By Mark Rodriguez
The New 52 started Batman off with some very interesting adventures. His main book, Batman, has his deal with the Court of Owls, while Detective comics gave us the shocker of The Joker having his face cut off. What will happen now that The Joker can hide in plain sight?
Detective # 2 is called ‘Playtime’s over’ because, yes, we have a title this time. Bruce Wayne is climbing a man-made mountain, as he’s told by Luscious Fox that he has a meeting with a Hugh Marder. Hugh seems as fit as Wayne as he takes his shirt off and climbs the mountain barehanded. After discussing business while rock-climbing… Bruce’s secretary reminds him of another meeting.. one with news reporter Charlotte Rivers…. which he messes around with. Keeping in mind that Bruce is also dating Jaina in the Dark Knight comic, and nailing Catwoman as Batman in her own comic, Bruce is a busy boy.
After tending to Ms. Rivers, Bruce, now as Batman, heads off to Arkham Asylum, pondering how the Joker got away and how he’s now a killer without a face. Gordon and Bullock didn’t get any information out of Arkham regarding this situation… however they do know that Olivia, the girl Batman rescued earlier, was kidnapped, and the uncle she was supposedly sent with, was an impostor. Gordon recognized him, however, as Ray Quimby, a guy wanted for helping a killer named Wesley Mathis that Gordon took down long ago. Wesley Mathis would also mutilate his victims and remove organs, like the recent rash of murders so far. The police radio mentions that Quimby was seen with Olivia in an export building and requests backup. Batman overhears the address and heads off.
At the scene, Batman finds the squad car that called for back-up, but is now empty. He then runs into the building. Gordon arrives shortly afterwards and finds the same empty squad car. But then he finds out that the officer in squad car 242 wasn’t on duty that day… so the radio call for backup was a set-up. Gordon hears someone trapped in the trunk of the car… and as he opens it… a hand reaches out for him.
In the building, Batman finds Quimby stabbed to death… and the cop that called for backup, decapitated. He figures whoever called for backup set a trap for Gordon.. and is then jumped by two men, also wearing fleshmasks, like the guy Joker killed. Batman gets injected with something that numbs his left side and is smacked out by a steel mallet. More freaks show up, ready to cut him up, until the new villain shows up… the Dollmaker.
Dollmaker considers Batman an extremely valuable collectible… and doesn’t want him cut up just yet. He wants to use Batman to make him famous, offended that not even Bats knows who he is. He then tosses in Gordon as an example of what he can do...
My Opinions
So the story continues as Batman and Gordon get the clues they needed to lead them to their new enemy, The Dollmaker. Dollmaker looks creepy enough, though he does have weird and somewhat looking minions, I guess it would look ten times creepier in real life. I mean, the guy has stitched up flesh on his face like Leatherface, but also that creepy monkey. That creepy as all hell monkey, man...
The art is good, but it definitely has its hits and misses, especially the final panel with Batman and Gordon. While the colors are darker, giving the characters a more 'solid' look, I do like the cleaner style in the regular Batman comic more. However, seeing as the main theme here is The Dollmaker and all his creepiness the dark colors add to the overall atmosphere of it all.
Now one thing that I remembered the fans complaining about was the lack of Joker in this story. People were expecting to see the faceless Joker terrorize Gotham when he can literally be anyone, and we didn't get that here. The complaints will get worse. I do understand though, that even though Joker losing his face kicked off the overall theme of The New 52 Batman (as well as The Court of Owls), right now, this is the Dollmaker's story, and his time to shine.
The New 52 started Batman off with some very interesting adventures. His main book, Batman, has his deal with the Court of Owls, while Detective comics gave us the shocker of The Joker having his face cut off. What will happen now that The Joker can hide in plain sight?
Detective # 2 is called ‘Playtime’s over’ because, yes, we have a title this time. Bruce Wayne is climbing a man-made mountain, as he’s told by Luscious Fox that he has a meeting with a Hugh Marder. Hugh seems as fit as Wayne as he takes his shirt off and climbs the mountain barehanded. After discussing business while rock-climbing… Bruce’s secretary reminds him of another meeting.. one with news reporter Charlotte Rivers…. which he messes around with. Keeping in mind that Bruce is also dating Jaina in the Dark Knight comic, and nailing Catwoman as Batman in her own comic, Bruce is a busy boy.
After tending to Ms. Rivers, Bruce, now as Batman, heads off to Arkham Asylum, pondering how the Joker got away and how he’s now a killer without a face. Gordon and Bullock didn’t get any information out of Arkham regarding this situation… however they do know that Olivia, the girl Batman rescued earlier, was kidnapped, and the uncle she was supposedly sent with, was an impostor. Gordon recognized him, however, as Ray Quimby, a guy wanted for helping a killer named Wesley Mathis that Gordon took down long ago. Wesley Mathis would also mutilate his victims and remove organs, like the recent rash of murders so far. The police radio mentions that Quimby was seen with Olivia in an export building and requests backup. Batman overhears the address and heads off.
At the scene, Batman finds the squad car that called for back-up, but is now empty. He then runs into the building. Gordon arrives shortly afterwards and finds the same empty squad car. But then he finds out that the officer in squad car 242 wasn’t on duty that day… so the radio call for backup was a set-up. Gordon hears someone trapped in the trunk of the car… and as he opens it… a hand reaches out for him.
In the building, Batman finds Quimby stabbed to death… and the cop that called for backup, decapitated. He figures whoever called for backup set a trap for Gordon.. and is then jumped by two men, also wearing fleshmasks, like the guy Joker killed. Batman gets injected with something that numbs his left side and is smacked out by a steel mallet. More freaks show up, ready to cut him up, until the new villain shows up… the Dollmaker.
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| Dollmaker basically has Hobgoblin, Nemesis and that creepy monkey working for him |
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| Geez, they overdid it with your mouth, Batman |
So the story continues as Batman and Gordon get the clues they needed to lead them to their new enemy, The Dollmaker. Dollmaker looks creepy enough, though he does have weird and somewhat looking minions, I guess it would look ten times creepier in real life. I mean, the guy has stitched up flesh on his face like Leatherface, but also that creepy monkey. That creepy as all hell monkey, man...
The art is good, but it definitely has its hits and misses, especially the final panel with Batman and Gordon. While the colors are darker, giving the characters a more 'solid' look, I do like the cleaner style in the regular Batman comic more. However, seeing as the main theme here is The Dollmaker and all his creepiness the dark colors add to the overall atmosphere of it all.
Now one thing that I remembered the fans complaining about was the lack of Joker in this story. People were expecting to see the faceless Joker terrorize Gotham when he can literally be anyone, and we didn't get that here. The complaints will get worse. I do understand though, that even though Joker losing his face kicked off the overall theme of The New 52 Batman (as well as The Court of Owls), right now, this is the Dollmaker's story, and his time to shine.
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