The New 52s: One Year Later – Detective Comics

For years Detective Comics was always my go-to Batman title.  I am not sure why it was my love, maybe it was the usually present side story which focused on the deeper story of a side character, or that it was the more noir title of the Batman Family focusing on the “detective” side of the Dark Knight.

The first issue stayed true to the role of quality you would expect from their flagship Bat title.  The Dollmaker story was dark, mysterious and full of curiosity.

• Who was the new criminal?
• Is Gorgon dead?
• Why and how did he take Joker’s face?
• Is the Joker hiding behind a new face?

Like a good Batman story they answered what they had to and left more out there for our curiosity to build and develop.  Unfortunately our curiosity built over two very poor follow-up stories that really did the Detective Comic title an injustice.  The Casino/Penguin story to the mismatched timeline jump to the Owls and then the return to timeline disaster of the Poison Gas character who was a blatant rip off of the Joker’s Red Hood character.  A story that just made to feel like it was intended for one of the less quality Bat titles like Legends of the Dark Knight or Shadows of the Bat.  A place where poorly written Batman tales went to die, but made a few bucks on the way out.  Now they seem to have slipped through quality control and made it into the premiere title.

A Few of Greatest Comics I Have Ever Read

(in no particular order)

Peter Parker: Spider-Man

Vol 2, Issue #35 (Nov 2001)

“Heroes Don’t Cry”

Peter Parker: Spider-Man – A young kid believe Spider-Man visits him, his imaginary friend if you will.  It’s the comic version of an after school special.  The young boy uses his Spidey-Friend as an escape from his abusive house hold where his father hits his mom.

I am not really one for the softer-side of comic stories but this one really touches your heart.  As the young boy tells Spidey he can’t be friends because it is time to grow up and move with his aunt after a terrible incident at home Spider-Man removes his mask.  I have never fully understood the implication to be that Spider-Man is in us all or that Spider-Man is black (like the boy) because that this is how the boy imagines him.  One of the best “un-Superhero” stories I have read.  It was also released right after September 11th so a story like that in a time when the whole world felt horrible was a real change of pace.

D.C. Hates its Fans aka The Fall of DC

The DC 52 reset was supposed to clean the slate, bring in new readers, fix the confusion caused by a decade of tie-ins, crossovers and cross franchise epic storylines that they said was limiting growth.

For 6 months it was working.  Titles stayed fairly to themselves, you could buy just one title and read what you enjoyed most, and from the feedback in numbers DC was selling again.

Then new-DC resumed to old-DC ways.

This past month we started with “Night of the Owls” and it will carry across all Batman related titles to tell a tale of Gotham’s long forgotten secret society.  And now newly announced this will roll into the fall as such, than DC has planned for us, the “Prince of Gotham” another cross title Nightwing story that will bring Dick’s character into his own.

If I want to read Batman or Nightwing or Batwoman, let me read them.  Don’t force me to read JLA, Red Hood and Dark Knight just to understand an issue that has invaded my timeline.

DC just couldn’t resist ruining a good thing.  And they have lost a reader.  Doubtful they will care, nor will they notice one less subscriber.  But how many readers are thinking the same thing?  How many people are realizing it is now business as usual?  And when does DC announce the New 52s was all just Clark Kent’s big dream and we just read a giant 24 month crossover?

I give up DC, you have conned me for the last time.  I am joining Comics Anonymous tomorrow.

The Gotham Chronicles v2.78 (Halloween Bat-tacular)