Detective Comics # 842

Batman travels to Europe to learn the secret of a diabolic suit of a armour given to him by his old flame, Talia.

Sadly, the secret isn't all that startling. We get what should be a gothic mystery story steeped with mysticism but it largely fails to leave an impression. Batman basically has to fight some Da Vinci-code style conspirators who are trying to hide the secret of the armour but these bad guys-- consisting mainly of middle-aged men in business suits-- don't really pose much of a threat to Batman. Even the big revelation of the armour's secret lacks a dramatic punch. No matter how horrible the secret is, it should still be revealed in a more emotionally affecting fashion.

The art is adequate-- which is a disappointment since the very impressive cover makes us think we are in for a real tour de force, of mystery and danger. Instead, we get a few dark shadows and a lot of straight lines.

The best thing about this issue is the dialogue which is rather clever. But other than that, it all looks like something that was cobbled together just to help bolster the great, big Return-of-Ra's-al-Ghul story that they have been building up for months in the pages of other "Batman" comics.

Two stars out of five, sadly.