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Detective Comics (2011)
Batman – Detective Comics, Volume 8: Blood of Heroes
THERE'S A NEW BAT IN TOWN
Jim Gordon has spent years patrolling the streets of Gotham City as one of its top cops. Now he's doing it from inside a Batsuit.
With Bruce Wayne sidelined-perhaps permanently-the former Commissioner has taken on the mantle of the Bat, with a state-of-the-art suit of robotic armor and the full support of the Gotham City Police Department to back him up. But when you become the Batman, there's a deadly learning curve-and an army of crazed criminals waiting to take you down.
Can Gordon keep up? Or will his enemies and allies alike clip the new Batman's wings before he even gets off the ground?
Find out in BATMAN: DETECTIVE COMICS VOL. 8-thrillingly written by Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato, and Peter J. Tomasi, and stunningly illustrated by Fernando Blanco and Marcio Takara, it's a bold new chapter in the saga of Gotham's guardian!
Collects: DC Sneak Peek: Detective Comics #1 and Detective Comics#41-47.
Jim Gordon has spent years patrolling the streets of Gotham City as one of its top cops. Now he's doing it from inside a Batsuit.
With Bruce Wayne sidelined-perhaps permanently-the former Commissioner has taken on the mantle of the Bat, with a state-of-the-art suit of robotic armor and the full support of the Gotham City Police Department to back him up. But when you become the Batman, there's a deadly learning curve-and an army of crazed criminals waiting to take you down.
Can Gordon keep up? Or will his enemies and allies alike clip the new Batman's wings before he even gets off the ground?
Find out in BATMAN: DETECTIVE COMICS VOL. 8-thrillingly written by Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato, and Peter J. Tomasi, and stunningly illustrated by Fernando Blanco and Marcio Takara, it's a bold new chapter in the saga of Gotham's guardian!
Collects: DC Sneak Peek: Detective Comics #1 and Detective Comics#41-47.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published August 2, 2016
8 people are currently reading
309 people want to read
About the author
Francis Manapul
546 books231 followersFrancis Manapul is a comic book artist living in Toronto, Canada currently working for DC comics. His list of credits include the forthcoming Adventure Comics, and Superman Batman. In the past he's worked on titles like Legion of Super-Heroes, Iron and the Maiden, Necromancer, Sept Guerrieres, Tomb Raider, Darkness, G.I Joe and of course Witchblade.
Photo by Luigi Novi.
Photo by Luigi Novi.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
April 14, 2022
(B-) 71% | Satisfactory
Notes: An okay intro, pretty art, but past eight pages falls apart, it's mainly filler, interest killers, insubstantial from the start.
Notes: An okay intro, pretty art, but past eight pages falls apart, it's mainly filler, interest killers, insubstantial from the start.
December 17, 2016
Oh kee-rist, get the puke bags ready - he’s not on the cover (probably a strategic choice) but this is a Mecha-Batman/Jim Gordon book. Bleurgh! Blood of Heroes is the crappiest Detective Comics volume in some time.
Francis Manapul closes out his run on the title with a convoluted Harvey Bullock-centric story (yippee…) where the Falcones are tryna knock off all the clean cops in the GCPD using some Grim Fandango cosplayers and Bullock’s girlfriend is sorta involved. The low point was Joker’s Daughter - no, not her very presence, which would be bad enough, but her stupid, stupid giant robot outfit! What a disaster!
Peter Tomasi takes over for the second half of the book, writing a contrived and silly murder mystery where the Justice League need Gordon’s detective skills to figure out who done killed a monster in the middle of nowhere. It makes the League look like incapable retarded babies that they needed Gordon at all.
The book ends with a random Ray Fawkes-scripted issue of Robin War. Get more bags, the puke is running over!!
I can’t think of a single positive thing to say about this one. Even the art was shitty as hell! This Detective Comics series was never good but I didn’t expect it to get this bad. I haven’t read the Rebirth Detective Comics but it’s got to be an improvement over this boring rubbish.
Francis Manapul closes out his run on the title with a convoluted Harvey Bullock-centric story (yippee…) where the Falcones are tryna knock off all the clean cops in the GCPD using some Grim Fandango cosplayers and Bullock’s girlfriend is sorta involved. The low point was Joker’s Daughter - no, not her very presence, which would be bad enough, but her stupid, stupid giant robot outfit! What a disaster!
Peter Tomasi takes over for the second half of the book, writing a contrived and silly murder mystery where the Justice League need Gordon’s detective skills to figure out who done killed a monster in the middle of nowhere. It makes the League look like incapable retarded babies that they needed Gordon at all.
The book ends with a random Ray Fawkes-scripted issue of Robin War. Get more bags, the puke is running over!!
I can’t think of a single positive thing to say about this one. Even the art was shitty as hell! This Detective Comics series was never good but I didn’t expect it to get this bad. I haven’t read the Rebirth Detective Comics but it’s got to be an improvement over this boring rubbish.
November 11, 2021
Those covers deceived me into thinking this was still a Francis Manapul book. Unfortunately, he's only involved for half an issue. He provides a look ahead into the next story which mainly features Harvey Bullock dealing with a crooked cop and joining the cops running support for the Jim Gordon Batman. This was not very good. Neither was the art by Fernando Blanco. The next story was really bad which is surprising because it was written by Peter Tomasi. The Justice League shows up to enlist Jim Gordon to help them with some giant aliens. Marcio Takaro provides some more poor artwork. Finally we get part 3 of the Robin War crossover and how DC collects these crossovers infuriates me. You really have no idea what is going on unless you read the entire Robin War GN. All in all, this feels like a book full of filler while we wait for Rebirth to start.
September 11, 2021
Not bad for a post-Batman Detective Comics (Batman is supposedly dead, in the final conflict with the Joker. But, no one has fond a body...)
Now, a lot of my reading in the DC Comics world has become 'disordered'. Over in Catwoman, . And I totally missed six months of We Are Robin, a year of Red Hood/Arsenal being open for business, and the Robin War.
Wait, wait, back to this collection. Over in Batman, we are put through the ringer -- (1) GCPD (Gotham City Police Department) wants a Bat Blimp.
So again, back to this collection. Batman fights a gang of assassins with a contract on him and a GIANT Joker Robot, then the Justice League recruit the new guy for some old-time detective work, and we learn where the police have been holding all the captive Robin War Robins. (It's not good...)
Now, a lot of my reading in the DC Comics world has become 'disordered'. Over in Catwoman, . And I totally missed six months of We Are Robin, a year of Red Hood/Arsenal being open for business, and the Robin War.
Wait, wait, back to this collection. Over in Batman, we are put through the ringer -- (1) GCPD (Gotham City Police Department) wants a Bat Blimp.
So again, back to this collection. Batman fights a gang of assassins with a contract on him and a GIANT Joker Robot, then the Justice League recruit the new guy for some old-time detective work, and we learn where the police have been holding all the captive Robin War Robins. (It's not good...)
March 15, 2021
This sucks. I barely have any idea of what’s going on anymore. I didn’t mind the first half of this trade but I’ve read it in another one so yeah. The rest of the issues in this were pointless team up b stories. I don’t even know what the Robin War is but I already can tell that sucks.
April 3, 2021
A great collection of stories that covers issues 41-47 of Detective Comics. Beginning with the death of Batman (?) and his replacement Jim Gordon (previously Commissioner Gordon).
The stories are intriguing and kept me turning pages. While the stories all surround Batman's death/missing there is a nice variety in the story telling as Gordon tries to live up to the legend before him. Watching Jim work with The Justice League as they are in need of his skills as a detective was very interesting, as was the revelation that the Joker has a daughter (?).
The artwork as always for a Batman/Gotham City story line is dark, but sharp and crisp making for a very visual representation of the time and circumstances.
This is a great read and not having read regular issues of Marvel or DC in years, it had some big surprises for me.
The stories are intriguing and kept me turning pages. While the stories all surround Batman's death/missing there is a nice variety in the story telling as Gordon tries to live up to the legend before him. Watching Jim work with The Justice League as they are in need of his skills as a detective was very interesting, as was the revelation that the Joker has a daughter (?).
The artwork as always for a Batman/Gotham City story line is dark, but sharp and crisp making for a very visual representation of the time and circumstances.
This is a great read and not having read regular issues of Marvel or DC in years, it had some big surprises for me.
January 4, 2020
Couldn't even finish...
July 7, 2019
This is less a Batman book than a GCPD reunion, which is in no way a knock on it. We get to see Bullock, Montoya, Gordon and others deal with problems within the department (especially people with issues toward the Batman program), as well as corrupt cops and criminals testing the abilities of the new Batman. But the center of the story is Bullock and Montoya and Yin, and practically a noir story. At least for the first half. The second half features the Justice League checking on Wayne and Gordon, and then a fairly weird standalone issue featuring ancient monster bones and a detective story that is just very out of character for the New 52. And then there's a random piece of the Robin War story which doesn't do much on its own. It's an okay collection, but nothing special, unless you're a really big fan of GCPD.
July 4, 2023
This volume features Jim Gordon in his robot batsuit rather than Bruce Wayne. Not bad but I prefer the original Batman. There's also a story featuring robot Batman teaming with the Justice League in what ended up being a very sad story. Okay but not one of the better volumes.
August 31, 2017
5 stars
Good to see more of James Gordon as Batman. Also nice to see Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya. Sad that Harvey's partner was dirty. Cool that Gordon got to work with the Justice League. Hope Bruce will take up the Batman mantle again.
Can't wait to read Batman: Detective Comics, volume 9: Gordon at War!!!!
Good to see more of James Gordon as Batman. Also nice to see Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya. Sad that Harvey's partner was dirty. Cool that Gordon got to work with the Justice League. Hope Bruce will take up the Batman mantle again.
Can't wait to read Batman: Detective Comics, volume 9: Gordon at War!!!!
July 24, 2016
I am not a fan. I am not a fan at all. This was a huge departure from normal character traits, which is always wrong. I also could not stand the personal trouncing that Harvey Bullock took in this book. This book series can be so much better than this.
May 17, 2025
Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 8: Blood of Heroes
With Bruce Wayne incapacitated, Jim Gordon find the cowl and becomes a new type of Batman. When the Justice League ask for his help, he must use his detective skills and his common sense to prevail.
The character design of the Gordon Batsuit is phenomenal and the story works well as the League comes to terms with Bruce Wayne's absence.
With Bruce Wayne incapacitated, Jim Gordon find the cowl and becomes a new type of Batman. When the Justice League ask for his help, he must use his detective skills and his common sense to prevail.
The character design of the Gordon Batsuit is phenomenal and the story works well as the League comes to terms with Bruce Wayne's absence.
March 6, 2020
Takový slabší odvar Gotham Central. S odřenýma ušima 3*
May 5, 2021
Not a fan of Bat-Gordon so that hurts this. The art is good and the JL story was pretty interesting.
January 1, 2025
Gordon takes over and it definitely isn’t as good as the other new 52 detective stories but it still is interesting to see the new Batman take.
September 6, 2016
Pretty Good. This book reminded me of the old Gotham Central series with a dash of Batman. Basically the city of Gotham crime has increased since the so-called death of Batman & the Joker in the events of Endgame. The GCPD are feeling the heat and have no choice but to create their own government sanction Batman. Commissioner James Gordon now finds himself as this new Batman with Bullock, Montoya and the New Commissioner Maggie Sawyer backing him up. This volume was really good and feels like a high octane cop drama. Bullock has been having a relationship with his former female partner who suddenly appears to be dirty. This places the GCPD on a hit list and the new Batman is being hunted by a group of assassins known as La Morta. The artwork is fantastic and really fits the tone of the story. The writers really did a great job with the characters. I could not stop reading the main arc in this book until the end. The later half of the book was a bit weak. The story featuring James Gordon working with the Justice League was pretty good though it felt more like a weird JLA story than a Batman tale. The last issue of this book I feel is better read in the Robin War graphic novel. Many readers who have not read Robin War may be confused to what is going on in that particular story. All in all this was a solid volume.
August 9, 2017
Where's Bruce?
Edited 8/9/17: If you want to know "Where's Bruce?" like I did, read these first: Batman, Volume 7: Endgame, Batman, Volume 8: Superheavy
Edited 8/9/17: If you want to know "Where's Bruce?" like I did, read these first: Batman, Volume 7: Endgame, Batman, Volume 8: Superheavy
February 22, 2017
This is very simple. If it's NOT Bruce Wayne its NOT Batman.
February 16, 2021
Miałem generalnie spory zgryz z ósmą już odsłoną Detective Comics w ramach New 52, bo to tytuł strasznie nierówny fabularnie, jak i wizualne. Z jednej strony prezentuje miejscami kreskę świetną, z drugiej zaś patrzyłem tępo w to co widzę, z niedowierzaniem, czemu to wygląda tak brzydko. Zastosowano tu dziwny zabieg, gdzie prawie każdy zeszyt rysował ktoś inny. Zawsze to pociąga za sobą pewne ryzyko, iż użyte style się nie 'skomponują'. I tak właśnie tu jest. Plus były komisarz Gordon jako nowy Batman.
To nie jest Batman. Ba. To nawet nie jest cień Batmana. To przebieraniec, który stawia na siłę mięśni, nie finezję i choć wiele można zarzucić Batmanowi z New 52 (też zbyt często zamiast rozumu używał pięści), to jednak był Detektywem. Miałem wrażenie, iż gdzieś pod koniec zbioru autorowi przypomniało się, że w tytule stoi jednak te Detective i coś trzeba z tym zrobić, a Gordon przecież jest policjantem i byłym marine, zatem niech się wykaże intelektualnie. I robi to aż nadto, praktycznie ratując skórę prawie całej Lidze Sprawiedliwości, która bez Batmana wygląda jak zgraja nieporadnych osiłków.
Tak, nawet mając Cyborga, widać jak ważny jest Bruce, jako mózg całej organizacji. Jest kluczowy, aby bohaterowie mogli sprawnie funkcjonować. To akurat było fajne, tak jak wizyta Ligi u dawnego kolegi. Ci tak nie dowierzali w amnezję przyjaciela, że użyli na nim lassa Diany... Co robią dalej zagubieni herosi? Zgłaszają się z pewną sprawą do Gordona. Sprawa to dosyć nietypowa, bo dotyczy szczątków gigantycznej istoty. Kto ją zabił i czym był olbrzym? To tylko jeden wątek.
Wcześniej jednak mamy clue tomu, czyli historię zahaczającą o styl Gotham Central. Coś świetnego, skupiającego się na pracy Bullocka, Montoyi i jeszcze jednej policjantki, która zdaje się mieć brudne łapki. W tle gang ze stylówką czerpiącą z wierzeń meksykańskich plus nowa generacja rodziny Falcone. Takie ukazanie pracy policji w zwykłej pracy to najfajniejsza część tego zbioru. Jest jeszcze kawałeczek historii z tzw. Wojny Robinów, ale standardowo dla formy jaką stosuje DC w New 52, jest to kawałek tortu wykrojony z całości, więc samodzielnie nie daje sobie rady.
Widzimy tylko, że Grayson łączy siły z Gordonem, a reszta dawnych i aktualnych Robinów jest uwięziona i coś kombinuje. Ostatni zeszyt jest zatem zbędny i lepiej, żeby w całości wchodził do wspomnianego wydarzenia, a nie był tu wrzucony na 'doczepkę'. Wprowadza to i tak spory problem w odbiorze, bo miejscami fabuła jest poszatkowana, ukazując nam urywki z przyszłości z jakimś wydarzeniem typu kraksa, a potem się cofa ukazując żmudną drogę do tego wypadku. Tylko jest to tak sklejone, że chyba gorzej się nie dało. I jest wielki robot. Tak z d..y. Bo wielki robot zawsze jest na propsie...
W 'Krwi Bohaterów' było wiele nielogiczności, ale nie przeszkadzało mi to w pozytywnym odbiorze całości, zwłaszcza przy tych elementach komiksu, które wypaliły. Z drugiej zaś strony jest tu sporo błędów, które zasoliły mi za mocno całą tą 'zupę'. Pomysł z nowym Batmanem śmiały, ale bez dobrej realizacji, przez co czekam na powrót tego prawdziwego Mrocznego Rycerza. Sory, Gordon. Leć na emeryturę.
To nie jest Batman. Ba. To nawet nie jest cień Batmana. To przebieraniec, który stawia na siłę mięśni, nie finezję i choć wiele można zarzucić Batmanowi z New 52 (też zbyt często zamiast rozumu używał pięści), to jednak był Detektywem. Miałem wrażenie, iż gdzieś pod koniec zbioru autorowi przypomniało się, że w tytule stoi jednak te Detective i coś trzeba z tym zrobić, a Gordon przecież jest policjantem i byłym marine, zatem niech się wykaże intelektualnie. I robi to aż nadto, praktycznie ratując skórę prawie całej Lidze Sprawiedliwości, która bez Batmana wygląda jak zgraja nieporadnych osiłków.
Tak, nawet mając Cyborga, widać jak ważny jest Bruce, jako mózg całej organizacji. Jest kluczowy, aby bohaterowie mogli sprawnie funkcjonować. To akurat było fajne, tak jak wizyta Ligi u dawnego kolegi. Ci tak nie dowierzali w amnezję przyjaciela, że użyli na nim lassa Diany... Co robią dalej zagubieni herosi? Zgłaszają się z pewną sprawą do Gordona. Sprawa to dosyć nietypowa, bo dotyczy szczątków gigantycznej istoty. Kto ją zabił i czym był olbrzym? To tylko jeden wątek.
Wcześniej jednak mamy clue tomu, czyli historię zahaczającą o styl Gotham Central. Coś świetnego, skupiającego się na pracy Bullocka, Montoyi i jeszcze jednej policjantki, która zdaje się mieć brudne łapki. W tle gang ze stylówką czerpiącą z wierzeń meksykańskich plus nowa generacja rodziny Falcone. Takie ukazanie pracy policji w zwykłej pracy to najfajniejsza część tego zbioru. Jest jeszcze kawałeczek historii z tzw. Wojny Robinów, ale standardowo dla formy jaką stosuje DC w New 52, jest to kawałek tortu wykrojony z całości, więc samodzielnie nie daje sobie rady.
Widzimy tylko, że Grayson łączy siły z Gordonem, a reszta dawnych i aktualnych Robinów jest uwięziona i coś kombinuje. Ostatni zeszyt jest zatem zbędny i lepiej, żeby w całości wchodził do wspomnianego wydarzenia, a nie był tu wrzucony na 'doczepkę'. Wprowadza to i tak spory problem w odbiorze, bo miejscami fabuła jest poszatkowana, ukazując nam urywki z przyszłości z jakimś wydarzeniem typu kraksa, a potem się cofa ukazując żmudną drogę do tego wypadku. Tylko jest to tak sklejone, że chyba gorzej się nie dało. I jest wielki robot. Tak z d..y. Bo wielki robot zawsze jest na propsie...
W 'Krwi Bohaterów' było wiele nielogiczności, ale nie przeszkadzało mi to w pozytywnym odbiorze całości, zwłaszcza przy tych elementach komiksu, które wypaliły. Z drugiej zaś strony jest tu sporo błędów, które zasoliły mi za mocno całą tą 'zupę'. Pomysł z nowym Batmanem śmiały, ale bez dobrej realizacji, przez co czekam na powrót tego prawdziwego Mrocznego Rycerza. Sory, Gordon. Leć na emeryturę.
October 29, 2019
Detective Comics: Blood of Heroes picks up where the previous volume left off and collecting the next seven issues (Detective Comics #41–47) of the 2011 on-going series with Detective Comic: Sneak Peak and covers five stories: "Divergence", "Reunion", "Of Giants and Men", "Blood on Blood" and "Getting Dirty".
"Divergence" (DC Sneak Peek: Detective Comics) and "Reunion" is a four-issue storyline (Detective Comics #41–44) has James Gordon, formerly Commissioner of GCPD, as the new Batman. He is accompanied by a squad consisting of Harvey Bullock, Renee Montoya, and Nancy Yip to aid this new Batman that is affiliated with the GCPD.
"Of Giants and Men" (Detective Comics #46) and "Blood on Blood" (Detective Comics #47) are one-issue interconnecting stories that has James Gordon as the new Batman teaming up with the Justice League for the first time.
Finally "Getting Dirty" is the third-part in the overall story in the Robin War event. It has James Gordon as Batman teaming up with Dick Grayson as Agent 37 to try to solve the mystery behind the person or agency behind the Robin Laws and locking up all the Robins in Gotham City.
Brian Buccellato (Detective Comics #41–44 and DC Sneak Peek: Detective Comics), Francis Manapul (Detective Comics #41–42 and DC Sneak Peek: Detective Comics), Peter Tomasi (Detective Comics #45–46) and Ray Fawkes (Detective Comics #47) penned the trade paperback. For the most part, it was written rather well. It is rather interesting reading about a new person behind the Batman mantle, and it was quite the nice introduction, despite the fact I'm not a fan of James Gordon being Batman.
Fernando Blanco (Detective Comics #41–44), Marcio Takara (Detective Comics #45–46), Francis Manapul (DC Sneak Peek: Detective Comics), and Steve Pugh (Detective Comics #47) are the pencilers of the trade paperback. With four different pencilers with unique styles, the artistic flow rather unevenly, but somewhat complements each other rather well.
All in all, Detective Comics: Blood of Heroes is a somewhat good continuation to what would hopefully be an equally wonderful series.
"Divergence" (DC Sneak Peek: Detective Comics) and "Reunion" is a four-issue storyline (Detective Comics #41–44) has James Gordon, formerly Commissioner of GCPD, as the new Batman. He is accompanied by a squad consisting of Harvey Bullock, Renee Montoya, and Nancy Yip to aid this new Batman that is affiliated with the GCPD.
"Of Giants and Men" (Detective Comics #46) and "Blood on Blood" (Detective Comics #47) are one-issue interconnecting stories that has James Gordon as the new Batman teaming up with the Justice League for the first time.
Finally "Getting Dirty" is the third-part in the overall story in the Robin War event. It has James Gordon as Batman teaming up with Dick Grayson as Agent 37 to try to solve the mystery behind the person or agency behind the Robin Laws and locking up all the Robins in Gotham City.
Brian Buccellato (Detective Comics #41–44 and DC Sneak Peek: Detective Comics), Francis Manapul (Detective Comics #41–42 and DC Sneak Peek: Detective Comics), Peter Tomasi (Detective Comics #45–46) and Ray Fawkes (Detective Comics #47) penned the trade paperback. For the most part, it was written rather well. It is rather interesting reading about a new person behind the Batman mantle, and it was quite the nice introduction, despite the fact I'm not a fan of James Gordon being Batman.
Fernando Blanco (Detective Comics #41–44), Marcio Takara (Detective Comics #45–46), Francis Manapul (DC Sneak Peek: Detective Comics), and Steve Pugh (Detective Comics #47) are the pencilers of the trade paperback. With four different pencilers with unique styles, the artistic flow rather unevenly, but somewhat complements each other rather well.
All in all, Detective Comics: Blood of Heroes is a somewhat good continuation to what would hopefully be an equally wonderful series.
November 23, 2023
A bit of a let down considering how epic the last 2 vols were laid out. In Batman's Blood of Heroes' the main focus lies on Robo-cop Batman played by Jim Gordon with the help of backup team Detective Harvey Bullock, Detective Yip, & Detective Renee Montoya as well as Julia Pennyworth & Deryel. This is a heavily focused cop story that centers around Yip being placed on patrol for shooting a civilian and how determined she is to turn against the G.C.P.D. Meanwhile, Harvey Bullock is to return full-fledged to the force rotation as instructed by Commissioner Maggie Sawyer the problem is that Harvey doesn't want to return when he is so close to determining what happened to the real Batman. Begrudgingly he signs on with Montoya & Yip and the 3 engage in a mystery centered around an exposed seating chart for a circus performance. Batman goes up against Le Morte who steals the power core generator and makes a double deal with a Flacone & Joker's Daughter. Joker's Daughter makes a Joker Robot to fight the Batman Robot. Jim thinks fast and destroys the Robot and the next thing you know Joker's Daughter is arrested. Harvey helps Yip fake her death and the whole thing wraps up without allowing for Falcone's sabotage to take place. The next adventure is short and focuses on the JL investigating a mystery when their need for Batman becomes evident and Bruce is no longer able to assist the League goes to Jim who offers a hand. A monster is discovered who has taken aqueous fluid from human eyes to feed the monster's insatiable appetite and a plot is forged then proven by Jim leading to the monster's natural death. The final story arc is a tie into Robin War. Overall it wasn't bad just a different approach but it leaves a lot to be desired considering Bruce Wayne is removed from being Batman. Can't say I'm looking forward to Vol 9 but here's hoping it improves from this mess.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2024
2.75 stars. I have mixed feelings on this. This is Jim Gordon as Batman in the mech suit while the real Batman is presumably dead. And there is a very heavy emphasis on the GCPD in this. Art is generally fine.
The main story is Jim being new to this Batman role. Bullock is with his partner Yip but eventually uncovers she is a dirty cop. Montoya returns to the GCPD and is working alongside them as they are backup to Gordon as Batman. Gordon as Batman is pretty flawed to me because he often ends up outside of the mech suit and holds up surprisingly well and really does not appear to struggle at any point. The actual GCPD parts of the story were very interesting with them uncovering this plot by a Falcone family member to take out all of the clean cops during a big event. Bullock catches that Yip is dirty and they manage to save all the cops but he still gives her a chance to fake her death and start fresh. So the twists and turns of that story were interesting to me. But at some point there is this Joker's Daughter character and a giant robot Joker fighting Gordon and it is all a little ridiculous.
Then there is the Justice League checking up on Bruce who does not remember anything at all and they let him be, but they recruit Jim. There is a story with them needing his detective expertise to solve some random creature murder thing and it makes the rest of the JL look pretty dumb as Gordon solves everything right away. Then the last story is part 3 of a Robin War crossover which is meaningless without the rest of the arc.
Overall, the main plot was compelling but I'm just not a fan of Gordon as Batman to begin with. Throw in some ridiculous parts in the story and some throwaway stuff at the end and this is forgettable.
The main story is Jim being new to this Batman role. Bullock is with his partner Yip but eventually uncovers she is a dirty cop. Montoya returns to the GCPD and is working alongside them as they are backup to Gordon as Batman. Gordon as Batman is pretty flawed to me because he often ends up outside of the mech suit and holds up surprisingly well and really does not appear to struggle at any point. The actual GCPD parts of the story were very interesting with them uncovering this plot by a Falcone family member to take out all of the clean cops during a big event. Bullock catches that Yip is dirty and they manage to save all the cops but he still gives her a chance to fake her death and start fresh. So the twists and turns of that story were interesting to me. But at some point there is this Joker's Daughter character and a giant robot Joker fighting Gordon and it is all a little ridiculous.
Then there is the Justice League checking up on Bruce who does not remember anything at all and they let him be, but they recruit Jim. There is a story with them needing his detective expertise to solve some random creature murder thing and it makes the rest of the JL look pretty dumb as Gordon solves everything right away. Then the last story is part 3 of a Robin War crossover which is meaningless without the rest of the arc.
Overall, the main plot was compelling but I'm just not a fan of Gordon as Batman to begin with. Throw in some ridiculous parts in the story and some throwaway stuff at the end and this is forgettable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2017
This is not Batman.
Set some time after Bruce Wayne loses his memory, the DC Universe has decided to do something revolutionary and make James Gordon into Batman.
It must be said: Are they out of their damn minds?
There is only one true Batman, and if Bruce Wayne can't be Batman then you give it to his true successor.
This and the stupidity that came from screwing with Superman, it looks like they put Batman over a barrel as well. I know Dick Grayson can't be Batman after what had happened in Forever Evil, but heck, I'd prefer Red Robin or even better have Clark become the new Batman. It would be loads more cooler, heck Alfred would be better. Instead they got James Gordon? Eww.
He's old, he has no history as a crime fighter. This was a dumb way to take the super out of a superhero by making a cop have a powerful weapon.
It was neat seeing a GCPD reunion, but it could never truly replace Batman. I got nothing but anger for what DC has done here.
D
Set some time after Bruce Wayne loses his memory, the DC Universe has decided to do something revolutionary and make James Gordon into Batman.
It must be said: Are they out of their damn minds?
There is only one true Batman, and if Bruce Wayne can't be Batman then you give it to his true successor.
This and the stupidity that came from screwing with Superman, it looks like they put Batman over a barrel as well. I know Dick Grayson can't be Batman after what had happened in Forever Evil, but heck, I'd prefer Red Robin or even better have Clark become the new Batman. It would be loads more cooler, heck Alfred would be better. Instead they got James Gordon? Eww.
He's old, he has no history as a crime fighter. This was a dumb way to take the super out of a superhero by making a cop have a powerful weapon.
It was neat seeing a GCPD reunion, but it could never truly replace Batman. I got nothing but anger for what DC has done here.
D
May 13, 2018
Reviews elsewhere have been sniffy of this particular volume, which surprised me somewhat given just how high the bar has been so far.
But sadly, they weren't wrong.
To be fair I had less of a problem with the big robot that needed dealing with. Given where we're at with Jim Gordon n wotnot, this seems the least of the series' problems.
And the other stories aren't terrible, and as ever the artwork is of great quality.
Sadly the last wheel fell off when everyone gets together to deal with an alien monster in a cave. It's all a bit... well... not very Batmany. If you know what I mean.
Still, we had a good run. Can't really complain...
But sadly, they weren't wrong.
To be fair I had less of a problem with the big robot that needed dealing with. Given where we're at with Jim Gordon n wotnot, this seems the least of the series' problems.
And the other stories aren't terrible, and as ever the artwork is of great quality.
Sadly the last wheel fell off when everyone gets together to deal with an alien monster in a cave. It's all a bit... well... not very Batmany. If you know what I mean.
Still, we had a good run. Can't really complain...
May 13, 2021
I actually enjoy Jim Gordon's time as Batman, though I had only ever read Snyder's stuff. While I enjoyed these stories, I was hoping for more on the reaction to the Batman world that there is a new Batman. The only classic villain we see is Mad Hatter, who is used in Detective in the previous storyline.
The two issues with the Justice League make we want a book with Gordon on the Justice League, something that was never taken advantage of.
The two issues with the Justice League make we want a book with Gordon on the Justice League, something that was never taken advantage of.
August 31, 2025
Even though this is my least favorite part of the Snyder run, with the Bat-Robot, Manapaul and Buccellato were able to make it a bit more interesting, focusing more on the GCPD side of the story. With a couple of Gotham Central tints, Harvey stays as their best supporting character, with the pleasant return of Montoya.
Tomasi’s issues with the Justice League were okay, and it was interesting to see Gordon interact with them.
Tomasi’s issues with the Justice League were okay, and it was interesting to see Gordon interact with them.
August 21, 2017
I wasn't hugely impressed with this. I liked the cop story (I like Bullock) but it went stupid with the giant Joker bot. The JL story was overly contrived though nice to see them with Bruce and Jim"stepping up" the Robin War title was straight up out of place.
I liked the art well enough, solid if uninspired entry to the series.
I liked the art well enough, solid if uninspired entry to the series.
January 26, 2019
Ever wondered what would happen if Jim Gordon wore a suit of power armor and pretended to be Batman with the full tactical support of the Gotham police department? Well, if you did...I guess this is the TPB for you. If you don’t like Batman without Bruce Wayne and you don’t like over the top Iron Man technology then you can skip this.
August 9, 2019
The volume was a mix of things I can't really deal with, like Bat-Jim (nope!), or I've no interest in, like the JLA. Still, the overall tone was very human, with plenty of nice relationships. It was pleasant to spend time with Bullock and Gordon, and see how they dealt with this new (awkward) setting.
October 20, 2019
I didn't really like the focus on Bullock and the police for the majority of this volume. Sometimes I'm good with it, but it just didn't hold my interest this time. We only have a limited time with the Gordon Bat-bot; focus on him.
I loved the Justice League issue though. I thought it was fun seeing Gordon in that group and his input was really sweet at the end.
I loved the Justice League issue though. I thought it was fun seeing Gordon in that group and his input was really sweet at the end.
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