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DETECTIVE
#742-45
Making
DETECTIVE a Detective book.
 Writer:
Greg Rucka
Artists: Shawn Martinbrough, John Watkiss, Steve Mitchell
Colorist: Wildstorm FX
Letterers: Todd Klein and Bill Oakley
Monthly Title
Published by DC Comics, 2000
$2.50 each
Reviewed
by Pindaros
In general, the Batmancontinuity has, since the late '60's, offered
far more scope for experimentation than any other franchise, allowing
such writers as Dennis O'Neill and Frank Miller a great deal of
creative freedom.
This is largely due to the limited importance of personal history
for the character. In the Batman books, personal history has almost
no significance. Bruce Wayne, while a millionaire, has had little
to no personal life over the years. And from the other side, something
of a "Batman family" has developed over the years, but the number
of different individuals who have filled the roles of Robin and
Batgirl over the years is indicative of the relative insignificance
of these relationships. To a certain extent, it is probably correct
to say that when a character in the Batman books starts to have
much of a personal life of their own, they get their own book,
as Dick Grayson has in NIGHTWING and Barbara Gordon has
in BIRDS OF PREY.
This distinction of the Batman books is almost certainly a product
of the utterly cynical way in which Bob Kane created and developed
Batman. Superman, Spider-Man and the X-Men all enjoyed the obsessive
attention of writers who wanted to transcend the pulpish nature
of comic-book stories by writing more fully-developed, novelistic
characters. While Siegel and Schuster, Stan Lee and Chris Claremont
all won great popularity and acclaim with such work, they also
saddled their characters with personal histories that constantly
risk turning their books into soap operas.
In contrast, Bob Kane created a hero who was almost sub-pulp
in his personal simplicity. As has been well documented, Kane
created the Batman by simply combining his favorite features from
various pulp, movie and cartoon heroes. The tights and cape of
Superman, the mask and secret identity of Zorro, the futurism
and caricatures of Dick Tracy, the name and crime-fighting brief
of a more obscure figure called "The Bat,"all were melded by Kane's
primitive, yet moody, art into the Batman.
| "a stylish experiment in pulp
detective story-telling" |
This gumbo of sources has for some time offered writers greater
freedom to experiment. Because the initial character was so simple
and polymorphous, a writer can introduce any number of tropes
to his narrative, and as long as they are in some way derived
from the popular narratives that Kane used to create Batman, it
can be perceived as a "return to Batman's roots."
Kane's eclecticism provides a context for Greg Rucka's current
run in DETECTIVE, a stylish experiment in pulp detective
story-telling. The costumes are reduced to a minimum; while Batman's
voice narrates the stories, he is seen relatively rarely in the
stories. The stories focus just as much on apparently normal individuals
speaking on streets or in rooms, so that when the Batman appears,
his costume reflects the hallucinatory qualities of gunfights,
dark shadows and nighttime city-scapes far more than the formal
needs of a superhero narrative.
Rucka's post-NML work has been limited to two stories so far:
a single issue dealing with the grief of Commissioner Gordon over
the loss of his wife and a continuing story-arc pitting Batman
against long-time foe Ra's al Ghul. The former is a moving character
study built up out of the minimal details of crime-fighting procedure.
Gordon lets go of a suicidal desire to single-handedly take on
a warehouse full of armed men single-handed with the words, "Be
a stupid way to die, wouldn't it?" and the context makes it a
vivid affirmation of a desire to live. When Batman replies in
the next frame, "Especially when you're not alone," we sense the
full weight of their long friendship.
| "Rucka spins a tale that combines
the pulp pleasures of both horror and crime stories. " |
The current Ra's al Ghul story-arc, at three issuse and counting,
is becoming a far more interesting proposition. With a femme fatale
named Whisper a'Daire and a longevity drug that apparently turns
human beings into animals, Rucka spins a tale that combines the
pulp pleasures of both horror and crime stories. The suspense
of the plot is improved by Rucka's ability to suggest a criminal
organization that is powerful, nefarious, and unearthly. It is
a tribute to his imagination as a writer that when revelations
of the group's plans occur they are both more grotesque and more
coherent than the reader guessed.
The stories are powerfully depicted by the pencils of Shawn Martinbrough
and the inks of Steve Mitchell, in a style that relies heavily
on clearly defined black shapes. The coloring is also excellent:
Wildstorm FX relies on various tones of two, or even one, color
to emphasize the tone of the narrative. While a Batman book will
not be to everyone's taste, fans of more cutting-edge work, from
HELLBOY to JINX, may well find in DETECTIVE
an acceptable addition to their preferred reading, while superhero
fans will undoubtedly be happy that at least one old dog has a
few new tricks in him.
Recommended.
Pindaros
is a regular contributor to PopImage.
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