Detective Comics #0 Review

DC Comics
Detective Comics #0 Review
By Andy Frisk
September 5, 2012 - 17:08

DC Comics
Writer(s): Gregg Hurwitz, James Tynion IV
Penciller(s): Tony S. Daniel, Henrik Jonsson
Inker(s): Richard Friend, Sandu Florea
Colourist(s): Tomeu Morey, John Kalisz
Letterer(s): Jared K. Fletcher, Dezi Sienty
$3.99 US

"Somewhere in the Himalayas...10 years ago" before Bruce Wayne became Batman, Wayne traveled to the abode of one of the greatest Zen Warriors in all the world to learn from him, but the greatest lesson Wayne takes away from his time with the master, and the master's wife, is that nearly all personal relationships (Bruce sees the pair as a type of surrogate mother and father) are deadly. Three years later (still before Bruce Wayne became Batman) Alfred Pennyworth fights off yet another legal threat from the disreputable parents of Thomas Wayne's wife and brother while anxiously awaiting Master Bruce's return.

Two solid stories, not unlike what we'd get from a Nolan Batman film, fill Dectective Comics #0. Hurwitz's story is a tauntly paced exploration of love and its dangers as Bruce's mentors meet a fate that not many readers will see coming. Tynion's short, but sharply paced and executed "The Long Wait," gives readers a little insight into the types of challenges that Alfred endured while Bruce was away.

Tony S. Daniel's consistently solid pencil work moves "The Final Lesson" along beautifully. Daniel might not be the strongest of comic book writers (as evidenced on his now ended, and a bit shaky, run as writer and artist on Detective Comics), but his artwork is some of the best in the business. Henrik Jonsson's pencil work on "The Long Wait" is itself quite strong, if not as polished and tight looking as Daniel's is. I'd like to see more of it though.

Detective Comics #0 is overall disappointing though, and this disappointment is two-fold. The story, while illuminating some of the the early days of The New 52's Bruce Wayne/Batman, really doesn't deliver anything groundbreaking, nor does it powerfully illuminate the new Batman in any unique way. We've seen these types of Batman stories again and again in the past. Detective Comics #0 also does nothing to help untangle or explain all the inconsistencies now inherent in Batman, and his many Robins' stories, by continuing to be set 10 and 7 years ago. The totally contradictory and unintelligible continuity of The New 52 looks like it will remain just that, even after Zero Month.

Rating: 6.5/10