Batman: Detective Comics #1027 Deluxe Edition

Detective Comics (2016) (Single Issues)

by Greg Rucka, Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction

Celebrate one thousand issues since the World’s Greatest Detective’s debut in this hardcover deluxe edition of oversized anniversary issue Detective Comics #1027! An all-star lineup of creators pay tribute to the many facets of Batman’s crime-fighting legacy, including Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez reuniting for a Bat-Family mystery, Greg Rucka and Eduardo Risso visiting Gotham Central, the Eisner Award-winning duo of Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky providing their take on Batman versus The Joker, the Batman, Incorporated team of Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham back together for an all-new story examining the urban legend of the Dark Knight, and much more!

Genres: Comics, Batman, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comic Book, Superheroes

179 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 24, 2020

About the author

Greg Rucka, is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn this was a fine collection of stories. This is better than Batman 80 anniversary IMO.

Let's get it out of the way. There's only two stories that didn't do much for me. It was Wolfman and Snyder's. Weird enough I love Snyder's regular Batman from New 52 but didn't love his newer batman stuff and this is kind of just a okay story about the symbol of the Bat. Wolfman story is corny and not very fun.

Then there's a few stories that were good but not great. But Tomasi was just a gallery rundown, and Kelly Sue DeConnick's story was fun Bruce story but been done a few too many times, and Jurgan's story was setup but it did get me intrigued enough to check out the future they have plan for Batman.

The rest of the stories are great or amazing. Bendis tells a fun story of the Bat Family. I enjoyed Mariko's story of the Joker war and how it's effecting everyone, including Batman. James's story is pretty great about the past and it stars Batman and Robin together. King's is pretty powerful ending to our cape crusader and one I enjoyed. Fraction tells a sick and twisted adventure of Joker and Batman's birthdays together. And Rucka tells a damn fine cop tale that shows what batman means to people.

Overall, if you're a Batman fan I can't see you disliking too many stories here. There's something for everyone. I enjoyed a large majority of it! A 4 out of 5.

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this anthology as much as Detective Comics (2016-) #1000. I'm not quite sure why this collection of stories just seemed MEH! Some of the creative teams just didn't mesh well to me. The Tomasi & Walker, Bendis & Marquez and the Tamaki & Mora tales looked the best. The artwork was just especially good on those tales. But even Tomasi's writing which I usually like just came across as just a who's who guide to Batman. Tom King's tale cemented or me that I'm glad his run with Batman is over. His story just came across to depressing although the ending was not that Bat. The Generations story by Dan Jurgen sounds like an interesting idea though it just felt a bit out of place putting it in this book. In short this book was not really necessary although I have immensely enjoyed the anthology books for Superman, Flash and Green Lantern. Its just fun to dive into a short one and done tale. This was obvious a cash grab but was not that bad just not as amazing to as Detective Comics 1000. Do love my sweet Jim Lee variant. Looking forward to the end of Joker War & Three Jokers which have been simply marvelous Batman stories thus far.

[L. McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny thing, I didn’t even know that this was out until I saw it at the local comic book store this past Wednesday. I was torn between 4 different variant covers, I ended up grabbing the Oliver Copiel one (though I could see potentially buying the other 3 if they still have ‘em).

So yeah I read this comic and gotta say, it’s quite the solid story collection.

What I thought of the stories:
Blowback by Peter J Tomasi, Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy, Nathan Fairbairn, Rob Leigh ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A kinda cool way to start this with a lot of Batman’s various villains studied very briefly. Unfortunately the ending is confusing and kinda anti-climactic.
Master Class by Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez, Alejandro Sanchez, Joshua Reed ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Bendis did an amazing job here! Bringing the whole Bat-family in a story that mixes the perfect amounts of dark and fun for a Batman tale. Also, the art is pretty good.
Many Happy Returns by Matt Fraction, Chip Zdarsky, Aditya Bidikar ⭐️⭐️ So in this take on Batman and Joker, Fraction imagines that Joker thinks of Batman as a lover (or something?) that does something special that Batman has to deal with every month. Will say, Zdarsky can definitely draw and there is a surprising subtle nod to Sex Criminals that I liked but other than that this story is a little too goofy IMO and I didn’t care for this version of Joker and Batman. Also, the storytelling is somewhat iffy.
Rookie by Greg Rucka, Eduardo Risso, Tom Napolitano ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Nothing particularly good or bad.
Ghost Story by James Tynion IV, Riley Rossmo, Ivan Plascencia, Andworld Design ⭐️⭐️ Deadman/Batman team-up with fun potential but I don’t really care for the writing or artwork.
Fore by Kelly Sue DeConnick, John Romita Jr, Klaus Janson, Arif Prianto, Troy Peteri ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Another one I considered not particularly good or bad.
Odyssey by Marv Wolfman, Emanuela Luppachino, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jordie Bellaire, Carlos Mangual ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Didn’t blow me away but it was a fun little short story for sure.
Detective #26 by Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham, Nathan Fairbairn, Steve Wands ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A creative, unexpected story. This one isn’t another Batman-focused story. Only thing I didn’t like was how the character just gave up his goal of being an antihero. Like, just because Batman was there didn’t mean this guy can’t do anything.
Legacy by Tom King, Walter Simonson, Laura Martin, John Workman ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Well it seemed exciting and I loved the art, was just kinda confused what exactly I read.
As Always by Scott Snyder, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Marcelo Maiolo ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A mostly Batman-focused Justice League story. Exciting with great art in a short but full, satisfying story.
Generations: Fractured by Dan Jurgens, Kevin Nowlan, Hi-Fi, Andworld Design, Brian Cunningham ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Looks cool but I don’t like how they did some BS “BUY OUR UPCOMING COMIC” thing in what’s meant to be a celebration anthology.
A Gift by Mariko Tamaki, Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain, Tom Napolitano ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Same as what I just said about the previous story except this ad didn’t interest me as much.

Overall:
A mostly good anthology collection. Obviously with this being an anthology, some parts are stronger than others but it’s mostly good. Most of the writers manage to capture the fun but at the same time slightly dark (or vice versa) tone that I look for in a Batman comic and the artists illustrate it fairly well so I can’t really complain much.
Fun for Batman fans!

4/5

[Peter Looles · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Detective Comics" #1027 144-page super spectacular

In the first story, "Blowback", written by Peter J. Tomasi and drawn by Brad Walker, Batman is trapped on a death trap and he tries to understand how he got in there and by whom. While doing that he remembers all of his most important villains.
While this story certainly wasn't bad, it wasn't very good either. It was kinda bland. It had nothing too good and at the same time nothing too bad. I think this story would be a good introduction to Batman's villains, for someone who hasn't read any other Batman stories, but as someone who has read a bunch of Batman stories, it was a bit boring. For me the highlight of this story was probably the artwork. While it isn't really my style, I liked it a lot. The writing was just ok, nothing great there.

The second story, "The Master Class" is written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by David Marquez. In this story, coincidentally, Damian Wayne, Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Robin, Spoiler, Red  Hood and Batman meet over the body of a murder homicide detective of the GCPD. Together they try to identify the body, find the cause of death and the killer.
This story didn't work for me at all. Unfortunately, the mediocre artwork was the highlight of this story. I think this is a story about teamwork, but it didn't work at all, because they didn't collaborate in a productive way, they were all constantly disagreeing and all of them were ignoring what the others were saying. This story just made me get annoyed with characters I usually love. Also, the way they were talking was very unrealistic. This wasn't a good story at all.

The third story is called "Many Happy Returns" and it's written by Matt Fraction and drawn by Chip Zdarsky. In this story Batman remembers how Joker, every month since they first met, gave him a "birthday present". Even though it was never his birthday, Joker gave him what he called "birthday presents". Those sometimes were a fire and some times were a picture of them together. Now, it's the last day of the month, so Batman is certain that today Joker is gonna give him another one of these "presents" and he's loosing his mind on it.
This was a really great story. The artwork was great and the writing was great as well. Matt Fraction seems to really understand Batman's character and his relationship with Joker very well, on a deeper level than most of us do.

The forth story is called "Rookie" and it's written by Greg Rucka and drawn by Eduardo Risso. In this story we follow a young woman, as she gets in the police academy and eventually in the GCPD. There she sees corruption. She's not corrupted and unlike the others, she follows the law, which leads to her getting threats from the other policemen.
This is a really great story. The writing is very good and the artwork is beautiful. I wouldn't say it's Eduardo Risso's best work, but it's very good. It's very interesting to see corruption and crime in Gotham, from the point of view of a rookie in the police. This story identifies a lot with what's happening in the real world and it really makes you think. But unfortunately, in the real world we don't have a Batman to save the day and get rid of the corruption, in the real world WE have to fight to become this Batman, because that's the only way we can make a change.

The fifth story is called "Ghost Story" it's written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Riley Rossmo. In this story Batman helps Dead Man fight a guy who found a way to catch and eat ghosts. Simultaneously we she a flashback story, in which young Bruce Wayne talks with his mother about ghosts.
The writing is alright, but it's not great. We don't really get really deep into anything and/or anyone. Instead we stay at the surface of things. The story is a bit childish, but it's fun to read. Martha Wayne's interpretation of ghosts is very interesting, although a bit weird if you think about it. The best part of this story is certainly the great artwork.

The sixth story is called "Fore", it's written by Kelly Sue Deconnick and drawn by John Romita Jr. In this story Bruce Wayne is having a meeting at a golf park, with a guy who wants to make a deal with him. This guy is corrupted and he has many people in the police on his payroll. Bruce is actually working with the police, so that they can find evidence to put him in jail.
The writing of this story isn't terrible, but it's very mediocre. The story is kinda interesting, but it's not great either. Now, about the artwork. I usually like John Romita's artwork a lot, but in this story, his artwork feels a bit lazy. His Batman is cool, but the surroundings are very generic and the facial expressions of the characters are not well done at all.

The seventh story is called "Odyssey" and it's written by Mark Wolfman and drawn by Emanuela Luppachino. In this story Bruce Wayne goes on an expedition with a bunch of guys who make  a podcast, to find the sunk ship named "Odyssey". This ship was his grandfather's and inside it had a lot of passengers, paintings and jewels.
The writing is ok, but it's not very good, there's nothing bad I can say about it, but there's nothing great either, it's just a bit above average. The artwork is really great and definitely the high point of the story.

The eighth story is called "Detective #26" and it's written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Chris Brunham. In this story we go back to the days of Batman's first appearance. Another vigilante named Silver Ghost wants clean Gotham from crime, but as he's about to make his first appearance, Batman makes his first appearance and Silver Ghost retires, intimidated and with the knowledge that there's someone out there, getting rid of the crime in Gotham's streets.
This story was the reason I bought this issue. When I saw that it contained a new Batman story by Grant Morrison and Chris Brunham, I knew I had to read it. The writing was really great and so was the artwork. Silver Ghost is a well rounded and beautifully designed character.

The ninth story is called "Legacy" and it's written by Tom King and drawn by Walter Simonson. In this story, Bruce Wayne is in this death bead and he remembers a radioactive guy who gave him cancer to kill him, so he can finally have a purpose in his life.
I really liked the idea behind the story, but I think the execution could have been better. It was quite good, I actually don't have something to complain about, but it could have been better. The artwork was also very good, although it wasn't as good as in some other stories.

The tenth story is named "As Always" and it's written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Ivan Reis. In this story, Batman and commissioner Jim Gordon are waiting for the sun to rise, after a tough night. Suddenly, Batman gets a call from the Justice League and he has to go help them in a very important case.
This was a really great story. The whole story is narrated by Jim Gordon. We can really see in this story Batman and Gordon's relationship in a great way. It's obvious that Scott Snyder is someone who understands Batman and his relationships on another level. The writing was really great, especially Gordon's narration. My only problem with this story was the artwork, which wasn't bad, but wasn't really great either. It certainly wasn't my style.

The eleventh story is called "Generations: Fractured" and it's written and drawn by Dan Jurgens. This story takes place during Halloween. Batman catches some monsters in a museum, but he's unable to catch their leader who put the museum on fire. Then somehow Batman returns in the 40s and he's taken by Kamandi in another timeline (or something like that).
This story fells very useless and also very boring. It ends with "continued at: Generations fractured #1", so it probably has something to do with another story that  will be released soon, but I'm not gonna buy it because it doesn't look interesting at all, so this story, as a standalone in this issue, doesn't work at all. The artwork isn't very good either. It isn't terrible, but it's kinda bad.

The twelfth and final story is called "A Gift" and it's written by Mariko Tamaki and drawn by Dan Mora. This story takes place during Joker wars and it follows Batman and two police men. There aren't many things I can say about the story, other than, while it is part of a bigger story, like the last one, you can still read it as a standalone and it's quite good. Batman thinks a lot in this story about his father's rules and it's quite interesting. The writing is very good and the artwork is great as well, but the highlight of the story is certainly the gorgeous coloring.

1st story: 6
2nd story: 4
3rd story: 10
4th story: 10
5th story: 7
6th story: 6
7th story: 7
8th story: 10
9th story: 7
10th story: 9
11th story: 5
12th story: 8
Overall: 7.4

[Ryan Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Holy underwhelming collection, Batman. I hate how much this felt like a cash grab. Even the art in the deluxe edition was surprisingly poor. This is supposed to be a showcase, and it felt like anything but. No stories stood out. Some were bad. And honestly, some of the art was atrocious, especially the laziest Jim Lee art I've ever seen and a comically bad Frank Cho page. If this was a celebration of 1,000 issues, then it felt like that thrown-together office party for the employee nobody likes who hit a big work anniversary. Pretty much a cookie cake and a few two-liters and paper towels from the break room as napkins.

[Roni · Rating 2 out of 5]

On paper, this anthology looked fantastic (don't they always?). As a collection of short Batman stories, it's quite good. As a celebration of his legacy, it's very disappointing.
The art is great, but the writing is really dull and uninspired. Of course, it's incredibly hard to pay homage to such an important character in 12 pages. And it's even more difficult when you just wrote one six months ago in Detective Comics #1000, like King, Tomasi, Bendis, Snyder and Tynion IV did. All their stories are completely forgettable. Two others are just teasers for events. They don't serve any other purpose and are meaningless without context.
The only stories I enjoyed were "Many Happy Returns" (by Fraction, Zdarsky and Bidikar), "Detective Comics #26" (by Morrison, Burnham, Fairbairn and Wands) and Rookie (by Rucka, Lark, Risso and Napolitano). These ones were creative, surprising and relevant. But that's a mere three out of twelve.
I'm tired of this kind of once-every-six-months anniversary issues. Maybe, giving them to only one team would be better. I just wish they made something more special, original or cohesive.
What a waste of talent.

[Batgirl_ALT_21 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great installment of the Dark Knight capturing many various adventures in the form of mini-arcs 😊🦇!!

This collection is incredible for the breathtaking illustrations alone, but unfortunately, all of the written pieces were not as grand.

My favorite arc was the collaboration amongst the Bat fam to determine the murder of a G.C.P.D detective that led to an ex-wife and framed Killer Croc in addition to a cover-up of an old murder that freed an innocent man. There is something about seeing all of these wonderful characters interact that releases a pure sense of joy and instant understanding. It's also wonderful to see the many family/interpersonal dynamics and personalities take center stage by the best vigilantes Gotham has to offer 😏👍❤️🦇.

In addition, some honorable mentions include the Birthday Battles with the Joker, The Silver Ghost, James Gordon's "Black Rooster," and The G.C.P.D arc on "The Rookie." These were excellent stories with a clear, fluid arc and wonderful use of tension, humor, and noir themes that are often so potent in a well-written Batman story.

Other less notable pieces were the one with Dead Man, Dr. Phosphorus, and The Odyssey arc, which all lacked a clear, cohesive story plot or were just too short/kinda pointless. To be fair, Odyssey had some elements that I enjoyed, including a glimpse of family lineage by mentioning a relative of Waynes, Patrick Wayne, and how he had a son recently born named Thomas, who we can only assume is Bruce's Father. It had the potential to be such a good plot as it drew from elements from both Titanic/Olympic cruise liners and WW2 smuggling of goods/valuables from Jewish targeted families on this glorious ship. Unfortunately, the modern elements of the story, including podcasters, are what made it fall flat and ruined the whole historic/vintage appeal that this arc had in motion...what a shame 😒.

Overall, this is still a great collection of various Batman arcs but focuses more on adventures rather than emotional or internal conflicts. I wish we had more detective elements, but it was still a good collection and celebration of Batman history. 8.4/10 🌟.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detective Comics gets a 1000th anniversary of Batman's first appearance! There are a lot of big authors who provided new Batman stories: Scott Snyder, Brian Michael Bendis, Tom King, Dan Jurgens, Marv Wolfman, Greg Rucka, and Grant Morrison among others.

My favorite story was Bendis's story which involved all of the Batfamily showing up to the same murder scene and joining forces to solve the crime. I also really enjoyed Snyder's story which was told from Commissioner Gordon's point of view when Batman is helping a major Justice League case.

DC Comics has been knocking these anniversary issues out of the park this year!

[Jesse Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is the 1000th issue of detective comics to feature batman so this is a massive issue, at almost 180 pages and a dozen stand alone short stories, which I am really enjoying because they do things that are not possible in long form arcs, like tell stories that span decades over several pages. It looks like this series changed to being only about Batman which is fine although I do enjoy the variety of an anthology. The world of Batmam is so varied and huge at this point that it can be used to tell many kinds of stories anyway. I also like how so many different writers and artists are featured.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, supersized! celebration, in large part focusing on the “detective,” procedural, cerebral elements of the Dark Knight (and others residents of Gotham), with an all-star selection of creators (you honestly couldn’t ask for much better). For something like this you’d expect to be able to give it to someone who hasn’t or has rarely read Batman comics before. You can absolutely do that with this one. DC has been pulling out all the stops with these anniversary issues in recent years. This could honestly be the best.

[Matty Dub · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good assortment of stories, the art is a treat throughout but the writing is all over the place as one would expect with a book like this, I’d rate the various stories like this;
Tomasi/Walker 2/5
Bendis/ Marquez 2/5
Fraction/ Zdarsky 2/5
Rucka/Risso 5/5
Tynion/Rossmo 3/5
Deconnick/JRJR 4/5
Wolfman/Lupacchino 3/5
Morrison/Burnham 3/5
King/Simonson 3/5
Snyder/Reis 3/5
Jurgens/Nowlan 4/5
Tamaki/Mora 3/5

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5.

As usual for these collections, some stories were better than others. Though, I feel like there wasn’t a single -amazing- story, just several really good ones. My favorite was probably Rucka’s or Snyder’s. All in all I think DC #1000 was better, but this was still an enjoyable collection.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

For such a landmark issue it's surprisingly light. A bunch of unconnected stories with no thematic unity or logical order, no thoughtful essay or notes, and an abundance of filler pictures , pardon me, 'alternate covers', that add nothing to the collection other than page-count.

[J.M. Giovine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another special “mega-issue” celebrating the success of Batman in the pages of ‘Detective Comics’, and just like issue #1000, this gathers an interesting number of talents for the script, and art of the several different stories collected in this 150-page special. So, once again, I’ll be checking each one of the segments before the consensus.
Blowback: The initial story in this anthology plays safe portraying Batman as the already well-known analyst and tactician, but J. Tomas rather focuses on a short-story that works more as an excuse to have Walker drawing some of the most iconic rogues in the hero’s gallery, and its understandable, since Walker’s pencils are terrific, and his style towards the villains perfectly captures the classic aesthetics and designs given to each one of these characters. The frames capture different time-periods, and in some of them we can see different allies such as Robin, or Batgirl, for example, and while the overall delivery of the script is no more than serviceable, in the end this segment works for the art display, which surely, fits larger for what the plot intended.
The Master Class: I’m not a particular fan of how the line-up of the Bat-Family currently plays. Even back in the day when the only sidekick associated with the Dark Knight was Robin (whichever alter-ego at the time), I still struggled to mix the character within the darkness and urban-gothic environments and stories given to Batman. This was written by Brian Michael Bendis, who hasn’t done much for the Batman legacy compared to other veteran writers, but fairly enough I believe the little he has achieved has been enough to credit him as competent. This is mostly a narrative excuse for the Bat-family existence in current Batman runs, and for what it is, its okay, I still haven’t changed my mind around how I feel about this amount of characters, but in general it was written competently enough, and in all honesty the real value for this segment was the art department, since I do believe David Marquez does a great job with shapes, faces, but most of all, perspective. It was a nice addition to how it was presented, but I don’t agree on having a story almost entirely focused on the Bat-family in a celebration-issue for ‘Detective Comics’.
Many Happy Returns: This was- the way I perceived it- a tribute to Batman and the Joker’s rivalry, starting as a narrative tribute to Miller’s mythical ‘Year One’, but evolving to a chronicle of constant pursuit and obsession of Batman towards his archnemesis. Frankly, I was hooked on this, but then it ended on a depressingly empty note, like Fraction maybe considered showing a slow-building premise on how much the Joker affects Batman’s psyche, but I feel the story in its conclusion didn’t do it. On the other hand, there’s Zdarsky’s art, who I was surprised to see in this department, since I’m only familiar with his writing skills- which are effective-, but not only did he do the pencils, but also the colors, although, I wasn’t a huge fan of his style; at moments he tries to mimic David Mazzucchelli, but the cartoony side of his designs never really offered more. I liked that he has done several depictions of Batman and the Joker through the years, but there wasn’t anything impressive in his panels. Unlike the first two stories, this one balances its quality on one side of the scale, but this time around, it is the script that grabs the reader’s attention, instead of the art.
Rookie: So far, the better presented story. I’ve said that I don’t really like when an anthology story about Batman deviates to present other characters- like the Bat-family, for example-, but I do like when a writer takes a different approach, but one that does makes sense inside the world in which the main character revolves around. The story focuses on a police officer who just graduated from the Gotham Police Academy, and the narration helps us understand the struggle she’s facing, realizing how corrupt and harsh this new environment is, and how confused she is about the decision she must make, whether or not to join that corruption she’s surrounded by, or stay firm. Yeah, there’s almost zero to no interaction with Batman, but part of Rucka’s effectiveness in his script is how we’re witnessing this story from a below perspective. Eduardo Risso’s art is a nice complement; his use of shadows and overall noir-like staging helps us immerse in the deepest parts of the main character’s moralist questionings, and in the end, results in the most mature of the segments out of the ones initially presented.
Ghost Story: A horror entry, nonetheless, featuring DC’s fan favorite specter, Deadman, who needs Batman talents in order to stop Specter Collector from consuming deviant spirits. This was a funny entry in the anthology, but I got the sense it also tried to be an emotional one, since it basically responds the question “why Batman isn’t afraid of the supernatural”, without spoiling the scene it has to do with his mother, but what kept me away from this was the art. Rossmo style was all over-the-place, and ironically, it fits in Tynion IV cartoony but dark narrative. It failed, however, in the horror part, since this was a story about ghosts, it never delivered any type of scares, and I’m willing to bet Rossmo’s eccentric cartoon-like pencils wouldn’t have helped. I feel this required a rather aggressive style of pencils, even colors, at least to fully deliver on the writer’s premise. Not the worst entry in the issue, and visually it might be one of the most extravagant, but it fails nailing writing and art.
Fore: This is another segment that, rather than focusing on the character of Batman, we have a much focused one in his alter ego, Bruce Wayne. The story simply places Wayne meeting with a businessman who goes by the name of “Mr. Steele”, who is playing golf in the middle of the rain. He has a business proposal for Bruce, but sure enough, he knows Steele is up to no good, being suspiciously aggressive with his offer so he ends up even threatening the character of Bruce if not accepting the deal. As anyone would imagine, this is quite predictable regarding how it concludes, and if you know the kind of character Bruce Wayne is, there’s zero to no surprise to it, but I gotta say I did like the resolution and introspection DeConnick gives to Batman’s alter ego; I like how Bruce at first seems a little intimidated by this guy but, eventually, we realize it was part of the plan, and the way he deals with this criminal was very gratifying. I always had an issue with John Romita Jr. pencils, mostly due to how his style seems the more deteriorating the more time passes, not reaching “Frank Miller levels” but, I cannot help but to enjoy his art during the 70s, 80s, even the 90s where you can clearly see the transition, but during the 2000s, it was just simplistic and quick, that’s how it feels. It’s not terrible, but I know he’s capable of drawing great stuff, and I don’t think he has done that since the late 90s. But to be fair, with the inclusion of Klaus Janson’s inks, the panels are pleasant enough to get through, and the story didn’t require anything fancy or too detailed to work, so I understand why Romita Jr. was the artist in this. It is perhaps the least impactful out of the segments in this issue, but a good story doesn’t need to be overly complicated or long to cause a certain effect, and this one had a pretty good one, in the end.
Odyssey: I was surprised to see Marv Wolfman working on this issue. For those who don’t know, he often worked on the ‘Teen Titans’ titles, and he was involved in the acclaimed ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’. Even bigger was my surprise when I found out that Bill Sienkiewicz was doing… the inking, not the main art. Actually, I didn’t know who Emanuela Luppachino was, and wasn’t familiar with her work and, well, it was good enough. I believe my conflictive opinions about this one has to do with the type of story this presents; Wolfman has delivered some epic scripts for ‘DC’, and Sienkiewicz is a legend on the illustration field, but Wolfman’s story in this segment was just average, and imagining Sienkiewicz’s style is hard because it would’ve been a waste. Luppachino’s pencils are good for this, nothing too fancy, and clearly Sienkiewicz’s inks are helping a lot in here, but again, this is a story about a ship sank back in 1937, and Bruce’s grandfather apparently was involved in a project that had the ship safe keeping a vast collection of art from the Nazis. It’s all interesting and it is good to have a little family background when it comes to the Waynes, but in general, I guess I expected something more in the level of what these creators have brought in the past. It was an okay segment, sure, but it looks more like a project a newcomer will deliver.
Detective #26: You cannot have a super-issue dedicated to the World’s Greatest Detective without having Grant Morrison as one of the writers involved. With the help of his former artist, Chris Burnham- who worked in Batman Incorporated-, Morrison rather than delivering a simple Batman story, goes all the way as to accomplish both, a satire, and a tribute of Batman’s legacy not on ‘DC’, but the industry in general. The story has a regular Gotham citizen, who in a hilarious inner monologue-type of narrative that mocks the sort of heroes like Spirit, The Shadow, Dick Tracy, among other silver age characters, decides to take the vigilante mantle, becoming the ‘Silver Ghost’ (a nice visual and conceptual nod to ‘The Gray Ghost’), and in doing so, he realizes how cliché and extravagant that theme really is, being Morrison an author that either mocks or tributes these sort of ideas, and this time around you could say he does both. I’m not a huge fan of Burnham’s style, nor I was with ‘Inc’, neither in here, mostly due to how thick some of his streaks are, and since he’s a penciler who often uses tons of shadows, that’s not a combination I enjoy. This was fun for what it was. With Morrison I believe the better way to enjoy him is not taking him that seriously with certain things, and I think this is the perfect example of that rule.
Legacy: Oh boy, another Tom King story with Batman as the main character, what kind of harm he’ll do now? Oh, wait, this was actually “okay”. First of all, the sole combination of King and Walter Simonson is odd. As a matter of fact, Simonson is becoming like the second John Romita Jr. in that both used to be big names in the industry, and their respective art had a great touch to it; both worked on great characters, and illustrated iconic comic books that are still relevant nowadays, but their art has suffered considerably in the latest years. Adding someone like King to the formula this could’ve been a disaster of a segment, but to my surprise, I’ve found that King works better as a guest writer, or at least, on stories that are short enough for him to really present the characters, and his ideas in a way that readers can dig them better. Which is ironic since for most authors, it is better when they have enough time to stretch and develop their stories. King, I figure, works better with self-contained projects; it happened in ‘Detective Comics issue 1000, and it happened in here as well. I’m still shocked to say that I found a story where the worst part was Simonson’s art, and the best one was King’s writing, especially if we’re talking about Batman. Don’t hate me, forgive me. Moving on.
As Always: It seems the name Scott Snyder is already a synonym of Batman content, giving how successful his run was alongside the artist Greg Capullo, although this time, it is by the side of artist Ivan Reis, who’s also an iconic name in DC Comics, usually delivering fairly attractive and visually striking panels in each title he works in, and this wasn’t the exception. Snyder in this segment tries to give us an approach similar to what Frank Miller did with his ‘Year One’, when we get to see the perspective of Jim Gordon, and while a familiar idea, here it is well-executed, but then again, the real highlight in here are Reis’ pencils. I don’t know what it is but he’s one of the fewer artists who dominates the use of shadows, and realistic details when talking about human faces, and when it comes to Batman, he just has this great style to his mask and general anatomy, its one of the coolest designs for the character. I would say, as much as I’ve complained about these segments abusing the presence of other side-characters from the Batman mythology, I don’t mind having a story where the main focus is to show Batman’s importance alongside titans such as the ‘Justice League’. If I have a nitpick for Snyder’s story it’ll be the ending, which is visually symbolic and all, but it felt a little vague. Other than that, this was one of the best-looking shorts in all the mega-issue.
And finally, the last two segments, the first one titled Generations-Fractured by Dan Jurgens (who also does the art), and Kevin Nowlan with additional art, and the last one being A Gift, by Mariko Tamaki, and Dan Mora. I really don’t have much to say about these two because, well, they’re both additional stories that are teasing other titles, being Tamaki’s story the one connecting directly to ‘Joker War’. Got to say, even if I’m not that much into these additional shorts, the art in both is quite great; Dan Jurgens is a legend in the industry, and to see him experimenting with concepts such as various styles in the same panels is a delight, and Dan Mora does have a similar style to Jorge Jimenez (the artist who illustrated ‘Joker War’), but recognizable enough to be its own thing.
I don’t think I liked this one better than the issue 1000, now that I think of it, I didn’t love any particular story in here, although, I can acknowledge some of these titles better than others, being perhaps, ‘Rookie’ the best one in my opinion. I didn’t hate any of them, either, but I believe the previous mega-issue did a better job gathering its talent creators, and it was worthiest regarding the Batman Legacy. It is still recommended for any Bat-fan out there, and some of the stories feel sufficiently “old-school” for anyone who prefer a rather vintage style, but in general, it was an okay issue that collects some nice writing, cool art, and yeah, even the expectedly collection of variant covers from some of the finest artists in the industry.

[Hugo Emanuel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually enjoy comic book short stories anthology collections. While the stories themselves are usually of varying quality, I tend to appreciate the fact that these are available for moments where time for reading is shorter, and often they take different and unique approaches to established characters. I am usually quite forgiving towards those, as I understand its difficult to write something compelling in the length of 8 short pages or less.

The previous Batman related commemorative edition of Detective Comics #1000 was actually very enjoyable, and had quite a few interesting surprises. Therefore, I expected something at least on that level, or at worst, slightly below. However, this collection was very dissapointing, especially considering the talent involved. With names like Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka Tom King, Peter Tomasi, Andy Kubert, Eduardo Risso, Walter Simonson, Ivan reis, Chris Burnham, just to name a few, I expected to at least come away satisfied.

However, most of the stories were very dissapinting, or just terribly mediocre, with very little of note to make them memorable.

My individual rating of these stories are the following:

Peter Tomasi/Brad Walker 2/5 - This is basically a tired who's who of Batman villains, something Tomasi himself has done before on a number of occasions, as well as alot of other writer. Artwork is great, but its in the service of a non-story.

Brian Bendis/ Marquez 2/5 - I had never read anything by Bendis before, but both the concept and execution of this story was lacking, and significantly marred down by excessive dialogue that went nowhere, despite the occasional humorous remark. Artwork is very good, though.

Matt Fraction/ Chip Zdarsky 4/5 - One of the best stories in the collection. Good writing and sotrytelling, from both the writer and artists.

Greg Rucka/Eduardo Risso 4/5 - This might have been my favorite story from the collection. Altough this kind of tale of a rookie trying to stay clean in a corrupted police department is reminiscent of his work at Gotham Central, it was very well written, adn Risso's art was pehnomenal as allways.

Tynion/Rossmo 3/5 - The story itself was not bad, but the artwork by Rossmo was atrocious. I really do not appreciate his style at all.

Deconnick/JRJR 3/5 - a cool Bruce Wayne story, but nothing new or particularly remarkable. Also, i really dont like Romita's art.

Wolfman/Lupacchino - 2/5 - Another Bruce Wayne story that was just decent, in both artwork and story.

Grant Morrison/Chris Burnham 4/5 - A very cool concept, that is actually also very well executed, with the autor's usual nods to older Batman eras. Burnham, as allways, brings out very creative panels.

Tom King/Walter Simonson 2/5 - I usually love King's writing, but this story is far too fragmented to really work for me. Simonson, a legend of the medium, does some of the least impressive work of his career.

Scott Snyder/Ivan Reis - 4/5 - One of the more interesting stories, with good artwork. Snyder is a very taented writer, that tends to shine on both long-story narratives, as well as shorter ones like this.

Dan Jurgens/Kevin Nowlan 2/5 - Honestly, this story doesn't belong here at all. It's just a prelude to Generations Lost, so its incomplete. I don't understand why it is included ina collection that is made out of self-contained complete short stories. I did get intrigued by it, but again, its just a preude that leads nowhere.


Mariko Tamaki/Dan Mora -3/5 - A very cool story that, nonetheless, also didn't belong in this collection, as its closely connected to both the the events in Batman and Detective Comics. It's not self-contained either, so despite it being a 4 stars story, i am docking one star due to that.

Overall, a dissapointing collection, where even the pin-up pages were mostly mediocre. Aside from a few exception (Lee Bermejo, Del'Otto, Ben Oliver, and a few others) they were as forgettable as most of these stories.

[Schwarzer_Elch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Para ser una edición de aniversario, “Detective Comics: #1027” me ha resultado una publicación bastante olvidable a nivel narrativo. Salvo algunos momentos interesantes distribuidos en las múltiples historias que la conforman, no encontré nada realmente cautivante. Sentía que la gran mayoría de ellas no aportaban a Batman como personaje ni como historia general y, en todos los casos, me quedé con la sensación de haber tenido finales inconclusos. No tengo nada en contra de los finales abiertos, pero una cosa es dejar un relato abierto y, otra, no concluirlo.

A nivel visual, mi opinión es bastante más favorable. Disfruté mucho cada una de las gráficas, de los estilos (un verdadero deleite) e, incluso, de la textura de la publicación. Qué lástima que no lograran trasladar ese logro al nivel narrativo.

[Kyle Berk]

Detective Comics #1027 is the official thousandth issue of Batman in Detective comics and for a $10 priced comic of what is usually a $4 comics I think this was very good.

All around it's a very well put together collection. My personal favorite Many Happy Returns written by Matt Fraction, drawn and colored by Chip Zdarsky, and lettered by Aditya Bidikar is this knowing tribute to not just Batman but Batman and the Joker and the longevity of Batman the figure, it's very well put together and it's the story in this collection that makes me excited for another 1000 issues of Batman.

I don't think any story housed here is bad as everyone gets some variation I suspect of what they'd want out of vignette of Batman stories. Peter Tomasi, Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy, Nathan Fairbairan, and Rob Leigh have a run through Batman's rogue gallery but framed as solving a death trap.

Brian Bendis, David Marquez, Alejandro Sanchez, and Joshua Reed have a case where the entire Bat family joins in for wholesome family fun.

Greg Rucka, Eduardo Risso, and Tom Napolitano have a fantastic story about being a new cop in Gotham. Very relevant to the current moment.

Ghost Story by James Tynion IV, Riley Rossmo, Ivan Plascencia, and Andworld Design have a kid friendly and heartwarming story of Batman and Robin teaming up with Deadman to take on a soul stealer.

Keylly Sue Deconnick, John Romita JR, Klaus Janson, Arif Prianto, and Troy Peteri do a story where Batman takes on the sort of guy that currently holds office which is nice to see.

Marv Wolfman, Emanuela Luppachino, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jordie Bellaire, and Carlos Mangual tell a story about the history of Gotham and Bruce trying to make up for things that happened.

Detective #26 by Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham, Nathan Fairbairn, and Steve Wands tell you about the OTHER Detective who was going to solve the case of the Chemical Syndicate before Batman showed up. Very funny and love Chris Burnham's art.

Legacy by Tom King, Walter Simonso, Laura Martin, and John Workman is about the end of Batman's life and everything he stood for. Obvious by the title but this shows a side of Batman I really love in his determined compassion.

As Always by Scott Snyder, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Marcelo Maiolo, and Tom Napolitano is about the vigilance of Batman, how he's always there and what his symbol means. And his relationship with Gordon. It's very touching.

The last two stories Generations: Fractured and A Gift are ties ins to other events going on or going to take place things.

Generations: Fractured is by Dan Jurgens, Kevin Nowlan, HI-FI, And World Design, and Brain Cunnigham. It is interesting and I want to read more though the lack of a resolution leaves me annoyed for the rest of these stories all tell themselves out, but these last two are supposed to lead me into another event or whatnot. I think it's a lead into whatever the 5G initiative has become, so interesting enough, love the art.

A Gift as the last story in this collection is a weak note to end on as you have to buy the current ongoing Batman event to understand what it is. It's pretty, and semi interesting. I've seen the situation before but I am curious as to how it will play out in the event deemed "Joker War" but it's a weak note to end this collection on.

These collections as I see it should be like a really good curated playlist where the flow of stories is just as important as the stories themselves. This does very well forgiving the last two of the twelve.

I think it's worth the read and I enjoyed myself. Happy to have it in my long box.

[Steve Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though not quite to the standard of Detectivr Comics #1000, this bumper issue couldn’t be considered a mixed bag.

Dan Jurgens and Mariko Tamaki gave tasters for their forthcoming series whilst Scott Snyder showcases why he is one of the best writers in DC with a tale that hints at the expanded universe whilst keeping the relationship between Batman and James Gordon as the focus.
Apart from Snyder; Greg Rucka’s story ‘Rookie’ reminds us all just how great his Gotham Central was (could we please have Issue 41?) Marc Wolfman, Peter J Tomasi and Kelly Sue DeConnick provide three high quality tales whilst James Tynion IV and Grant Morrison tapped into the quirky side of the Dark Knight’s world.

The less said about Brian Michael Bendis and Tom Kong’s efforts the better - a chore to get through even these brief stories. Quite a few people have enjoyed Matt Fraction’s story - Many Happy Returns - but I, for one, believe that it indicates a very poor grasp of the Batman character and his relationship with Joker.

I know this is review has focused more on the writers but the quality of artwork should be almost assumed when you consider the big names here: Ivan Reid, Andy Kubert’s cover art, Walter Simonson and John Romita Jr. There are some great single page efforts from artists such as Chip Zdarsky too. Brad Walker’s trip through Batman’s ‘greatest hits’ - including Billy the doll from The Dark Knight Returns - was fantastic. Meanwhile Dan Jurgens and Kevin Nowlan collaborated to give us a ‘Batman vs the Monster Squad’ of sorts before bringing us back to The Batman of 1939.
Definitely worth your time - The Three Jokers is still the best Batman series currently being released.

[Norman Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman: Detective Comics #1027: Deluxe Edition (Kindle Edition, 144 pages)

This is a collection of the who's-who of top DC comics creators, both writers and artists, for the "1000th" (actually 1001) issue of Detective Comics since Batman's debut in issue #27. Most of these shorts emphasize Batman's detective skills, something I wish the current monthly title would do more of. I think this anniversary issue missed a beat by not having at least one story directly tying into the first story from issue #27, but otherwise it's a pretty thorough look at the Bat-family and the supervillains that the Batman universe has to offer. The back matter is a gallery of amazing alternate covers by a wide range of artists, although sadly nothing by Neal Adams (or Howard Chaykin or some of the other classic artists who are still actively working).

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

This was more a graphic novel than a comic. This anthology celebrates 1000 issues of Batman in Detective Comics (first appearance was issue 27 as many know.) As some others have said, I think I did enjoy Detective Comics 1000 better, which was similar. Nice group of stories, nothing profound but a good read with nice art.

[Eladio Garro · Rating 3 out of 5]

The official 1000th appearance of Batman, the Darknight Detective, my favorite hero, is here. Let's see how it was, speaking of the 12 stories the book is composed by:

1. Blowback: I liked this story. Peter Tomasi is a great writer, and, along with Brad Walker, highlights Batman's skills as a escape artist, although it feels more like a collage with all Batman's rogues.

2. The Master Case: This story only demonstrates why bringing Brian Michael Bendis to DC was a fatality for themselves. There's too much dialogue and less development. I know everyone loses their mind over this story, but this is pure garbage. Not even David Marquez's art can save it from being a disaster, the worst story of the entire book.

3. Happy many returns: another story people lose their mind over. I love the humorous tone in the story, but it's just ANOTHER Batman/Joker story for me.

4. Rookie: Nice short story without Batman, but it showcases a crude fact about those who are to become police officers. And it's also its only weakness, too, for I don't particularly like it when a writer gets preachy. But overall, a nice story, with a fitting and outstanding art by Eduardo Risso.

5. Ghost Story: Batman and supernatural are an instant yes for me, and this story is one of only two I can call my favorites. James Tynion IV is better at self-contained stories than arcs (a reason why I have not enjoyed his Detective Comics and Batman runs). Riley Rossmo's art is meh; I like it when a penciller has their own style, but Rossmo's style can me exaggerated.

6. Forde: One of my biggest fears of this anthology was bringing creators unknown to Batman and his mythos. However, of all these Batstrangers, Kelly Sue DeConnick's thriller was the best, though John Romita JR's art is painful to look at now.

7. Odyssey: A nice adventure story, but nothing else. You needed something better from a veteran like Marv Wolfman.

8. Detective #26: My absolute favorite story of the book. Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham establish a vigilante known as The Silver Ghost, whose day of glory is ruined by the original Batman. The final page not only showcases The Silver Ghost's frustration at seeing the Dark Knight, but how the other characters who appeared before him (Batman) would be overshadowed by his very presence.

9. Legacy: The universally hated Tom King, like it or not, could not be left behind for this anniversary. Suprisingly, to me, his story was good and enjoyable (more than his run), showcasing not only Bruce's death from cancer, but his fight against Dr. Phosphorus, created by Steve Englehart and Walt Simonson, who drew this story, and showed Batman's compassion for such a terrible enemy who would give him cancer. And it was nice King dedicated it to the late Denny O'Neil, whom I call the definitive Batman writer.

10. As always: The vastly overrated Scott Snyder is the writer I have always had issues with, more than Tom King, mainly because he wants us to see Batman as the unstoppable badass jerk who can take the shit out of anyone (a trait of the character I personally hate). And this story highlights this fetish. It could've been better had Snyder not included too much splash pages showcasing the Justice League's battles. Only by having Batman work with his teammates would this story have been better, and Snyder, despite myself, has great ideas that are not well executed at all.

11. Generations: Fractured: We finish this book with not just one teaser, but two. The first one, a prelude to the upcoming Generations, and feels rushed. Dan Jurgens is more linked to Superman than Batman, but he was ordered to do so. However, it was nice to see the original Batman back and Kevin Nowlan's artwork.

12. A gift: this one is the weakest of the two teasers. Nothing actually happens here, except a prelude to Dark Detective. At least my compatriot Dan Mora drew this.


In conclusion, Detective Comics 1027 was a very bland celebration of Batman. Looks like DC is usesless enough to give Batman a good anniversary instead of just an entertaining one. Batman deserves something better than both this and the equally dissapointing Detective Comics 1000.

[Alex E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much like the anniversary issues, this is a collection of stories that highlight the character of Batman. And much like those issues, the quality of each varies as well.

There's stories about the tenacity of Batman, the Detective side of the character, the caring side, the fighter, pretty much every version of the character is here and written and drawn by different creators. Some highlights for me:

Peter J. Tomasi and Brad Walker show us Batman escaping a trap all whilst giving us a tour of his rogue gallery. This was really just an excuse to drawn the major villains, but it looked great.

Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez give us that rare scenario where the entire bat family team up to figure out a murder - this was fun (except for the whole, you konw, murder part) and it was cool seeing the the whole family working together.

Rookie by Greg Rucka and Eduardo Risso gives us a story of a Gotham cop trying to keep her oath and her dignity in a city that routinely strips you of it.

Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham return to give us a story of a would be vigilante who decides to not even try after he sees Batman - purple gloves and all - swoop in and do it way better. THis was a funny and charming way to pay homage to the character.

Those are just some of the stories that stick out to me but there's a lot of good stuff here. More good than meh I would say.

If you are a fan of Batman, you've got to check this out.

[Duncan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've become a comic buying degenerate. I plunked down $10 for this piece of abysmal dreck. Why, lord, oh why do I keep falling for this nonsense? This is the one where Batman goes insane and stalks and kills all the other members of the Justice League then takes his own life and then DC implodes and folds up into it's own pocket universe. The End. Ha, ha. Just kidding. Things I liked were the John Romita Jr. art on K.S. DeConnick story. I like the art and story on the B.M. Bendis story. Otherwise just a bunch of steaming hooey. I guess the Dan Jurgens story about Batman going back in time, or going to a different time-line looks interesting but truth be told it also looks like Jurgens is just looking for yet another way to insert Booster Gold into another DC title. James Tynion IV uses one of my favorite DC characters, Deadman, in his story but the art is so cartoonishly bubbly awful by Riley Rossmo that it thoroughly undercuts that character's presence. The story is shit too. The other stories are forgettable place holders used to pad out the page length and up the comic price but like I said to begin; comic-buying degenerates will spill out the pointless shekels on this piece of turd regardless.

[Steve Chaput · Rating 4 out of 5]

Various artists and writers have a chance to celebrate Batman and his family. The stories take place in different stages of Batman's career, and number of his villains make appearances, but generally not the major focus.

As usual with anthologies of this type, the quality of the stories vary. I have no complaints about the art, but in one story in particular there are several plot points that just took me out of the story. I blame both writer and editor, as one bit of added dialogue could have explained one gaff. The other just made no sense in context, as the appearance of Batman in costume was unnecessary as Bruce Wayne could have done pretty much the same thing.

While most stories stand on their own, quite nicely a couple need the reader to be up on then current Batman story lines, while another hints on a future event.


Dan Jurgens' (writer/artist) Generations Fractured introduces concepts and characters that lead into the Generations Shattered book that comes out after the Dark Nights: Death Metal event. While The Gift, written by Mariko Tamaki and artist Dan Mora, takes place during the then current Joker War story.

Overall a nice tribute to the character.

[Clint · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
The usual mixed bag of an all-star anthology, but with some great highlights. Bendis has a detective team up with the full BatFamily that’s a lot of fun, Fraction and Zdarsky and Bidikar offer a neat time lapse montage of Batman and Joker’s odd frenemy relationship with clean colorful art, Tynion writes a quirky, heartfelt ghost story with Deadman and Rossmo’s distinctively weird art, and Morrison playfully imagines an immediate predecessor wannabe from the 30s who was This Close to getting Batman’s whole vigilante look and vibe right, but missed in execution. The rest are at least decent, except Tomasi turning in basically the same thing as his issue 1000 contribution of a series of splash pages each dedicated to one of Batman’s most well-known Rogues.

[Sam K · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent smorgasbord of Bat-tales from various creators.

While mostly self-contained, the last two stories by Dan Jurgens and Mariko Tomaki tied into some other storyline, and honestly weren’t great regardless.

Best stories in my opinion were “Rookie” by Greg Rucka, “Fore” by Kelly Sue DeConnick and “Detective #26” by Grant Morrison.

“Blowback” by Peter Tomasi was just a glorified list of Batman’s rogues, and “The Master Class” by Brian Michael Bendis was all over the place and tried WAY too hard to be quippy. However the art in the latter by David Marquez was gorgeous.

The other stories ranged from meh to pretty decent/worthwhile (particularly “Ghost Story” by James Tynion IV).

[Drake Zappa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of Batman stories highlighting key parts of who and what Batman is as both a character and an idea! I think I like this book a little bit more than issue 1000.
I especially loved seeing Fraction and Zdarsky together again as I'm a massive fan of their work in sex criminals. I also thought Snyders and Morrisons stories were particularly interesting conceptually and that it was lovely to see Greg Rucka and Eduardo Risso on a story together!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

In celebration of 1,000 issues since Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27, this is an over-sized issue full of short stories. I really enjoyed this anthology with my favorite stories being:

-The Master Class by Bendis
-Many Happy Returns by Fraction
-Rookie by Rucka
-Fore by DeConnick
-Odyssey by Wolfman
-Legacy by King

[Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

Batman is probably the most accessible DC character for me (thanks to many years of films) but I'm still not a fan thanks to his cosy relationship with law enforcement; it makes me uncomfortable, especially in the current landscape. That said, this collection had some great stores alongside some barely readable stories. Art is pretty solid throughout though, with a nice mix of styles.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 2 out of 5]

This really fell short compared to Detective Comics #1000. Maybe part of it is that this has more pages, and therefore more likelihood of inclusion of stories that are not so enjoyable. They were pretty much just meh for the most part. I did kinda like the one where it's a Detective Comics character who gets overshadowed by the debut of Batman. But yeah, this was a chore to get through.