Hype Machine - Scott Snyder's Detective Comics

Scott Snyder is one of the rising stars of the comic writing world. His debut Vertigo hit, American Vampire, gained extra press because of the addition of Stephen King to the writing team, however many realised quickly that Snyder was perhaps the real deal as his pages challenged each week to be the best in each issue. He’s now been signed up by DC and his first major work for them in the DCU proper will be a 12 issue arc on Detective Comics. He’ll be joined by Jock and Francesco Francavilla and this news is something that has actually gotten me quite excited. Hit the jump to see why this might be a series to look for at the end of this year.

As most will know, I haven’t bought a DCU comic in quite some time. The last ones I got were Morrison’s Batman R.I.P. and while it was okay I did end up dropping it purely because I wasn’t exactly loving it and it seemed like a good falling off point. I’ve had no need to go back to DC since but the news of Snyder on Detective Comics, with Jock on art duties, and Francavilla on a Commissioner Gordon back up, might just lure me back in. I’m going to add up the ingredients and see if I can take this title on board.

Scott Snyder

I’ve gotten each issue of American Vampire through the first arc (with an introductory review) and one of the main things that has been shown is that Scott Snyder is a pretty fine writer. The series looks at a new breed of vampire throughout the history of America. Snyder opened up his creator owned title looking at a young girl in the 1920’s as she becomes involved with the other main character, Skinner Sweet. With Rafael Albuquerque on art this half of the title was very well written and certainly made me take notice of Scott Snyder as a writer. It also helped that on most weeks his tale trumped the other half of the comic which was written by Stephen King. Snyder had hit the scene and he was certainly someone to watch.

The thing about American Vampire that impressed me most was that Snyder truly seemed to have an epic scope planned for his very large tale. He knows exactly what is going on and he’s got plenty to tell. Sadly, this title is going to retain its $3.99 price point and yet lose the amount of pages each month, which might see a few readers opt out of the next arc which is penned solo by Snyder.

Getting to see this beautiful mind playing out a large tale in the Batman world is something that excites me. We might get something different here and I also appreciate seeing a new writer on the scene get a chance to write something big.

Jock

There’s no doubting that Jock is a good artist. He’s done nearly all of the covers for Jason Aaron’s Scalped and he’s probably best known for his collaborations with Andy Diggle on The Losers and Green Arrow: Year One. On both series he’s done a very good job and his style is certainly scratchy enough to make a very solid noir style for the caped and cowled dark knight of Gotham. Whenever you think of certain characters you visualise a certain art style. Batman has had nearly every art style put into his comics over the past 70 years of print but when I think of Bruce Wayne or any of his villains I usually prefer a more shadowy style. He looks good when there’s someone like Jim Lee polishing the pencils but usually I prefer it when the art is a little more dangerous; it’s a city of crime and terrible things constantly happening and I’m looking forward to seeing how Jock getting yet another crack at this landscape after his prior run on this title with Greg Rucka. Jock has already created one teaser image for this run and I really like it.

Francesco Francavilla

I’ve long been a fan of Francavilla’s many artworks, he even got a Crisis On Infinite Arts post a while back, and it’s amazing to see the design and art elements that he can meld to make some of my favourite artworks on the internet. His actual pencil work is great but I’m also hoping to see opportunities for him to cut loose on a title page and really craft a piece of old school art. Having Francavilla on the title as well as Jock also gives me the chance to see two great artists within the one title and while their styles are different they also fit into the same vein of genre. Together, they should match very well to create a crime comic that will be atmospheric and enjoyable. Francavilla created a teaser piece for the title and it’s this exact sort of thing I’m dying to see over the next year.



Batman, The Detective

I don’t read any Batman comics right now, I’ve only ever picked up Batman on a monthly basis once, and that wasn’t for long. But I do have a fair bit of Batman on my shelves. And it’s a wide variety. I’ve also read lots of Batman and while he fits into nearly any genre the one I like the most is when he has to pit his mind against his foe. I like the detective side of Batman as it is an intriguing aspect of the character, he doesn’t have super powers, he’s just got brains. That’s his best aspect for fighting crime and it needs to be played up more.

Snyder has said that he will be getting Batman to get his detective on a lot more, and Detective Comics is the perfect title to have this more gritty approach work, and he’s also spoken of having more high tech gadgetry within his tales. I have faith that Snyder can bring a great edge to this title, not to mention he plans to be on it for 12 months and while each issue might have its own hook, overall it’s all going to add up a lot to make the tale The Black Mirror. Even the title excites me. Having Jock slowly help show this tale is just icing on the cake.

Commissioner Gordon Back Up

I really do dig the concept of the back up. DC seem to be better at bringing in a back up strip to a comic to warrant the $1 price increase whereas Marvel have rarely offered this option lately, instead giving us Bendis’ verbal history of the Avengers which is great if you love Bendis’ penchant for dialogue but is terrible if all you ever hear is Bendis-speak. I’d shell out $3.99 on Daredevil or Fantastic Four is they had Black Tarantula or Dr Doom back ups with decent creative teams but this so rarely happens. Nick Spencer is doing a Jimmy Olsen back up in Action Comics which I wish I could get on its own for $1 but that isn’t an option, however Detective Comics is giving us a back up that really works well with the main story.

Scott Snyder will write the back up on this title as well and it will feature Commissioner Gordon as its lead. I like that the back up is featuring another little player who is still a pretty decent draw on his own. The thought of the head cop in Gotham being in the comic which will feature Batman getting back to his detective roots is quite well played. Having Francesco Francavilla on this back up is just that bit more perfect. I really hope this back up is just as good as the main Batman stories and Snyder has said this will work with the main story as well, so each month we really will be getting more for our money.

The Batman You Want

Detective Comics has been published for so many decades that I don’t think there’s any immediate fear that it’ll be canned. It’s a mainstay but it’s also one of many Batman comics. You can get Batman by plenty of authors and within certain time lines; you can even get different people in the Batman costume. There’s heaps of Batman on the shelves but quite honestly, none of it interests me. Now, this iteration, Snyder with these artists and touting a detective story, interests me. I don’t care if it’s Bruce Wayne or Dick Grayson, to be honest, I just know this title with this team interests me. The others do not, so I won’t be buying them and I won’t be missing them. This is how I ignore over-saturation of a character, the publisher puts out heaps because many readers, like me, might only want one.

The only problem, I haven’t wanted any Batman for ages but now this title will be fighting to get on my pull list. It should be good but I have to be honest and admit that Morrison’s Batman Inc. does intrigue me. It’s a cool concept as Batman goes around and works with heaps of different heroes and the series sounds like it’ll have a very varied tone to it. Now, two Batman comics, can I handle that after having had no DCU for so long? It’s like someone coming out of a diet and gorging only to find their body had become lactose intolerant and suddenly fell ill. Will Batman make me feel a little dicey? I doubt it, but will my wallet support this surge? No. I will have to make a choice, but I have plenty of time to do this.

Conclusion

If you look at this title you’ve got a rising star writer, two fantastic artists who know how to make with the noir and the awesome and you have a $3.99 comic that will have a long form tale over 12 issues and then also a back up with a cool character which will feature a tale that only helps the main tale. It seems pretty win all around. What do you think of these series of announcements? Will you be picking up Detective Comics when Scott Snyder and the new art team jump on board? Let us know in the comments.

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