Thursday, April 23, 2009

Detective Comics #853

Finally, the anxiously-awaited second half of Neil Gaiman's "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" story!

This issue of Detective Comics almost defies reviewing - or at least it's difficult to talk about without revealing key points. But worry not, we continue our dedication to not spoiling the story for you.

And what a unique, unusual and original story it is! So nice to see Gaiman's work in comics again.

He's well matched with the art of Andy Kubert, who manages to meld together a number of different art styles, characters and settings to create one of the most unusual Batman stories ever. Just amazing work here.

As to the story, it continues where the first issue left off. Characters from Batman's long history gather at what appears to be Batman's funeral. Each one gets up to speak about how Batman died, and each one tells a completely different story.

As the mystery unfolds, we learn more about why this is happening - and we learn about the true nature of Batman.

I suspect this story will divide fans to some extent, in that some will love it and some will not, but I see it as a clever testament to the eternal nature (and the eternally-changing nature) of the Caped Crusader.

Highly, highly recommended!

Grade: A+

2 comments:

Cephas said...

Chuck, I almost picked both of these issues up Wednesday but passed since I haven't read any Batman in years. But email me and tell me what this reveals about the "eternal nature" of the Caped Crusader! I'm too cheap and lazy to read these!
Pete

Chuck said...

The things I do for my pals! OK, Pete, I'll send it along directly.