“Victims”
Writer: Shane McCarthy
Artist: Cliff Chiang
Publisher: DC Comics
Once again, Shane McCarthy and Cliff Chiang present us with an excellent Batman tale. The only sad thing about it is that it's the last such tale before DC jumps its titles ahead by one year. As much as I'm looking forward to James Robinson and Leonard Kirk on Detective, I'd very much like to see McCarthy and Chiang have another shot at some point. They've shown that they can do a damn good Batman story.
The second part of this story is just as strong as the first. Unlike last issue though, I was not caught off guard. I was expecting this to be a very good story, and I was not disappointed. McCarthy gets it. He knows exactly how to write not only Batman, but Bruce Wayne as well. McCarthy's Batman is not one filled with anger and paranoia, but is treated very much like a human being; Batman has a mission and he'll do whatever it takes to do it.
The last issue ended with Bruce Wayne announcing on live TV that Zsasz did not kill Alfred as he thought. As this issue opens up, the police now have a manhunt underway. Not only for Zsasz, but Batman as well. From page one on, it's one long chase scene. Batman chasing Zsasz, Zsasz trying to get to the hospital to get to Alfred, the police after them both. If this was a poorly written book, this could have easily been one of those situations where it goes from unbelievable to absurdity. Not once did that happen, even in the way Batman jumps into the Batmobile. However, it's just comics, so you go with it. Another thing impressive about this issue was McCarthy's ability to have the readers on the edge of their seat throughout. You know Batman is going to win in the end, but you still feel that this time he might not. I really liked the way McCarthy paced this issue, but the ending was even better.
As for the art by Cliff Chiang, I cannot give him enough accolades. His artwork is just simply gorgeous. He draws a great Batman. And that Batman jumping into the Batmobile scene I mentioned above? It's the best drawn two pages in the book. What also helps the artwork are the colors by David Baron. There's never enough said about the colorists, but in this and the previous issue Baron's color work definitely complemented the art.
These last two issues of Detective Comics by McCarthy, Chiang and Baron are a great “swan song” for this book. While it'll obviously continue next month, this is essentially the end. I cannot think of a better way to end the pre-OYL version of Detective Comics. One last thing: These 2 issues had better be on someone's short list for awards. These three creators and these two issues definitely deserve that type of recognition. Period.
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