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Detective Comics (2011)
Batman: Detective Comics, Vol. 2: Scare Tactics
Batman must face the madness of the Mad Hatter, and then take on the Talons of the Court of Owls! But even if he survives that, he must face a whole new set of fears when the Scarecrow returns! Can the Dark Knight overcome the terror the Scarecrow brings? And explore the bizarre similarities between these two enemies and how the idea of fear has shaped their lives!
214 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 9, 2013
40 people are currently reading
1211 people want to read
About the author
Tony S. Daniel
684 books89 followersTony Salvador Daniel is a comic book author and illustrator. He is sometimes credited with is full name as Antonio Salvador Daniel.
For the science fiction writer, see Tony Daniel.
Tony S. Daniel decided to become a comic book artist in the 4th grade and has never looked back. He made his professional comics debut in 1993 on Comico's The Elementals and went on to illustrate X-Force for Marvel Comics and Spawn: Bloodfeud for Image Comics as well as writing and illustrating several creator-owned titles of his own: Silke, The Tenth, Adrenalynn and F5 — the last two of which led him, for a time, into the alternate reality known as Hollywood.
After being lured back into comics in 2005 to work with writer Geoff Johns on TEEN TITANS for DC Comics, Daniel landed his dream job in 2007 penciling the adventures of DC's Dark Knight Detective in BATMAN where he first collaborated with writer Grant Morrison and then went on to write and draw the book himself. In 2011 he re-launched DETECTIVE COMICS for DC’s New 52, writing and drawing most of the first year of the historic series. In 2012 Daniel moved from one icon to another when he began illustrating the adventures of Superman in ACTION COMICS.
For the science fiction writer, see Tony Daniel.
Tony S. Daniel decided to become a comic book artist in the 4th grade and has never looked back. He made his professional comics debut in 1993 on Comico's The Elementals and went on to illustrate X-Force for Marvel Comics and Spawn: Bloodfeud for Image Comics as well as writing and illustrating several creator-owned titles of his own: Silke, The Tenth, Adrenalynn and F5 — the last two of which led him, for a time, into the alternate reality known as Hollywood.
After being lured back into comics in 2005 to work with writer Geoff Johns on TEEN TITANS for DC Comics, Daniel landed his dream job in 2007 penciling the adventures of DC's Dark Knight Detective in BATMAN where he first collaborated with writer Grant Morrison and then went on to write and draw the book himself. In 2011 he re-launched DETECTIVE COMICS for DC’s New 52, writing and drawing most of the first year of the historic series. In 2012 Daniel moved from one icon to another when he began illustrating the adventures of Superman in ACTION COMICS.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews
August 20, 2022
(B-) 70% | Satisfactory
Notes: The last slow drips and dregs from a stale bottle of weak sauce. Lacking vigor, it confuses convolution for cleverness.
Notes: The last slow drips and dregs from a stale bottle of weak sauce. Lacking vigor, it confuses convolution for cleverness.
October 15, 2018
I am not really sure what I should tell you. This did not really work. Utterly confusing. Too much that does not really mash together was forced together.
You have Catwoman, Scarecrow, Owls (which really shocked me cause I had no idea why those were there), Mad Hatter, Two-face, Black Mask, Mr. Toxic...
That was simply too much.
Tony Daniel should focus more on his artwork which is excellent. Unfortunately, I find his writing/story-telling somewhat lacking.
You have Catwoman, Scarecrow, Owls (which really shocked me cause I had no idea why those were there), Mad Hatter, Two-face, Black Mask, Mr. Toxic...
That was simply too much.
Tony Daniel should focus more on his artwork which is excellent. Unfortunately, I find his writing/story-telling somewhat lacking.
October 25, 2014
Visually, this is nice, and the story didn't stink...but it's not going to knock you socks off.
I'm not sure how to classify this one, other than to say that it's a decent piece of Batman filler.
Nothing about the story pissed me off, and nothing made me go Wow!.
And maybe that's not entirely Daniel's fault.
I mean, this title is competing with Snyder's excellent run on Batman, so most anything is going to seem meh compared to it, right?
There's a small portion of the Owls crossover, where they attack the Assylum and try to take out Jeremiah Arkham. It involves Black Mask, which in turn, brings the Mad Hatter into the story.
Ehhhhh.
Kudos to Daniel for trying to make Jervis Tetch look like a badass.
It didn't work.
But I think he should get an I Participated medal for the effort.
Then there's another storyline with Mr. Toxic.
Something, something, clones, something, something, evil scientist...
And so on.
The moral of the story?
Radiation isn't something you should play around with!
There's a few one-shot issues at the end that don't suck too badly.
One involves a newbie to the Gotham PD, who has to guard that flap of Joker's skin overnight.
Another is a flashback to Bruce learning some Mind Over Matter kung fu shit from a grumpy old fart, who apparently has more problems than Bruce.
And then there's the What Was Alfred Doing, While Bruce Was Kung Fuing? issue.
This is a fairly thick volume, so you're definitely going to get your money's worth out of it, if you decide to buy.
Recommended for Hardcore Batfans only.
I'm not sure how to classify this one, other than to say that it's a decent piece of Batman filler.
Nothing about the story pissed me off, and nothing made me go Wow!.
And maybe that's not entirely Daniel's fault.
I mean, this title is competing with Snyder's excellent run on Batman, so most anything is going to seem meh compared to it, right?
There's a small portion of the Owls crossover, where they attack the Assylum and try to take out Jeremiah Arkham. It involves Black Mask, which in turn, brings the Mad Hatter into the story.
Ehhhhh.
Kudos to Daniel for trying to make Jervis Tetch look like a badass.
It didn't work.
But I think he should get an I Participated medal for the effort.
Then there's another storyline with Mr. Toxic.
Something, something, clones, something, something, evil scientist...
And so on.
The moral of the story?
Radiation isn't something you should play around with!
There's a few one-shot issues at the end that don't suck too badly.
One involves a newbie to the Gotham PD, who has to guard that flap of Joker's skin overnight.
Another is a flashback to Bruce learning some Mind Over Matter kung fu shit from a grumpy old fart, who apparently has more problems than Bruce.
And then there's the What Was Alfred Doing, While Bruce Was Kung Fuing? issue.
This is a fairly thick volume, so you're definitely going to get your money's worth out of it, if you decide to buy.
Recommended for Hardcore Batfans only.
April 11, 2017
Detective Comics, Volume 2: Scare Tactics is an assortment of bad Batman short stories, mostly written by Tony S. Daniel, a guy who can draw right good but cannot write right at all!
Catwoman steals something for Scarecrow or something – Batman stops her. There’s a Night of the Owls crossover where chaos erupts inside Arkham Asylum after the Talons target Dr. Arkham – Batman stop them. This is followed by a tedious three-part story involving a mad scientist cloning himself – Batman stops him. Black Mask and Mad Hatter do something – Batman stops them. And finally there’s another Bruce Wayne origin set in the Himalayas and the book closes out with a series of short Two-Face stories about nothing.
So yeah: the writing is formulaic, tedious, unimpressive and the stories are almost instantly forgettable – so it goes with Tony Daniel’s Batman comics! Still, even though it’s obviously heavily influenced by Jim Lee, I love his sleek art style which is so damn near perfect for Batman’s look. In fact generally it’s impressive how many artists there are contributing pages in this volume and the art looks almost uniformly the same; just goes to show have pervasive Jim Lee’s art style is at DC. Except for the Two-Face backup art which was just black ink smeared on the page making it hard to discern what was going on (the answer: nothing worthwhile).
Pretty pages don’t make for a great book though and I was immensely bored reading this lengthy, pointless volume. Tony Daniel is just another artist who can’t write – I wouldn’t recommend any Batman books with this dude’s name on. The cover made me laugh though – looks like Batman’s taking an almighty shit and he’s barely hanging on!
Catwoman steals something for Scarecrow or something – Batman stops her. There’s a Night of the Owls crossover where chaos erupts inside Arkham Asylum after the Talons target Dr. Arkham – Batman stop them. This is followed by a tedious three-part story involving a mad scientist cloning himself – Batman stops him. Black Mask and Mad Hatter do something – Batman stops them. And finally there’s another Bruce Wayne origin set in the Himalayas and the book closes out with a series of short Two-Face stories about nothing.
So yeah: the writing is formulaic, tedious, unimpressive and the stories are almost instantly forgettable – so it goes with Tony Daniel’s Batman comics! Still, even though it’s obviously heavily influenced by Jim Lee, I love his sleek art style which is so damn near perfect for Batman’s look. In fact generally it’s impressive how many artists there are contributing pages in this volume and the art looks almost uniformly the same; just goes to show have pervasive Jim Lee’s art style is at DC. Except for the Two-Face backup art which was just black ink smeared on the page making it hard to discern what was going on (the answer: nothing worthwhile).
Pretty pages don’t make for a great book though and I was immensely bored reading this lengthy, pointless volume. Tony Daniel is just another artist who can’t write – I wouldn’t recommend any Batman books with this dude’s name on. The cover made me laugh though – looks like Batman’s taking an almighty shit and he’s barely hanging on!
August 13, 2022
This kinda felt like it was all over the place but still enjoyable tbh!
We see Batman fight Scarecrow as he has put some people under fear gas control and well race to save people and do missions for him, something with Digger Jones and then going against Mr Toxic aka Hugh Marder and stop his crazy plans with clones and all and some other stuff which was a bit confusing but still an okay one-time read and then stopping whatever is going on with Black mask and I love the way the writer continues his story here with Roman from his pre-new 52 volumes and then he proves to be a great challenge to Batman and then a story with Two-face which was meh.
Overall it was an okayish read and just felt like an anthology of stories with Batman facing different foes and stopping them but the ones with Roman and Mr Toxic were pretty good reads with solid art and challenge Batman in fun ways. A good one time read I will say.
We see Batman fight Scarecrow as he has put some people under fear gas control and well race to save people and do missions for him, something with Digger Jones and then going against Mr Toxic aka Hugh Marder and stop his crazy plans with clones and all and some other stuff which was a bit confusing but still an okay one-time read and then stopping whatever is going on with Black mask and I love the way the writer continues his story here with Roman from his pre-new 52 volumes and then he proves to be a great challenge to Batman and then a story with Two-face which was meh.
Overall it was an okayish read and just felt like an anthology of stories with Batman facing different foes and stopping them but the ones with Roman and Mr Toxic were pretty good reads with solid art and challenge Batman in fun ways. A good one time read I will say.
September 14, 2017
Breaking the tried and true concept of the New 52 books being subpar is this volume from Detective Comics. Scare Tactics is pretty decent.
It shows Batman being more of a Detective (considering the name of the comic-no surprise). There is someone who is manipulating people by mind control. Batman suspects it is the Black mask, but events show that it isn't. Who is behind this? There is also another story about someone named Mr. Toxic and his plan to destroy Gotham.
Tony Daniel manages to focus on the Batman and that is a nice change from the fascination with "new" C or D list heroes. For the most part the stories are fairly well done and the artists are similarly decent.
One story, IMHO, stands far above the rest- The Final Lesson, showing what Bruce was doing post his parents murder, has Bruce training under a famed zen warrior. He learns a great many lessons about love and loss. It is a great little story and the ending is sublime.
All in all this was a nice change from the piss poor crap that I've run across coming out of DC's publishing house. It has the feel of the older stories and focuses on Batman instead of the crappy Bat-groupies who seem to have eclipsed the Dark Knight. The only story that wasn't all that great was the odd Two-Face story. It wasn't terrible but Dent's motivations are getting harder to fathom-is he still a bad guy?
Nice little addition to the batman collection-far better than most of the pap masquerading as Batman comics.
It shows Batman being more of a Detective (considering the name of the comic-no surprise). There is someone who is manipulating people by mind control. Batman suspects it is the Black mask, but events show that it isn't. Who is behind this? There is also another story about someone named Mr. Toxic and his plan to destroy Gotham.
Tony Daniel manages to focus on the Batman and that is a nice change from the fascination with "new" C or D list heroes. For the most part the stories are fairly well done and the artists are similarly decent.
One story, IMHO, stands far above the rest- The Final Lesson, showing what Bruce was doing post his parents murder, has Bruce training under a famed zen warrior. He learns a great many lessons about love and loss. It is a great little story and the ending is sublime.
All in all this was a nice change from the piss poor crap that I've run across coming out of DC's publishing house. It has the feel of the older stories and focuses on Batman instead of the crappy Bat-groupies who seem to have eclipsed the Dark Knight. The only story that wasn't all that great was the odd Two-Face story. It wasn't terrible but Dent's motivations are getting harder to fathom-is he still a bad guy?
Nice little addition to the batman collection-far better than most of the pap masquerading as Batman comics.
October 30, 2020
This is what Detective Comics should be. Dark Batman stories but just one or two issue clips.
October 28, 2014
To any Batman fan who wishes to read him in the comics medium for the first time ever:
Please don't bother with this and avoid it at all cost.
You are not missing out on anything.
I want you to enjoy your precious reading experiences when it comes to Batman, and Tony S. Daniel's two collected volumes entitled Faces of Death and Scare Tactics will never be a good place for you start. I would only recommend you to check out the first issue which included some information about the Joker. That was a fairly acceptable story. There is also the issue zero for New 52's Detective Comics which happens to be a part of this collection as well, but that's it.
I would not waste writing a longer review for this one because I quite frankly had no energy, let alone affection or love, to spare this shite some. Daniel has proven himself a great artist; his illustrations for these volumes were superb and enchanting; but he certainly hasn't made up for substance or enjoyment which his stories in said volumes sadly often lack.
So, new reader looking for a prospective Batman comic book to get started with, I advise you to take your bearings elsewhere and avoid this massacre of good sense. As you embark on your journey to read Batman for the first time, there are plenty of better and more enduring titles to start with than this one.
NOT RECOMMENDED: 1/10
DO READ MY BATMAN COMICS REVIEWS AT:
Please don't bother with this and avoid it at all cost.
You are not missing out on anything.
I want you to enjoy your precious reading experiences when it comes to Batman, and Tony S. Daniel's two collected volumes entitled Faces of Death and Scare Tactics will never be a good place for you start. I would only recommend you to check out the first issue which included some information about the Joker. That was a fairly acceptable story. There is also the issue zero for New 52's Detective Comics which happens to be a part of this collection as well, but that's it.
I would not waste writing a longer review for this one because I quite frankly had no energy, let alone affection or love, to spare this shite some. Daniel has proven himself a great artist; his illustrations for these volumes were superb and enchanting; but he certainly hasn't made up for substance or enjoyment which his stories in said volumes sadly often lack.
So, new reader looking for a prospective Batman comic book to get started with, I advise you to take your bearings elsewhere and avoid this massacre of good sense. As you embark on your journey to read Batman for the first time, there are plenty of better and more enduring titles to start with than this one.
NOT RECOMMENDED: 1/10
DO READ MY BATMAN COMICS REVIEWS AT:
March 10, 2018
So many different things going on in just one volume. Crazy, crazy volume. Mr. Toxic was an interesting storyline, but I expected more out of it; maybe the arrival of some speedsters, if you know what I mean. The origin story (issue #0) was quite original to my eyes, I was pretty satisfied by it and it would probably be the highlight of the volume (even if you can argue its clicheness).
The artwork is beyond reproach. Pretty everywhere, even has 2-page-long panels here and then to showcase a furious Batman filled with anger, rage and power. Overall, I wasn't amazed or bummed out. It felt like a bunch of typical average adventures for Batman and friends. Compared to Snyder's run, this series tend to be all over the place and leave some many doors of opportunities wide open. No wonder Snyder is going to jump onto Detective Comics and leave the main Batman series to someone else.
P.S. A full review to come
Yours truly,
Lashaan
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: http://bookidote.wordpress.com
The artwork is beyond reproach. Pretty everywhere, even has 2-page-long panels here and then to showcase a furious Batman filled with anger, rage and power. Overall, I wasn't amazed or bummed out. It felt like a bunch of typical average adventures for Batman and friends. Compared to Snyder's run, this series tend to be all over the place and leave some many doors of opportunities wide open. No wonder Snyder is going to jump onto Detective Comics and leave the main Batman series to someone else.
P.S. A full review to come
Yours truly,
Lashaan
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: http://bookidote.wordpress.com
December 26, 2018
An okay collection, but not as good as the Batman (2011) collections that I have read so far: Vols I, II, III, and IV. More stories that tie into the Court of Owls and a few other good stories. Next up is a Joker collection (Endgame).
November 23, 2018
Just disappointing. Stupid as hell. Tony S. Daniel can draw, but he sure can't write.
June 9, 2018
I like trying to find the good in books, even when I don't like them. Focusing on the ideas or the interesting moments that are on the right track, or something. Unfortunately, this book is simply unreadable. Tony Daniel, who I believe got this Batman writing job based solely on his ability to draw Batman in Grant Morrison's Batman: R.I.P. (two skills that are absolutely not the same), just cannot string a story together. His structure is borderline unfollowable, his "mysteries" proceed with no sense of revelation or surprise, and his broader premises regarding villains and plot are boring at best, extremely overdone at worst. And, to make matters worse, I think whatever time he spent writing this ended up taking away from his time pencilling, because his art isn't even worth the price of admission (not to mention the fact that sometimes he doesn't even do the pencils at all).
This is just a true waste of time to read. It adds nothing to the greater Batman stories at play in the New 52 universe, and actively detracts from the character and the suspense building in other Batman series. I would go so far as to actively recommend NOT reading this if you're a Batman fan of any sort. I'm glad to see a new creative team is taking over Detective Comics in volume 3, otherwise I would've stopped here.
This is just a true waste of time to read. It adds nothing to the greater Batman stories at play in the New 52 universe, and actively detracts from the character and the suspense building in other Batman series. I would go so far as to actively recommend NOT reading this if you're a Batman fan of any sort. I'm glad to see a new creative team is taking over Detective Comics in volume 3, otherwise I would've stopped here.
May 20, 2018
This was classic Batman all the way ---- Batman using quick thinking and intelligence as well as superb hand to hand combat skills to thwart and beat up the bad guys. So this was a fun one to read!
July 22, 2014
Issue #0 was pretty good, but I'm getting a little tired of the Batman-in-Training stories. They're all the same. Spoon-fed, "art-of-war" spiritualism whilst Bruce must accept one of his repressed, all-to-common, human emotions. This particular issue has a dynamite ending, so it is worth the read.
Everything else in this volume is painfully average. Let's hope Mr. Toxic never comes back.
I particularly disliked the Two-Face mini stories. I mean, I get that they were trying to go for a noir look to the artwork... but it is seriously only talking shadows. Black ink on black ink with barely anything to look at. Terrible artwork and an uninteresting story.
2.5/5
Everything else in this volume is painfully average. Let's hope Mr. Toxic never comes back.
I particularly disliked the Two-Face mini stories. I mean, I get that they were trying to go for a noir look to the artwork... but it is seriously only talking shadows. Black ink on black ink with barely anything to look at. Terrible artwork and an uninteresting story.
2.5/5
February 8, 2016
5 stars
Very good comic book. Nice to see my favorite DC superhero, Batman.
It is also my birthday today. Turned 22 this year.
Can't wait to read more comics with Batman!!!!
Very good comic book. Nice to see my favorite DC superhero, Batman.
It is also my birthday today. Turned 22 this year.
Can't wait to read more comics with Batman!!!!
May 9, 2019
This read like early Kirby. And not in a good way.
March 12, 2015
Once again, I find myself not actively hating Tony Daniel's Detective Comics unlike quite a lot of the reviews I've seen. And once again, like volume 1, this is solid, if unspectacular - at least for the most part.
Issue 8 is a done-in-one Scarecrow tale which is decent enough, and picks up on that Eli Strange story from back in volume 1 that I thought wouldn't be revisited, so kudos to Daniel for surprising me. Issue 9 is the Court of Owls crossover issue, and whilst it's a basic 'Talon-Attacks-Important-Person' story like most of them, it does set up the events of the Annual, which we'll get to in a sec.
Issues 10-12 are a three part story that not only revists Hugh Marder and Charlotte Rivers (even if it's just to shuffle Charlotte off out of the way), two characters I again thought Daniel would forget about, but instead draws into a head-scratching mystery. It's not completely satisfying, but it's decent enough.
Next comes the Annual, which is a mess. It's 40 pages of Black Mask, who is now oddly hypnotic, and the Mad Hatter trying to kill each other, and Batman getting in the way. Add in some basic art from Romeno Molenaar and Pere Perez (who I thought was much better than this) and this is a waste of space.
A #0 issue comes next, which details Bruce's training in Tibet. It's mostly predictable, to be honest, but it's not actively insulting or anything. That's saved for the next bit of the trade.
The back-up stories that were featured in issues 8-12 and #0 are also collected here, and that's where things start to go a bit wrong. The opening story seems to be from the #0 issue, showing Bruce come back from all his training, and this is okay. There's also a prelude to Death of the Family at the end, which is chilling indeed. But the middle ones are all about Two Face, as he...I'm really not sure. Goes undercover in a cult? Gets mixed up in some weird stuff with the District Attorney? It's really unclear. The story goes nowhere, and it's all a bit rubbish really.
Tony Daniel's Detective Comics (bar the back-ups) is a book I'd recommend to new comic readers, who haven't touched anything before. It's not too difficult to get into, it doesn't offer up anything particularly complicated to understand, but it'll whet the appetite and cue you up for enjoying much better books out there.
Issue 8 is a done-in-one Scarecrow tale which is decent enough, and picks up on that Eli Strange story from back in volume 1 that I thought wouldn't be revisited, so kudos to Daniel for surprising me. Issue 9 is the Court of Owls crossover issue, and whilst it's a basic 'Talon-Attacks-Important-Person' story like most of them, it does set up the events of the Annual, which we'll get to in a sec.
Issues 10-12 are a three part story that not only revists Hugh Marder and Charlotte Rivers (even if it's just to shuffle Charlotte off out of the way), two characters I again thought Daniel would forget about, but instead draws into a head-scratching mystery. It's not completely satisfying, but it's decent enough.
Next comes the Annual, which is a mess. It's 40 pages of Black Mask, who is now oddly hypnotic, and the Mad Hatter trying to kill each other, and Batman getting in the way. Add in some basic art from Romeno Molenaar and Pere Perez (who I thought was much better than this) and this is a waste of space.
A #0 issue comes next, which details Bruce's training in Tibet. It's mostly predictable, to be honest, but it's not actively insulting or anything. That's saved for the next bit of the trade.
The back-up stories that were featured in issues 8-12 and #0 are also collected here, and that's where things start to go a bit wrong. The opening story seems to be from the #0 issue, showing Bruce come back from all his training, and this is okay. There's also a prelude to Death of the Family at the end, which is chilling indeed. But the middle ones are all about Two Face, as he...I'm really not sure. Goes undercover in a cult? Gets mixed up in some weird stuff with the District Attorney? It's really unclear. The story goes nowhere, and it's all a bit rubbish really.
Tony Daniel's Detective Comics (bar the back-ups) is a book I'd recommend to new comic readers, who haven't touched anything before. It's not too difficult to get into, it doesn't offer up anything particularly complicated to understand, but it'll whet the appetite and cue you up for enjoying much better books out there.
June 7, 2014
It is OK. Maybe 2.5 stars. Yet again, Daniel shows he's got the artistic skills to draw Batman and co., but shouldn't be doing the story to match his visuals.
I read this a couple hours ago and I'm already straining to recall it...
Scarecrow puts Batman on the trail of Eli Strange (Hugo's 'son') and the book opens with Catwoman falling...she was in a trance? Whatever. Captures them all.
Then there's Mr. Toxic...ya. Looks like the Red Hood of old crossed with Crossbones from Captain America world. He's a scientist who took Wayne Foundation money and built a Large Hadron Collider so he can somehow clone himself? He uses these clones to dress up as Batmen and rob lab stuff from all over town. Batman gets some help from a homeless man (who used to be a big scientist) to give some 411 on this dude. Either way, there's a lot of messy radioactive bodies and shit but somehow Bats makes it.
There's also some stuff with Jeremiah Arkham, treating Roman Sionis (Black Mask) and that's OK, but still...
The #0 issue shows Bruce training in Tibet or Nepal or some junk with a Zen Warrior master. Shit goes down which pretty much teaches Bruce not to trust 'dem bitches. Give up on love and all that jazz...
Finally there's a story about Alfred waiting around for Bruce to come back from his training abroad and the Kane family wanting to take the Manor since they assume that Bruce is dead....then there's a bunch of silly little Two-Face stories...
The Mr. Toxic stuff is actually the best of the bunch in comparison.
Black Mask has a showdown with the Mad Hatter that either means New 52 has elevated Mad Hatter to A-list villain (he's in Dark Knight as well) or make Black Mask less imposing and impressive.
All in all, the stuff about cloning and time travel and radioactive scientist man who makes himself into Mr. Toxic is actually the best part of this....
Luckily, John Layman (CHEW) is taking over for Vol. 3 and I hope, that will mark an improvement...maybe Batman will fight a cibopath???
I read this a couple hours ago and I'm already straining to recall it...
Scarecrow puts Batman on the trail of Eli Strange (Hugo's 'son') and the book opens with Catwoman falling...she was in a trance? Whatever. Captures them all.
Then there's Mr. Toxic...ya. Looks like the Red Hood of old crossed with Crossbones from Captain America world. He's a scientist who took Wayne Foundation money and built a Large Hadron Collider so he can somehow clone himself? He uses these clones to dress up as Batmen and rob lab stuff from all over town. Batman gets some help from a homeless man (who used to be a big scientist) to give some 411 on this dude. Either way, there's a lot of messy radioactive bodies and shit but somehow Bats makes it.
There's also some stuff with Jeremiah Arkham, treating Roman Sionis (Black Mask) and that's OK, but still...
The #0 issue shows Bruce training in Tibet or Nepal or some junk with a Zen Warrior master. Shit goes down which pretty much teaches Bruce not to trust 'dem bitches. Give up on love and all that jazz...
Finally there's a story about Alfred waiting around for Bruce to come back from his training abroad and the Kane family wanting to take the Manor since they assume that Bruce is dead....then there's a bunch of silly little Two-Face stories...
The Mr. Toxic stuff is actually the best of the bunch in comparison.
Black Mask has a showdown with the Mad Hatter that either means New 52 has elevated Mad Hatter to A-list villain (he's in Dark Knight as well) or make Black Mask less imposing and impressive.
All in all, the stuff about cloning and time travel and radioactive scientist man who makes himself into Mr. Toxic is actually the best part of this....
Luckily, John Layman (CHEW) is taking over for Vol. 3 and I hope, that will mark an improvement...maybe Batman will fight a cibopath???
April 1, 2013
The story really bounced around from several story lines, so it was a little frustrating trying to bounce between them all.
October 17, 2019
Detective Comics: Scare Tactics picks up where the previous volume left off, collecting the next five issues (Detective Comics #8–12) of the 2016 on-going series with Detective Comics #0 and Detective Comics Annual #1 and covers seven interconnecting one-issue stories.
This trade paperback has Bruce Wayne as Batman taking on various villains: Jonathan Crane as Scarecrow, Hugo Strange (Detective Comics #8), Mr. Toxic (Detective Comics #10–12), and the False Face Society (Detective Comics Annual #1). Additionally, there are back-up stories staring Harvey Dent as Two-Face (Detective Comics #8–11) and Nancy Strode a new recruit on the GCPD (Detective Comics #12).
There were two tie-in issues in this trade paperback Detective Comics #9 is a Night of the Owl tie-in, where Bruce Wayne as Batman take care one of the many Talons. The other tie-in was for the Zero Month where we have two stories: one where we see the last days of Bruce Wayne's training in the Himalayas and the back-up story where we see things through Alfred Pennyworth.
With the exception of one issue: Batman #0 which were penned by Gregg Hurwitz (main story) and James Tynion IV (back-up story), the rest of the trade paperback was penned by Tony S. Daniel – including the back-up stories. For the most part, it was written rather well. However, there seems to be a lack of focus for the trade paperback and it didn't help matters that the back-up stories went their one way, which makes it seems like a mess.
Tony S. Daniel (Detective Comics #8–9 and 12), Szymon Kudranski (Detective Comics #8–12 backups), Pere Pérez (Detective Comics #0 and Detective Comics Annual #1), Ed Benes (Detective Comics #10), Julio Ferreira and Eduardo Pansica (Detective Comics #11), Henrik Jonsson (Detective Comics #0), and Romano Molenaar (Detective Comics Annual #1) are the pencilers of the trade paperback. Eight different pencilers with a varied of different styles made this trade paperback hard to read as the artistic flow is wildly turbulent.
All in all, Detective Comics: Scare Tactics is an adequate continuation to what would hopefully be an equally wonderful series.
This trade paperback has Bruce Wayne as Batman taking on various villains: Jonathan Crane as Scarecrow, Hugo Strange (Detective Comics #8), Mr. Toxic (Detective Comics #10–12), and the False Face Society (Detective Comics Annual #1). Additionally, there are back-up stories staring Harvey Dent as Two-Face (Detective Comics #8–11) and Nancy Strode a new recruit on the GCPD (Detective Comics #12).
There were two tie-in issues in this trade paperback Detective Comics #9 is a Night of the Owl tie-in, where Bruce Wayne as Batman take care one of the many Talons. The other tie-in was for the Zero Month where we have two stories: one where we see the last days of Bruce Wayne's training in the Himalayas and the back-up story where we see things through Alfred Pennyworth.
With the exception of one issue: Batman #0 which were penned by Gregg Hurwitz (main story) and James Tynion IV (back-up story), the rest of the trade paperback was penned by Tony S. Daniel – including the back-up stories. For the most part, it was written rather well. However, there seems to be a lack of focus for the trade paperback and it didn't help matters that the back-up stories went their one way, which makes it seems like a mess.
Tony S. Daniel (Detective Comics #8–9 and 12), Szymon Kudranski (Detective Comics #8–12 backups), Pere Pérez (Detective Comics #0 and Detective Comics Annual #1), Ed Benes (Detective Comics #10), Julio Ferreira and Eduardo Pansica (Detective Comics #11), Henrik Jonsson (Detective Comics #0), and Romano Molenaar (Detective Comics Annual #1) are the pencilers of the trade paperback. Eight different pencilers with a varied of different styles made this trade paperback hard to read as the artistic flow is wildly turbulent.
All in all, Detective Comics: Scare Tactics is an adequate continuation to what would hopefully be an equally wonderful series.
November 1, 2017
Тони Дэниел вернулся в Готэм всего на год, поэтому вторая часть его смены - работа человека, который уже сдал ключи и расписался на вахте. В течении пяти выпусков Тони ставит точки и завершает истории, которые могли бы при ином раскладе жеваться еще пару лет. Всего за выпуск уходит в никуда Эли Стрэндж. Шарлотта Риверс покупает билеты до Парижа и в слезах прощается с Брюсом. Штрих-пунктир Харви Дента от Шимона Кудрански оказывается в финале бесмысленным пшиком.
Даже большая история про таблетки Хью Мердера, костюм Мистера Токсика, данхильский коллайдер и банду близнецов-шахидов, которые косплеят под Бэтмена - ни к чему не приведет. Эти персонажи так и останутся внутри сюжетного пузыря, который создавал внутри Detective Comics художник Антонио Сальвадор Даниель с ноября 2011 года по октябрь 2012 года.
Даже большая история про таблетки Хью Мердера, костюм Мистера Токсика, данхильский коллайдер и банду близнецов-шахидов, которые косплеят под Бэтмена - ни к чему не приведет. Эти персонажи так и останутся внутри сюжетного пузыря, который создавал внутри Detective Comics художник Антонио Сальвадор Даниель с ноября 2011 года по октябрь 2012 года.
June 25, 2018
This collection of the New 52 Detective Comics is not terrible, but uninspired. While not a huge fan of Scott Snyder's concurrent run over on Batman, he was able to form a fairly cohesive book. Writer Daniels is unable to do this here. Other than most of the stories here are mysteries, there's not a true theme to this book, and each issue seems isolated not only from the ones that came before and those that came after, but from the larger DCU as a whole.
Apropos the New 52, we get reminded that Batman has only been around for five years, and of course the whole Robin controversy doesn't even get mentioned. The zero issue presents a look into Bruce Wayne's training somewhere in the Himalayas, in a rather unsatisfying tale. The annual spotlights Two-Face and is one of the better tales in the book, written by future DC Rebirth Detective writer James Tynion IV.
Apropos the New 52, we get reminded that Batman has only been around for five years, and of course the whole Robin controversy doesn't even get mentioned. The zero issue presents a look into Bruce Wayne's training somewhere in the Himalayas, in a rather unsatisfying tale. The annual spotlights Two-Face and is one of the better tales in the book, written by future DC Rebirth Detective writer James Tynion IV.
February 25, 2021
Ni siquiera entendí dónde termina la historia o cómo. haha
Lo mismo del número anterior, villanos no conocidos. De lo conocido tenemos a Black Mask pero no tengo idea de por qué o cómo puede hacer control mental a víctimas y (aunque viene en la propia sinopsis del cómic y por lo tanto [no] es spoiler) Mad Hatter apenas y sale como en las últimas 4 páginas. La historia simplemente termina.
Lo más horrible es Mr Toxic como villano. No tengo idea de quién rayos es Mr Toxic y aun así la historia es como de energía atómica golpeando a Batman sin hacerle nada y entonces empiezan a querer hablar de clonación, viajes en el tiempo y radiación pero de nuevo como en 12 páginas y se resuelve con uno o dos golpes y listo. Acabó la historia.
Lo mismo del número anterior, villanos no conocidos. De lo conocido tenemos a Black Mask pero no tengo idea de por qué o cómo puede hacer control mental a víctimas y (aunque viene en la propia sinopsis del cómic y por lo tanto [no] es spoiler) Mad Hatter apenas y sale como en las últimas 4 páginas. La historia simplemente termina.
Lo más horrible es Mr Toxic como villano. No tengo idea de quién rayos es Mr Toxic y aun así la historia es como de energía atómica golpeando a Batman sin hacerle nada y entonces empiezan a querer hablar de clonación, viajes en el tiempo y radiación pero de nuevo como en 12 páginas y se resuelve con uno o dos golpes y listo. Acabó la historia.
December 18, 2024
Tony Daniel is an amazing artist. Tony Daniel also wrote some Batman. Here in the second volume of the New 52's reboot of Detective Comics the creator tells a boring, bland story that does nothing to capitalize on the hype surrounding the book. The Mr. Toxic story is not entertaining at all. The Two-Face backup was extremely boring. There are a lot of issues collected to here but literally nothing happens of note. Daniel's art is still wonderful but it can't overcome the lack of story. Overall, a snoozefest.
May 17, 2025
Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 2: Scare Tactics
Scarecrow tries to manipulate Batman, who soon finds himself squaring off against an enemy who dwells in darkness and must struggle to rescue the sick man behind the Black Mask.
The use of shadow is effective and the flashback chapters provide much needed background in Bruce Wayne's journey to the Batcave.
Scarecrow tries to manipulate Batman, who soon finds himself squaring off against an enemy who dwells in darkness and must struggle to rescue the sick man behind the Black Mask.
The use of shadow is effective and the flashback chapters provide much needed background in Bruce Wayne's journey to the Batcave.
April 8, 2020
Pomieszanie z poplątaniem. Średniak.
December 30, 2024
Nice set of Batman New 52 stories that is between the gaps of the main run which I enjoyed.
March 9, 2017
Here is a story set beyond court of owls, but which still resonates from them. The mad hatter is wreaking havoc over Gotham and Batman. Good story telling and visuals.
August 20, 2014
This volume was a better overall package than the first volume because of the tie-in with Scott Snyder's Batman series. (Which is the better of the current Batman books) And so, as much as I enjoyed this installment of Detective Comics, I could not recommend it to those who plan on following one Batman series. If you want a dosage of Batman, go with Scott Snyder's series.
However, if you can't get enough of Batman books, then you are doing yourself a disservice by skipping this series. Tony Daniels' artwork is some of the medium's best, and he's perfect for this series because Detective Comics is a horror book. Tony Daniels' art is dark and ghastly. And so are his stories. This book is mostly a collection of standalone stories and my favorite stories were "The Final Lesson" and "The Abyss"
4/5 stars. If I wasn't comparing this to Snyder's series, I might have given it an extra star.
However, if you can't get enough of Batman books, then you are doing yourself a disservice by skipping this series. Tony Daniels' artwork is some of the medium's best, and he's perfect for this series because Detective Comics is a horror book. Tony Daniels' art is dark and ghastly. And so are his stories. This book is mostly a collection of standalone stories and my favorite stories were "The Final Lesson" and "The Abyss"
4/5 stars. If I wasn't comparing this to Snyder's series, I might have given it an extra star.
February 18, 2014
Batman, D. Comics is literally the best New 52 series on the market. Daniel's script and ink bring Batman and his endeavors as Gotham's protector to life. The allies and villains he encounters are phenomenal in each their own way. This volume essentially sees Batman going up against adversaries such as Black Mask, Mad Hatter, and Scarecrow, but the one villain he encounters has more than just a score to settle, he plans to turn Gotham into an atomic wasteland: Mr. Toxic! Also, the Court of Owls still have unfinished business with the Bat, and there's even a Batman origin in the novel. It ALSO features a series of short comics starring Two-Face! (But enough spoilers)
Overall, this comic brought the best of Tony S. Daniel, and it goes to show that this reboot of 'Detective Comics' is making a great impression on readers and critics alike.
Overall, this comic brought the best of Tony S. Daniel, and it goes to show that this reboot of 'Detective Comics' is making a great impression on readers and critics alike.
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