Detective Comics # 787 - Mobile Edition

DC Comics
Detective Comics # 787
By Koppy McFad
October 4, 2003 - 11:32

DC Comics
Writer(s): Brian K. Vaughn and Rick Spears
Penciller(s): Rick Burchett, John Lowe and Rob G.
Cover Artist(s): Tim Sale

This issue looks and reads like one of the Batman Adventures titles, based on the animated Batman series. Vaughn gives a concise, self-contained story featuring a classic Bat-foe while Burchett's style stays close to the design of the cartoons. This is not always a bad thing. The "Adventures" line often had some of the best-written stories, even if they were relatively simple compared to the complicated, multi-part epics in other books. Still, you can't help wondering if this story was originally scheduled for "Batman Adventures" and then was kicked upstairs to one of the regular books.

This tale has the Mad Hatter turning a man into a winged creature that is suppose to be the Jabberwock from Lewis Carrol's stories. Nothing new as far as comics go. Rather, it is the method and motives of the Hatter that are original. It is the kind of story that used to make the Silver Age shine so bright, only now with enough introspection and dialogue to pass for a modern age story.

There is also a back feature by Spears and Rob G., giving the third part of a story about a dogcatcher who is unlucky enough to catch the Joker's dog. The first part of this story was amusing but by now, this feature has begun to drag. Well, the Joker does show up in the end, but that just serves to remind you how overused the character has become.