DC Comics reviews 6/8/21 – Detective Comics #1037, Rorschach #9
Detective Comics #1037
Writer Mariko Tamaki takes The Neighborhood arc down a weird path this issue. Along with some supernatural twists that don’t feel like the best fit for Batman, Tamaki has the police arrest Bruce Wayne as the key suspect in the murders of two women in his block.
Meanwhile, Oracle is too busy working a case for Huntress to catch notice of the police station being deserted so Mr. Worth can go after Bruce. You’d think “Bruce Wayne arrested” would be a major flag on Oracle’s web alerts. Tamaki has written this arc with smart arrangement of clues, a solid amount of suspects and Huntress dropping in for an assist. It’s unfortunate that this issue doesn’t spotlight Batman the detective much as that has become a welcome focus.
Viktor Bogdanovic fills in for Dan Mora as the artist in a smart replacement as Bogdanovic’s style is very complementary to Mora’s art.
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Bogdanovic can handle action sequences with no trouble. His work on slower paced scenes has improved noticeably as his characters have become better, more emotive. The issue ends just as things get interesting though and it’s one of those instances where Tamaki could have gotten to the payoff faster instead of stretching the story out just for the sake of extending it.
There’s also a secondary story Tamaki wrote with Karl Mostert providing the art focusing on Deb Donovan essentially rolling her eyes at Gotham’s elite. Donovan isn’t a character that’s been prominent in years so her outsider perspective isn’t very effective or entertaining.
John Ridley writes a classic Batman and Robin story with artist Dustin Nguyen looking at Lucius Fox’s early tenure aiding the Dynamic Duo. Fox raises questions about Robin’s involvement with Batman’s war on crime that didn’t get answered enough and Alfred explains why it was necessary.
Nguyen has quietly established himself as one of the definitive modern era Batman artists. He gets how to create a mood with his art that fits the dramatic storytelling of Batman and it remains a strong marriage of artist and character universe.
Rating; 8 out of 10