Sideways #12 Review

There Are Actual Detectives In Gotham!

Storytelling by: Shane Davis, Kenneth Rocafort, Michelle Delecki, and Dan DiDio

Colouring by Hi-Fi and Dan Brown

Lettering by Dave Sharpe

This was just a mess of an issue, all around. Dan DiDio only seems to be interested in ending these issues with cliffhangers because he really went backwards in plotting these past two issues.  Alright, let's see how much of a mess it really was though.

The last issue ended with Dominus kidnapping Derek for some mysterious, yet nefarious, purpose. Next thing we know, Dark Star Labs explodes, leaving the reader wondering whether or not Derek died in that explosion. DiDio spends most of this issue simply telling the story of what happened before the explosion from the perspective of Derek relaying the event to Detective Hopkins. It's clunky, and comes across to me as if the team is plotting these stories based on the cliffhanger endings and then working their way backward, not at all concerned with the pacing and momentum of the next issue. It's boring, and the only scenes of actual importance took place in the last THREE PAGES of the story.

The ending to this issue as well felt like another unnecessary whammy moment. Given that this is the penultimate issue of the series and the next issue is the series' last, I have a feeling we're going to spend a lot of time explaining the ending and what exactly it means. I don't think DiDio and the rest of the team can physically fit that much story into a single issue. I genuinely cannot wait to read the next issue.

Art duties are split between Kenneth Rocafort and Shane Davis. Rocafort is perfect and I love his take on these characters, particularly Derek. His Derek has a youthful nature about him that Davis doesn't quite tap into as well, though Davis' interlude scene didn't look bad at all.

Bits and Pieces:

If you're still reading this book, you might as well hold on until it ends with the next issue. There are some developments that I'm honestly very interested in seeing DiDio wrap up, namely Derek's relationship with Ernie, his relationship with his father, what happened to Dominus, as well as resolving this week's cliffhanger. The art was mostly amazing.

5.3/10