Detective Comics is taking a break; WTF! Whoa, before you get all up in arms, it’s because of the company-wide event Knight Terrors. Readers are “blessed” to have Knight Terrors: Detective Comics for the following two issues. Previous Detective Scribe Ram V is not handling writing duties on this book; that would be Dan Watters. Can Watters emerge from the bullpen and create the first captivating tale to bear the Detective title in months?
Let’s get right into it!
A veteran reader is always cautious when it comes to tie-in books. Very rarely does a tie-in feel fresh or fluid. They usually feel forced and clunky since you are trying to force one person’s story into another. Knight Terrors: Detective Comics goes all in like the rest of the tie-in books. In the main Knight Terrors book, a new villain, Insomnia, has placed the whole world asleep, living in their nightmares. Batman plays a considerable role in Knight Terrors proper since Deadman inhabits his body.
With Batman being a focal point of the main title and basically “sleepwalking” through it, where does that leave Detective Comics? This is a Jim Gordon issue through and through. What is Jim Gordon afraid of? Well, it looks like a mutant Batman. Ugh, this book had promise. You are hooked, starting with Jim and the cemetery, talking to Jim JRs gravestone, and a sweet text from Babs, right? Wrong! The book gets weird and fast. While reading this, the tale barely kept my attention. I felt like the Joker at the museum with Vickie Vale in B89. The main Knight Terrors story I have not found enjoyable, and this is even less to my liking.
With everything Jim Gordon has seen through the years, a mutant Batman feels a bit far-fetched for him to be afraid of. A rouge Batman, a Batman who has turned his back on his oath and justice, maybe, that certainly would be more interesting. Knight Terrors: Detective Comics is a tie-in at its worst, forcing a story upon the reader to sell more books. It’s a huge, connected story! (wink, wink)
Riccardo Federici did one hell of a job with the interior artwork. Federici has this painted look towards his art. The story was easy to follow with the layouts. The monsters looked terrifying and creepy. Mutant Batman had a Venom-like look around the face with the teeth and the flesh tone visible. The page where the woman is vomiting diamonds in front of Gordon might be artistically the best page in the book. Federici does a magnificent job, but they can’t save this book alone.
Detective Comics: Knight Terrors continues the trend of lackluster storytelling coming from one of DC’s longest-running titles. I pray for the days when JTIV and Tomasi wrote Detective in the not-so-distant past. This has been a rough run; at least Knight Terrors is done after next month, until next time BOFers. – Peter Verra
