Has Detective Comics improved?

[Officersmile1466]

Given all the positive response about the new team, I decided to pick up the issues of the new team and what can I say but WOW! Everything Layman brings to the table is just so creative and damn fun! Batman actually seems to enjoy his life as the caped crusader. He has a dark sense of humour about things. He has crazy tools he'll whip out (Like the bat jet pack in issue 16).

Plus I love the fact that each issue has been relatively self contained while still creating an overall story of penguin's number 2. Plus he easily wins the prize for best integration of the DOTF story. While other books just have Joker show up and tap dance a bit, he uses Joker has a way to explore the massive fallout both from the gang side of things but also ingeniously from the psychologically damaged who just need a slight push to go over the edge.

'Det has easily gone up my list of batman titles. It's a pretty solid number 2 (only behind inc of course) mostly because it's such a nice contrast to Snyder's steadily more epic for the sake of epic stories where every issue has to be a massive game changer. John Layman seems aware he can't ever match Snyder or Morrison for scope, so he's just making an immensely fun story.

It's one of the only comics where the back ups feel like awesome extras to the stories rather than a shift way to boost the price as well. Plus John Layman is now dipping into some of Tony Daniel's stupider story threads and actually making them work.

The art is pretty fantastic as well, particularly Andy Clarke who i've never really liked but is fast involving into a really strong artist.

I really hope the level of quality keeps up.

[Seattle Freeze]

Detective Comics has yet to grip me though the new Emperior Penguin has my interest. This has been the 2nd worst bat title to me behind Dark Knight. If the Penguin arc doesn't wow me, I'm going to drop this book.

[Super Robo Ape]

Read issues thirteen to sixteen and thanks all for the recommendation to start reading this title again as it has greatly improved since I stopped getting it, improved in both art and writing.

[Conway]

There is no way to tell you how much more I'm enjoying 'Tec than Batman without this turning into a big fight about how great Snyder is. So all I can say is I'm glad you picked it back up. It is well worth it, and the Ogilvy story is going to be every bit as epic as this Joker arc. Those back-ups have really helped define Gotham.

[Mr. Holmes]

I was among the people who complained the book was kind of just average/by the numbers, but it's coming together well now. We need a book like this that explores the city and the gangs in depth, and it's being done in a very creative way here.

[Captain Rabbit]

It has. I wasn't one who hated Daniel's run, at least what I read of it which was the Dollmaker arc; I actually dug the gritty type of story(ies) that he was going for. His art, although looking stiff or "off" at times, was something I enjoyed as well. But it has improved in all aspects since issue 13, IMO. I enjoy it more than Batman and it's my favorite of the Batman line at the moment.

[Super Robo Ape]

It has. I wasn't one who hated Daniel's run, at least what I read of it which was the Dollmaker arc; I actually dug the gritty type of story(ies) that he was going for. His art, although looking stiff or "off" at times, was something I enjoyed as well. But it has improved in all aspects since issue 13, IMO. I enjoy it more than Batman and it's my favorite of the Batman line at the moment.

Perhaps it was a case that rather than the person working on not being up to scratch but rather not being the right match for the title, if I was pushed on the matter that would be my hunch.