Detective Comics #944

by Nick Liu on November 09, 2016

Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Eddy Barrows
Colors: Adriano Lucas
Publisher: DC Comics


Detective Comics #944, the second part of “The Victim Syndicate”, presents an interesting question to the reader.  Every time Batman and the others suit up and sortie it’s almost inevitable that there is going to be collateral damage. Lives are ruined, families are torn apart, and innocents are killed, mauled, or worse, twisted into villains themselves. In the face of this danger and with their only source of help being a police department which not only accepts but actively supports vigilante action in Gotham, what is the average citizen supposed to do? The Victim Syndicate is an answer to that question: a group of five Gothamites who due to Batman’s negligence and mistakes have been turned against their will into mirrors of the villains that ruined their lives.

 “The Victim Syndicate” is set about a month after the conclusion of the “Night of the Monster Men” crossover. In it, we revisit the Batfamily in a state of relative disarray. Red Robin’s untimely fate has sent the remaining members of Batwoman’s team of teenage vigilantes into varying stages of grief. Between an emotionally distant Batman, a heartbroken Spoiler, and Batwoman left trying to keep the team together, the future doesn’t seem too bright for our heroes - and especially not when a aforementioned group of new supervillains, the eponymous Victim Syndicate, shows up to make trouble.

Detective Comics #944 brings us back to the Gotham Public Museum where the Victim Syndicate is in the middle of crashing a police fundraiser gala.  While Cass, Steph, Harper and Basil are busy admiring Luke Fox’ new high-tech car, Batman and Batwoman sound the alarms and call the kids to action.  Since the last issue was spent on rigorously developing the characters, establishing their relationships, and setting up for the villain reveal, Detective Comics #944 is able to jump straight into the action.  One of the things that impresses me is how Tynion is able to effortlessly give every single character, villain or hero, their time in the spotlight.  Each member of the Victim Syndicate is given a panel or two to showcase their powers, and for the most part these powers are twists on the powers of older staple supervillains.  My favorite is Madame Crow’s anti-fear gas, which unlike the Scarecrow’s gas, is able to remove a person’s inhibitions instead of wracking them with fear.  

Luke Fox of Batwing fame is also finally given his time to shine.  As the newest member of Batwoman’s dream team, Luke fills the recently vacated role of tech specialist, using the tools in his high-tech Batwing suit to augment the team’s capabilities.  It’s been a few months since we last checked in with Luke in Batman and Robin Eternal, so it’s a treat when we witness him suit-up again using what I dub the “Iron Man” method of putting on a costume.

Compared to the more lethargic rate of the last issue, Detective Comics #944 moves at a breakneck pace, revealing the villains for the first time in an amazing, action packed scene.  An unfortunate side effect of that is that we don’t get the character development for Batwoman’s team members the way we did in the previous issue.  Tynion’s character work is one of the things I look forward to the most when cracking open an issue of Tec, but even though there aren’t as many emotionally impactful scenes or flashbacks as previous issues, there are still some genuine moments in this issue that fans of Luke or of the 90’s Bat-crew aren’t going to want to miss.

Some other thoughts:

Basil Karlo, Clayface, remains one of my favorite characters in the roster.  I’m so invested in Basil’s redemption that thinking about him possibly giving up and going back to his original persona is heart-wrenching.  The way Basil is so clueless while hanging out with the Bat-teens makes him absolutely adorable.

Luke mentions the team’s “branding” in this issue.  Personally, I’m dead tired of thinking of this team as “Batwoman’s Team” or “the 90s Batkids with special guests Batwoman and Clayface”.  I’m rreally hoping that this leads to us finally getting a team name! How about the Bat-men? Too on the nose?

Finally, I’m a huge fan of Harper Row as Bluebird.  She says she’s doing more good as a civilian, and honestly that might even be true, but I think Harper brought something special to the table as a superhero.  Plus, her friendship with Steph and Cass has been really well written so far, and the best way to get more of that is to give Harper a seat on the Round Table! 

All-in-all, Detective Comics #944 features a fast-paced nail-biter of a plot, unforgettable new villains, and the best team lineup in a Batman book ever.  This issue is another example of why this series has proven itself to be one of the best books in DC’s lineup week after week.  If you’re looking for top notch action scenes, touching character moments and the amazing, incredible, ongoing creative development of Batman’s greatest sidekicks, look no further, Detective Comics is here!
 

Our Score:

9/10

A Look Inside