Detective Comics #953 Review

Sleeping with the Enemy

Written by: James Tynion IV
Art by: Christian Duce, Fernando Blanco, Alex Sinclair, Allen Passalaqua and Sal Cipriano
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 22, 2017

I'm not sure what I'm expecting this week in Detective...Batman stubbornly demanding there is no such thing as a League of Shadows or Shiva kicking more ass than is rightfully possible.  I guess I should admit something, I'm fully expecting both.  While Batman's hard headedness is getting old quickly, I could sit and watch Shiva take down an army of assassins every day and twice on Sunday.  She really has stepped out of the shadows (!) and become one of my favorite villains.  So, how many times does she use a guy as a pin cushion this week?  Let's find out...


The issue opens with Jim Gordon and Renee Montoya and if I just jumped into the story this issue, I might think that Jimbo is heading off to Margaritaville.  Thank the gods he's not a Parrothead (sorry, not a fan) because instead of having a Cheeseburger in Paradise, he's having a meeting with Batman.

I know this part is supposed to have some weight to it, but the whole "Batman killed the Mayor" thread is my least favorite and up until now, the story hasn't sold itself to me.  Of course, Gordon doesn't believe it either and Batman tells him he has to get the City evacuated before more people are hurt.

As an aside, I had to laugh when Batman tells Gordon "we're not losing anyone else" after mentioning Luke and Azrael were captured.  It seems like he keeps saying that...after losing the next person or people.

We then get continued backstory flashbacks of Cassandra and if you read Batman and Robin Eternal, there's not much new here.  If you jumped into the DCU after (or just skipped it), you'll see what a darling Cassandra's father was and even get a Mother name drop that I'm sure Dancing Mike loved!
We do get a tiny bit of added information about Cassandra's mother...or more of how much Cassandra wanted one.

Back in the Belfry, Clayface continues to be awesome even as he gets closer and closer to leaving this book and then Cassandra faces Batman.  Alright!  Ever since Batman admitted to Kate that Cass would beat him in a fight, I've been waiting for this.  Unfortunately, it's pretty one sided, but not in an awesome way.

Things do heat up when Cass meets Shiva, Kate is brought before her dad by the League of Shadows and Batman fears the worse has happened to Alfred in the cave.  All three scenes are intense none of them turn out the way I thought they would.

Team Detective are in a shambles when Batman gets a visitor to the cave that may look like trouble, but just may be a savior in disguise.  It's one of those "enemy of my enemy" type of situations which make for the best teamups ever!

If you have been enjoying Detective, you will keep enjoying it.  Tynion weaves a bunch of stories and characters together leaving the reader pretty satisfied with the facetime each gets.  This is a team book and Tynion treats it as such.  I will say that the Cassandra/Shiva bit is getting a bit too drawn out and heavy handed, but I do trust the process and expect it to pay off soon.

Christian Duce and Fernando Blanco's art is so damn good in this issue.  There are some big moments, but it's the character models and detail that impressed me the most.

Bits and Pieces:

James Tynion keeps chugging along giving DC fans the team book to beat.  Every character has their moments (mostly bad) and the issue ends with possibly an unlikely new member.  The art was fantastic and I can easily recommend this to those already invested in the story.

8.5/10