DC Comics reviews for the week of 5/24/17

Detective Comics #957

The Spoiler takes the spotlight in a solid Batman-free issue.

Stephanie Brown aka The Spoiler thinks she has Gotham’s dependence on Batman figured out. A problem arises, he fixes it with little regard for those caught in the fray.

Clearly, Red Robin’s ‘death’ is motivating her actions. The trick for writer James Tynion IV and co-writer Christopher Sebula is to avoid portraying Stephanie like she’s having an extended temper tantrum.

[irp]

While I like Spoiler’s passive aggressive stance against Batman in concept, some of her actions are questionable. She wants to have it both ways in terms of doing the very thing she condemns Batman for doing with a fraction of his experience. Disabling the Batsignal could be an annoyance to the GCPD, but what about a family that got killed because Batman never got the call? Spoiler might be able to rationalize some of her choices, but she’s hardly the innocent she believes.

I’m hoping that’s ultimately where Tynion plans to take Stephanie. A well-meaning bitter vigilante who slowly becomes the same menace she once fought.

When a new villain surfaces, Spoiler races off to stop him and beat Batman to the punch. While he’s dangerous, Stephanie is confident in her abilities. And she’s not trying to establish her legend, but help Gotham rediscover its true heroes.

Artist Carmen Carnero was a good choice for this spotlight issue. Carnero has a clean layout style with easy to follow panels and detailed backgrounds. Javier Mena’s color work nicely broke up the various shades of grey and incorporated brighter colors smoothly.

There’s a lot of potential with Stephanie as a true anti-hero vigilante. Hopefully Tynion continues catching up with her before the inevitable confrontation with Batman.

 Rating: 8.5 out of 10