‘It doesn’t make sense.”, says Batman, right out of the gate, inside the cover of Detective 1021 from DC. 

Like the long-running title’s name suggests, this comic would emphasize the ‘detective’ aspect of Batman, that creature of the night. Does it make sense to us? Has the team got it right? Let’s examine the clues, shall we?

Peter J. Tomasi writes, Brad Walker pencils and Andrew Hennessy inks “Ugly Heart”, part two. It’s somehow appropriate to have a two-parter when the story involves Two-Face, eh?
Indeed, the reading of the book frequently requires us, the paying public, to compare a left panel and a right panel, divide the action, conquer the vertigo. Two points of view.

Two-Face is back, and his Church of the Two is a nasty piece of business. Yet Two-Face sticks to his tried and true ways: flipping a coin (so rare now in a cashless society: not a bitcoin, but literally for-real a silver-coloured coin) to decide if his good side or evil side shall prevail upon a decision. Do a good thing, or do a bad thing? Flip on it.

The issue is a gripping one: Batman must apprehend Two-Face, of course. There are guns and ammunition, plenty of explosions, tons of exciting battle moments to enjoy. Walker’s pencils are really good: I like his version of Batman. To me, it’s a combo of 70’s Shiny Cape Batman, Animated Batman, and perhaps a touch of artist Gene Colan or Carmine Infantino in the features. There are some truly memorable panels here, as Hennessy’s inks delineate a Batman dripping wet, shining in blue light. Brad Anderson contributes plenty of well-chosen colour, staying a hair’s breadth away from too too much embellishment; how to show action at night without lighting the heck out of the place?

Lots of good moments in this dramatic showdown, and plenty more to come in the next issue too!

DC, Detective Comics #1021, $3.99 for 21 pages of content. Teen

By Alan Spinney

After a career of graphic design, art direction and copywriting, I still have a passion for words and pictures. I love it when a comic book comes together; the story is tight, and the drawings lead me forward. Art with words... the toughest storytelling technique to get right. Was this comic book worth your money? Let's see!!