Comic Review: Detective Comics (2016-) #999

Detective Comics #999

DC Comics

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi

Art: Doug Mahnke

It’s the eve before the big #1000 celebration, but what better way to prepare yourself for celebrating Batman than watch him get the ever living snot beaten out of him by an 8-year-old version of himself? Writer Peter Tomasi and artist Doug Mahnke bring you the concluding chapter to the arc ‘Mythology’ with ‘The Price You Pay’!

After going through trials and torture with some of Batman’s greatest mentors and allies, fighting off some nightmarish monster which represented his fiercest adversaries, Batman comes face to face with the true evil mastermind: a scared 8-year-old boy in a Bat costume! Yes, that’s right, Tomasi concludes his first epic tale for ‘Tec, exploring the mythos behind the Bat where he literally has to fight himself. As many already know, Tomasi is a fantastic writer, especially when it comes to the Batfamily, and this issue was a nice little celebration as to who Batman is and what he means to others, but especially to Bruce. It’s pretty funny because King seems to want to do the same thing in his run and is deciding to make it depressing and how ‘BEING BATMAN SUCKS AND IS REALLY BAD FOR BRUCE’ and even at that is just failing horribly. This issue shows that Bruce really did stop being a kid at age 8, but allowing him to become Batman is greater, not for himself, but for Gotham. Almost as if that Batman is a….hero…of some sort.

Doug Mahnke’s work is also great, drawing Batman’s lifespan through one long fight in Wayne Manor was really really clever and cool. There were nice hints to other famous stories and he kept the action flowing, making the reader turn the page with excitement. That being said, I love Mahnke’s work and I like how there’s a certain retro vibe to how his style looks, there’s just something about the detail on those faces that always scare me. I don’t know is it down to the heavy inks or is it just Mahnke’s style but it’s always unnerved me since I read Final Crisis way back when.

Overall this issue was great, a really nice page near the end of the issue, showing how much Batman makes a difference in Gotham (something that is always being questioned by fanboys and girls, ‘WHY WOULD ANYONE LIVE IN GOTHAM???’ threads come to mind) Batman is a superhero, he’s one of DC’s most favorite titles, so thank you Tomasi for reminding us that he’s the good guy who wants to make a difference, and not some emo whiney d*ckbag who mistreats his friends and family. Batman works best growing as a hero with a family, sure he’s cool when he’s kicking butt and yes the Frank Miller stories are a classic, but Batman works better not as a loner. We’ve seen this countless times, let him develop for pity’s sake. I’m thoroughly excited about the big #1000 celebration, I can’t wait to see what’s in store, hopefully, it’ll be great. This little arc was a great intro to Tomasi’s version of ‘Tec, and it looks like it’s going to be a promising run.