DC Comics reviews for 10/10/18

Detective Comics #990

During his run on Wonder Woman, writer James Robinson had this nasty habit of starting story arcs strong only for them to lose steam midway through. While it’s a bit early to declare Deface the Face as bound for the same fate, this wasn’t an encouraging sign for what’s been a promising story.

The big problem here is Robinson’s dialogue for Batman feels way off. When Batman starts off saying ‘I’ve battled New Gods, man! This gang of fools — who can’t even shoot straight, apparently’ I had to check to make sure someone else wasn’t under the cowl. That’s not a line Bruce Wayne would say under any circumstance.

Robinson tried to address the recent Batman/Two-Face encounter from All-Star Batman with an appearance from The Signal, but his take on Two-Face doesn’t match where that story left off. It’s weird how this arc was better when Firefly was the main villain instead of Two-Face.

For all of Robinson’s problems, artist Stephen Segovia handles his end of the book just fine. Segovia’s take on Two-Face provides strong details to show the scarred left-side of Harvey Dent’s face. Ivan Plascencia’s colors have really stood out in this arc as well.

Segovia also has a strong handle on showing Batman in action with a smoother sense of motion than has been the norm lately. Not Nightwing type athleticism, but much more than a bruising tank.

This installment was the weakest of Robinson’s run. Hopefully this was an off issue and he gets things back on track as this has been a very enjoyable read.

Rating: 6 out of 10