Detective Comics #845 Review

DETECTIVE COMICS #845
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs

This issue didn't turn out exactly as I had expected. After the previews, I expected Catwoman and Batman to team up, shoot the shit and solve the murder mystery together.

While the Catwoman / Batman meeting was fun and they do touch on Salvation Run (no details given though, wouldn't want to ruin such a "great" story before it comes out), it was mostly just Catwoman getting jealous of his Jezebel Jet and Zatanna romances (it's sad that the Zatanna "romance" subplot is more developed than Jezebel's given what happens in Morrison's title). It's appropriately "catty" and a fun, yet brief, exchange between the two.

Despite my preconceived notions being scattered to the wind, the issue actually turned out extremely well. There's a great done-in-one murder mystery and I loved the "chat room detectives" section where Batman, Bo, the detective chimp from Shadowpact, Riddler and what looked like Oracle and a random person as the anonymous chatroom detectives discussing this murder mystery that has Batman stumped. I'm not positive on Oracle, as she's never referenced and the art is a little weak in that section.

It seems Batman and Bo know each other's aliases on the chatroom and they both know that Riddler is one of the frequent chatroom goers, always feeding off other, supposedly, anonymous users' knowledge to help him solve cases. Nothing really came from this, in terms of the actual case, but it was a fun section and I like seeing the alternative sources for Batman's crusade on crime outside the all-knowing Oracle deus ex that just gives him the information he needs whenever he wants it.

The murder mystery ends up being related to the Riddler's former evil doing days when one of his goons killed a random girl in a restaurant. The surviving husband is seeking revenge and committed the crimes simply to lure out the "star" detective Riddler and succeeds in doing so after a public announcement by Riddler to solve the case.

This leads the killer to sending an anonymous tip to Riddler concerning the case, which he jumps at. Batman tracked down the same killer and learned his identity based on a rather logical train of thought and elegant solution to the case. He realizes Riddler is the target and finds him through a tracking device he planted on Riddler's car to keep tabs on him and his exploits as a "good guy".

Riddler was eventually captured by the killer and Batman, appropriately, saves the day. It's not a clear cut "good guy wins, bad guy loses", though. The killer commits suicide before being captured. Batman leaves the Riddler to free himself from the ropes with the nearby knife, telling him he'd better hurry if he wishes to free himself before the killer's dogs, which Batman knocked out earlier, return in a few minutes. It's a great ending and shows that while Batman puts up with the Riddler's good guy days, he doesn't agree with his methods and attitude and isn't above something as petty as leaving Riddler tied up. That may come back to bite him in the rear if he pushes him too far, but bad guys can't stay good forever, right?

Verdict - Must Read. A great done-in-one that any Batman fan should be able to enjoy. It wasn't what I was expecting when I originally picked up the issue, but it turned out great in the end, so no complaints on this one from me.

Related Posts