Last year, Superman turned eighty years old and DC celebrated this special anniversary with the publication of Action Comics #1000, in which multiple writers and artists tell their own short stories that celebrates the Man of Steel. Since Supes’ super friend from Gotham City tuns eighty this year, it would seem appropriate to give the Dark Knight a similar treatment with the release of Detective Comics #1000. Since his origin began in the pages of the title’s 27th issue published in 1939, Batman has long been known as the World’s Greatest Detective as evident in some of the stories in the 1000th issue.
Beginning with the creative team that took over the main Batman title during DC’s New 52 initiative, writer Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo tell the tale of “Batman’s Longest Case”, in which Batman finally solves the first case he ever took. Told in just six pages, Snyder and Capullo gives us a globe-trotting adventure with clues ranging from technology to ancient hieroglyphics, all of which climaxes with Batman encountering the Guild of Detection, comprising of familiar faces from Detective Chimp to Slam Bradley, a private detective developed by Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Seeing this classic character who gives advice towards Batman presents something human and universal as the aim of detection is not so much reach the end, but going through the journey itself, as Batman’s journey will never end.
Whatever ending there is to Batman, his journey began with tragedy as we all know, and so it depends on whatever creative team shapes the Dark Knight on whether he does achieve happiness or even more tragedy. With art by the great Jim Lee, Kevin Smith (yep, that one!) tells the story of Matches Malone purchasing the gun that took the lives of Thomas and Martha Wayne. Now of course Malone is actually the Bat in disguise and nicely evokes a piece of Bat-history, the story may sound grim in why would Bruce Wayne keeps hold of a weapon that has scarred him for years. However, Smith cleverly makes this tale a triumphant one by retconning the significance of the Bat-symbol, which has always been a target on his chest. It's by far the best thing Kevin Smith has done in years, which isn’t saying much, considering his recent filmography.
The sense of triumph in the company of friends and family rarely happens when it comes to Batman, when it does, it feels great as explored in “Batman’s Greatest Case” from the current creative team on the main Batman title. Written by Tom King, he coincides with two time frames, one featuring Bruce walking towards his parents’ graves on a rainy night (drawn by Joëlle Jones), and the other taking place on a Gotham rooftop consisting of the many sidekicks that are among Batman’s family (drawn by Tony S. Daniel). King has maintained his sense of humour during his time on Batman and it shows here among the interactions with the Bat-Family, whilst continuing with this theme throughout his current run, which is the possibility of happiness for our hero.
In showing both the light and the dark towards Batman, some of the stories aren’t doing anything groundbreaking, as evident in “The Precedent” by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez-Bueno, which is a conversation between Bruce and his trusted butler Alfred, who discuss about the future of a young Dick Grayson, who will become fight alongside the Dark Knight as the first Robin will shed a new light for Bruce himself. On the dark side, “Return to Crime Alley” reunites Batman and Dr Leslie Thompkins during an anniversary of his parents’ murder. Written by Denny O’Neil, the story isn’t saying much with Thompkins is the voice of reason and explains why Bruce should do more than wearing the cape and cowl, which embodies the tragedy that he has defined him. However, Steve Epting illustrating eight pages is proof that he is ideal to draw more of the crime-ridden streets of Gotham.
Some of the stories may not be much, but are worth reading due to the artwork, such as Alex Maleev reuniting with former Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis on a future story about the Penguin, which is Bendis once again trying to be self-aware towards playing with a superhero mythos. Considering they made a brilliant run on Marvel’s Daredevil, I’m excited to see what Bendis and Maleev do together on future DC titles. When it comes to the return of veteran Bat-artists such as Kelley Jones and Neal Adams, their stories here suffer the worst with their art-styles are not up to today’s standards, whilst the stories themselves are rather lacklustre.
If I was to say what is the best that this issue offers, it would be “The Batman’s Design” by Warren Ellis and Becky Cloonan. Being no stranger to Batman and his world, the two creators present a bleak examination of the Bat himself, who narrates whilst taking down some gunmen in a warehouse. As well as being a brilliantly crafted action sequence (drawn by Cloonan and coloured by Jordie Bellaire), it is reminiscent of when Ellis was writing Moon Knight for Marvel, where he explored the psychology and theatricality of the hero. Batman doesn’t not kill, but through some form of performance, he takes some enjoyment out of taking down the bad guys.
Concluding the issue, is a story told entirely through twelve splash pages, each showcasing a piece of Batman’s history, stunningly drawn by Doug Mahnke. Written by Peter Tomasi, who is currently writing Detective Comics, he is essentially doing what the same thing he did with Action Comics #1000, which is to celebrate the character’s long history. The final page sets up what he is planning to do with his run, which is the comic book debut of the Arkham Knight, a villain who was introduced in the last of Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham games, marketed poorly as an “original character”. Overall, I am not excited about this new take on the Arkham Knight, but as for this issue alone, it succeeds exactly what Superman went through last year, which is to be celebrated as an iconic superhero who has lived longer than I have and will continue to exist long after I’m dead.
Long live the bat!