While DC Comics may be struggling to keep their other titles fresh and interesting, the entire line of Batman comics is reaching new heights of excellence. Detective Comics Annual #12 is a prime example of how this new Batman Incorporated angle may be the best thing to happen to the Batman series since Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams rescued the Dark Knight from the world of camp in the seventies. Opening new roads involving multiple Batmen is a dangerous game but one DC seems to be playing perfectly.
Coming off a brilliant issue debuting writer Scott Snyder, Detective Comics follows it up with this beautifully realized and illustrated annual. Set in Paris, the annual has Bruce Wayne trying to convince the head of the Paris Police to allow his Batman Incorporated group to come to Paris. Using the recent zombie like crime spree of normal people turning into assassins, Wayne uses his considerable push to get Batman onto the Parisian rooftops. Batman, both Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, are trying to solve these murders and at the same time protecting the citizens of Paris and find a suitable candidate.
Writer David Hine does something really appealing in Annual #12 by focusing on subtle things all stitched together to make a bigger story. Granted he has a bit more freedom as this is a one shot but still, the subtle points are nicely executed. Dick is never seen outside of the costume in Annual #12 but we know who he is both by his costume and his actions. There are small differences between how Dick and Bruce handle things in their costumes. That connection works really well.
I also liked how Hine wrote Bruce Wayne with such forceful freedom. Having admitted at least part of his involvement with Batman and created the Batman Incorporated idea, Wayne gets a new role in all of this. Hines exploits that to the fullest and lets Bruce swagger around not as a jerk playboy, but as a man committed to real change. It’s the first we’ve seen of the new Bruce Wayne since his Batman Incorporated announcement.
The art in Annual #12 is gorgeous; Agustin Padilla has really outdone himself here. The opening chase scene leaps right off the page and Padilla’s use of shadow gives the entire issue a richness you don’t often see in Batman comics. Everything in the panel plays against this shadow so you get a real idea of what existing in Batman’s world is like. When the issue steps out of that shadow, Hines backs off with it artistically. Again using subtly to say more than anything else could.
I have to admit this entire Batman direction has surprised me. While not a fan of everything having to do with Bruce Wayne’s demise and return, I can’t argue with how refreshing and exciting this new direction is. It’s allowed the legacy of Batman to grow in a very real and organic way. Hines and Padilla’s Detective Comics Annual #12 is a stellar example of just how exciting this new age of Batman could be.
