frantic pace of the first couple of books.

[tigermagee]

I am loving City of Crime at the moment. I think its one of the few stories that deserveto be spread over more issues that the standard 4-6. Every issue seems to take the story in a new direction. And it all feels really Noir, like Batman should.