Detective Comics Volume 3, “Greetings From Gotham” collects six Detective Comics issues, #1006 to #1011.
The trade collection is an excellent read. Writer Peter J. Tomasi (Adventures of the Super Sons, Superman, Green Lantern Corps) really shines here, in the midst of darkness and evil. The stories of Batman against his many adversaries really flow well from issue to issue and are effectively little self-contained miniseries, end on end. Tomasi writes all the stories contained in the collection.
The story arcs go like this: Detective Jim Corrigan has been shot on the streets of Gotham, and The Spectre must work with Batman to track down the secret assassins. Kyle Hotz artist, goes for a Wrightson-like visual style, with loads of luscious shadows and creepy shadings. David Baron Colourist keeps it murky but colourful, so it’s bright contrasty colours against black.
Next, Doug Mahnke with Jaime Mendoza inking and Dave Baron on colours again: The Joker at the amusement park, pestering and provoking the pleasure-bound. Mahnke’s hyper-realistic pencils coupled with Mendoza’s ultra-tight inks really sing. Baron lets the candy floss colour and deep shadows wash over the proceedings like a soda fountain!
Then, it’s Christian Duce, artist, with Luis Guerrero on colour, as Batman and Deadshot square off. Bruce Wayne gets stranded on a remote island along with his Board of Directors and a few other surprise characters. Things go from bad to worse after their crash landing, as Bruce must help the survivors! Sticking to the realistic visual style that seems to be a hallmark of Batman stories today, Duce nails the facial characteristics and environments and goes full-tilt toward adding atmospherics and details. Guerrero also delivers drama, carefully rendering jungle and laboratory colours to enhance mood.
Also included is a Gallery of Variant Covers from the issues. Great reading and great value!
DC, Detective Comics Vol #3, $23.99 for 144 pages of content. Teen
Newsdesk