Detective Comics #6 Review

The problem with Detective Comics #5 wasn't the story. In fact, it was quite good. It was the overly long backup story. I don't mind backup stories, but I buy for the main story on the cover. $3 for only eleven pages for the main story? I don't think so. Thankfully, that doesn't happen with this issue. As expected, we get a quality Batman story. Though it's lacking the pizzazz of the previous arc.

The story follows Batman, who is on the trail of a man known as 'Snakeskin.' Meanwhile, Penguin has assembled a group of villains. What could this mean for Batman?

My problem with this issue is that the Penguin and Batman plots aren't mixing. Batman doesn't even mention Penguin once, it's like two different stories happening at once. I find myself not really interested in the Penguin part. He himself is well-written, but his plot hasn't been explored really well. The best part of this issue is Batman. He is really well written, some fantastic lines. "Some people don't need their faces kicked in. They just need to feel their insides move." I also like the scene where he's chasing someone, then in the dark, he simply says "Boo." It scares the living daylights out of the guy. Batman knows he scares the average person, he's Batman after all. I love how he plays on that in this issue.

Bruce Wayne has been absent from this series, aside from a few scenes here in there. The problem is that they just feel like filler. Thankfully, it doesn't feel like filler here. It's good to see Alfred outside helping out. It felt like an episode from The Animated Series. Something I didn't like was when Batman let his emotions get the better of him in the latter part of the issue. Yeah I know what happened affected him, but the Batman I know wouldn't let that get the better of him in that he 'loses' to an average criminal. Besides that, there are really no major complaints. The writing is solid, especially for Batman. (Really like the part where a once convicted person says, "Hey, I'm bleeding out over here. Help me!" Then Batman replies, "Help yourself.")

If the art was bad, the issue would have gotten a lower score. However, the art is very good. Some parts look appropriately gritty, really like the spread of Batman on the fourth page. The cover shows Batman and Penguin battling while falling. It's a good, dynamic cover. Sad part is that they haven't confronted each other yet. But yeah, the art is high point in this issue.

Overall, Detective Comics #6 is a normal issue. It's simple, it's Batman, but it's lacking the punch the first arc had. The writing, (except for the scene I mentioned) is very good. I was this close to giving it a 7/10, but it barely made the 8. Something really exciting needs to happen in the next issue, otherwise this series will start getting 7s. All we really care about is what's up with Joker, this arc appears just to be 'buying time.' Let's have something really exciting happen in the next issue, shall we?

8/10.