Detective #1
While in the whole of it all I consider Detective Comics the greatest comic book conceptualized to date, past and current, this particular issue also set forth to reach a benchmark quality by which comics are judged perfect in my opinion. As a writer and artist for the debut Tony Daniel was able to not only write a great story, but also visualize for us the image he envisioned for his dialogue and storyboard.
While I did not find the art exceptional, I found the story and the ability for the author to relay his mind’s eye more than overcompensated for a slight lack in artistry. I would take a strong story with marginal art any day over the inverse of great art and poor writing. This is not to say the art is poor, it is a mid-to-high 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. Daniel has a great artistry for background, structure and tones, but I found his faces, particularly the mouths rather flat.
Enough with the creative talk and onto the meat of the issue.
88 mph to Roswell 