Detective Comics #941

by Héctor A on September 28, 2016

Script: Steve Orlando
Artist: Andy MacDonald
Colors: John Rauch
Letters: Marylin Patrizio
Publisher: DC

I wasn't too fond of last week's Night of the Monster Men issues but my love for (most of) Rise of the Batmen was enough for me to give this another shot, after all it's a very similar cast with a very similar creative team, and I'm glad that I did because this issue does improve significantly upon the last two parts.

 

Andy MacDonald's art really makes the issue for me. It's a departure from the style of the two earlier Monster Men issues but it's so much more accomplished. MacDonald's art was also fantastic on the recently published second volume of Teen Titans: Earth One, but I didn't know he had drawn this until I started reading the issue, I would've been more excited about the whole event if I knew otherwise.

 

His version of the Monster Men is leaps and bounds ahead of the ones we saw on Batman and Nightwing. Futhermore, he way he portrays physicality in action scenes is very naturalistic, sometimes there's little clarity on the bigger action scenes but for the most part he is a very apt storyteller. His paneling is very purposeful through the whole issue, as he uses a spread with widescreen panels to introduce all characters at the start of the book and a broken, uneven grid to show 2 of our heroes under great duress towards the end of it.

 

On the other hand, he plot just staggers on for the better part of the issue. There's some superheroing by Spoiler and Oracle, Clayface goes around pretending to be a bunch of cops, and Batwoman hits kaijus with a bike (it's not as fun as it sounds). The fights against the Monster Men have fell flat for most of the event so fat. Here it seems that they are only shown as Batman and Batwoman are debriefed by the other Bat-people, who are all doing more interesting things. A large portion of the story focuses on Gotham Girl, that side of the crossover has kind of all gone over my head (this guy, not reading Batman *shrug*) but Orlando and Mac Donald do conjure a really good reveal at the end of this issue.

 

For all its flaws, Monster Men really did get better with this issue, with an intriguing cliffhanger and outstanding art. Andy MacDonald is truly one of the best artists working for DC even if he doesn't have that many credits. MacDonald also drew Detective Comics #942 so I'll be looking forwards to reading that and hoping the whole crossover maintains this newfound level of quality.

Our Score:

8/10

A Look Inside