Written by: Tom Taylor
Art by: Mikel Janín
Colors by: Mikel Janín
Letters by: Wes Abbott
Cover art by: Mikel Janín (cover A)
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: October 23, 2024
Detective Comics #1090, by DC Comics on 10/23/24, puts Batman on the trail of a serial killer who hunts criminals, introduces Bruce to the possibility of extended life, and unveils an unknown aspect of Batman's origin.
Is Detective Comics #1090 Good?
Writer Tom Taylor takes over Detective Comics from Ram V to chart a new course for the series by connecting a killer's path of death in the present with the actions of Thomas Wayne in the past. On first read, Taylor's take on the series is galaxies better than Ram V's metaphysical flop, which is a pretty low bar to clear, so we're off to a good start, even if Taylor brings the baggage of failed runs on Jon Kent, Nightwing, and Titans with him. Maybe the 4th time is the charm.
Detective Comics #1090 flip flops between the past and the present, recounting Batman's encounter with a clawed serial killer while his father holds fast to his convictions by treating a car accident victim who some feel would have been better off dead.
In the opening scene, we see Batman in a small room with a dying man tied to a chair. The person responsible for the dying man's predicament is a clawed individual whose face we never see. The killer claims to be doing what she does to show Batman that some people deserve to die.
Tom Taylor's opening scene is moody, intense, and intriguing. The most challenging conflicts for Batman involve challenging his no-kill rule, so starting a new run with that premise in mind is a solid start.
Years earlier, Dr. Thomas Wayne wakes from a call by a fellow doctor to assist with two car crash victims. The driver is likely to die. The driver's girlfriend, Evelyn Scott, is in less serious condition. The accident forced early labor for Evelyn's unborn child, and some of her injuries pre-date the accident, meaning the boyfriend is abusive. Thomas's fellow doctors subtly suggest letting the boyfriend die, but Thomas won't hear of it.
The car accident accomplishes two things well. First, it informs new readers about the quality of Thomas Wayne's character. Second, the victims in the accident are critical to Bruce Wayne's future in more ways than one.
Both victims survive, and Evelyn's baby is delivered without incident. Evelyn asks to speak to Thomas, and she privately asks him to take the baby away for adoption because her boyfriend is a vicious criminal. As a compromise, Thomas brings in Martha Wayne to use her wealth and connections to send mother and child away under protective custody.
Now, Batman responds to an armed robbery alert during his rounds of Gotham City. The robber, a teenager with a checkered past, accidentally shot a shopkeeper. When Batman crashes through the store window and punches the robber, the robber runs. Batman delays the pursuit to ensure the shopkeeper gets medical attention.
When Batman gives chase, his battered, aging body isn't able to keep up. However, Oracle guides him to the boy's location, where he lies dead. Batman catches a whiff of perfume, White Musk, that links the boy's death with several killings in recent months.
To Tom Taylor's credit, the pieces of the puzzle fall into place quickly and easily. Arguably, too easily. We know a mother and child absconded years ago, thanks to the Waynes, and we know a presumably female serial killer is targeting low-level criminals. The line between connected dots is indeed short.
Later, Bruce Wayne attends a gala hosted by the grown daughter of Evelyn Scott, Scarlett Martha Scott. Scarlett specifically invited Bruce to show that her genetic research has created a medically stable method for healing and extending the life of the human body, so she offered Bruce to be part of the recipient group, an offer he considers.
In the past, the boyfriend wakes from his surgery and becomes violent when he learns his girlfriend and unborn child are gone. The boyfriend's name is Joe Chill.
What's great about Detective Comics #1090?
After a painfully tedious Detective run with Ram V, Tom Taylor's first issue is a tall drink of cool water in the desert. It's not the greatest Detective comic ever, but Detective Comics #1090 is a big improvement. There's a mildly intriguing mystery at the heart of Bruce's latest mission, and the seeds of philosophical questions (Is Bruce getting too old and too slow?) make for great storytelling as long as Taylor can execute them properly.
What's not great about Detective Comics #1090?
The issue is weak on one front and concerning on a second.
First, the "childhood friend who turns out to be a killer" setup has been done to death with Batman. You could tell this story without linking Batman and Scarlett and still accomplish the same thing. By linking the two, their relationship comes off as cliché.
Second, the revelation about Joe Chill could work out well, or it could be a disaster. If Chill somehow drove Scarlett to become the killer, there are a myriad of ways that story could turn out well. On the other hand, if Taylor retcons the death of the Waynes as an act of revenge from an abusive boyfriend, the reveal waters down Batman's origin because his parents' death becomes less senseless and shocking.
If Taylor goes the revenge route with Chill, his premise would irrevocably harm Batman's origin (see the baggage of missteps from Jon Kent and Nightwing as references).
How's the Art?
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Final Thoughts
Detective Comics #1090 is a super-strong start to a new era of Detective Comics with a new creative team. Mikel Janín's art is a winning mix of modern drama and a classic Gotham aesthetic, and Tom Taylor's mystery concerning a new serial killer in Gotham has a lot of potential, albeit with one major point of concern.8/10
We hope you found this article interesting. Come back for more reviews, previews, and opinions on comics, and don’t forget to follow us on social media:
Connect With Us Here: Weird Science DC Comics / Weird Science Marvel Comics
If you're interested in this creator’s works, remember to let your Local Comic Shop know to find more of their work for you. They would appreciate the call, and so would we.
Click here to find your Local Comic Shop: www.ComicShopLocator.com
As an Amazon Associate, we earn revenue from qualifying purchases to help fund this site. Links to Blu-Rays, DVDs, Books, Movies, and more contained in this article are affiliate links. Please consider purchasing if you find something interesting, and thank you for your support.
I was actually enjoying the plot till the last page. I mean, an intriguing detective mystery, treating Batman seriously and in character and no self deprecating meta cringe humour to be found while also tackling his doubts and mistakes is a rarity sadly so I really appreciated it, just a crime drama which the reader can think about and follow and no this villain of the week has taken over Gotham like Bane, Crane, Joker, Orghams, the Magistrate, Zur en Arrh etc etc. Where was this writing in Nightwing? And for that matter I truly hope this style of writing can be kept till the end of the run. I have praised a story before only for it to fall off drastically and the last page kind of made me dread this cause it has some familiar markers seen before in other runs.
ReplyDeleteNow speaking of that ending, ooof I didn't like it at all. I generally don't like it when they try to rework backstories again and again and again. I wish they would try something more concrete with the future or try to write the parts of the past that has place in it to add stuff, anything to do with who Joe Chill was to the Waynes however, is not that. ( to be frank no addition to Joe Chill lore beyond the fateful night in crime alley has been a particularly interesting or well written one except the one in Three Jokers cause that series despite its flaws and me not counting that as a good series, had one interesting thing going for it and it was the story woth Chill and Bruce which was thoughtful and more interesting that what we get usually)That has been set and pretty much cleared for ages and honestly adding this new angle is really strange. Look! Thomas Wayne saved JOE CHILL, get it??? Cause the alleyway and pearls and bullets you know.... get it????? Martha said don't do it! And turns out his daughter was helped by the waynes too and is a close friend of Bruce that has suddenly appeared after all these years and... let's stop here. What is with this fixation on adding weird family members or friends that don't fit in history and turn out super significant all of a sudden and for a payoff of what??? (Melinda, Sonia, Respawn, Athanasia al ghul, Ruh al Ghul, Leo Lane, etc) Instead of comics adding new family members by progressing the characters organically and having them marry and have children and finally shedding this ridiculous fear that older characters won't draw audiences when the opposite has been proven time and time and time again ( in fact it has even helped the comics tremendously examples Fantastic Four, Flash family, Batfamily, Spider man etc etc), they keep adding these never befoe heard close family members and relatives that don't fit in the history since they can't add any new character the other way around cause of their policy. At least DC is doing better than Marvel in the sense that characters like Ollie, Wally and Arthur get to have children again.
Why couldn't that criminal be any criminal? And Scarlett just a daughter of some criminal? That criminal didn't have to be joe chill in order for the reader to get what the issue was trying to say. The readers could rub their braincells together and imagine that the guy would probably hurt someone again and the implications of that (though tbh in the case of Thomas the answer of what he should have done was kinda clear cut here and he did the right thing. Batman is a different story even though I am of the people in favor of the no killing role of his). We didn't need literally Joe chill written in the hospital form to grasp that and if this was done for a twist ending then even worse cause it implies that the comic wasn't confident enough in its own story when quite the opposite, it actually held my attention up to that point and then annoyed me with that ending.
Let's see where this goes cause everything else aside from that twist was actually interesting and has the right atmosphere but that ending really dampened my investment. So in conclusion your review was on point and I agree with you.
Up to the very last page, I was genuinely enjoying the plot. This is a crime drama that the reader can follow and think about, and this week's villain has taken over Gotham like Bane. I mean, an interesting detective mystery that treats Batman seriously and in character and does not contain self-deprecating meta-cringe humor while also addressing his doubts and mistakes is sadly rare, so I really appreciated it.
ReplyDeleteHow Can I Get a Divorce in New York