Detective Comics #1001 Review

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artists: Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy, Nathan Fairbairn, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 7, 2019

Review by Joey Casco of TheWineStalker.net

What does everybody think of the new Batman: Detective Comics logo? I'm on the fence about it. It's a good design, no doubt, but I think I need to see it more to form an opinion on the change. Nostalgia is a funny thing.

So... we got where the Arkham Knight was coming from in Detective Comics #1000 but now to start #1001 we see he's got an entire group backing him, as he uses his sword to tap the shoulders of new members to the Knights of the Sun. And these guys are not messing around. 

And then we move on to see that bats are dying in Gotham. Bodies are laying across a playground and in the Batcave. Colonies are just dropping, and even Batman can't find a reason for their deaths after 57 autopsies. So he visits Francine Langstrom, a scientist who once took the Man-bat serum, and can hear these bats dying. Because she's bat-$#!+ crazy (get it?) she injects herself with the serum again and turns into a Man-Bat.

So Batman rides her through the night sky, through windows and into buildings and out the other window, and they crash into the bat safari exhibit in Gotham Park Zoo. He gives her an anecdote and she returns to her human form, but then a massive explosion occurs in the sky.

It's not a bomb; it's self-generating light. Somebody has created a sun over Gotham to bring the Dark Knight into it. And then he's attacked by the Knights of the Sun. You can make the connection yourself, right? Their weapons are made to pierce his armor, they've clearly been well trained, and they kick his ass with those attributes and their numbers.

Batman is all tore up and has arrows in his body, and no real way to use his usual misdirection and deception because he's been brought into the light. He tries to throw a smoke bomb and it's deflected off a giant shield in the shape of an A and bounces right back at him, knocking him down.

Batman has been out-coached and out prep-timed. And the Arkham Knight stands over him. "A new day dawns in Gotham, Batman. It's time for the shadows to start running from themselves."

Bits and Pieces

Homie got his ass beat. And you know what I really liked about this issue? The contrast. Batman rode a Man-Bat through the darkness of Gotham like a boss, and when everything was illuminated he was rushed and taken down like a punk. I've got some issues with the way Arkham Knight looks, but this dude and his tactics are a real threat and I like it. And I thought the inking and coloring were particularly well done to make it feel like the light they produced wasn't natural.

8/10