I don't get it. It's one of their oldest titles. It's the title from which the damn company gets its name. Yet it's often treated as just another Bat book. Even worse in this relaunch it seems to be a general Batman title. It's pretty staggering that Detective Comics #1 is.. well it just looks so bland And they put switch over Tony Daniel from Batman to be on it? Snyder has gotten much more praise. Why the flying blue fudge wouldn't they put him on it?! This is exactly the kind of musical chairs on creators that makes me want to never bother with DC again.
Hell. I dropped 'Tec after over fifteen years of getting every issue when they dropped Rucka and Batwoman. It was only Snyder that got me to jump back. Now they toss him over to Batman and switch Daniel over to 'Tec? On what planet does that make a lick of sense?
Never mind that I don't think Daniel ever really felt right for even Batman, no offense to him. Of course I didn't bother with even Winick's run before him, but looking at his books, it seems pretty bland. Actually, looking at the credits and summaries over at ComicsVine, I see there have been a bunch of creators on Batman with Daniel popping in and out on both writing and art. I did actually get the Morrison scripted ones but I didn't even remember which Batman title it was because DC has been crossing over so damn much.
You'd think they'd put a bigger name on their flagship Detective Comics # 1. Hell, you think they'd have a writer and an artist on it. Being such a big launch and having so much emphasis on getting things out on time, it seem like a bit much. Plus it just doesn't seem very.. well.. Detective-y. Scott Snyder's run seemed to fit wonderfully. Not to mention the wonderful artists they paired him up with. So this new Detective Comics # 1 not only doesn't seem to stand out as a flagship, it also doesn't seem to fit its title well either.
So this is one of the launch books that has me scratching my head. Hell, even some of Marvel's half assed lame single series relaunches seemed to have better suited big names and more fitting story lines than this. If I were to pick up a bunch of launch titles, this would most definitely not be one. That's terrible. I'm first and foremost a lifelong Batman fan and this is the company's flagship book, but I just simply do not see the appeal of it. I just don't get it.
Because it doesn't have Batman in the title, I think.
I think as well (And I say this without knowing how it's been in a much more long-term sense, and they#re apparentlt not doing it now) that generally the more detective-y take on Batman goes here, while the more superhero-y take is more likely to have the big sales appeal.
One of the things I was concerned about when I first heard of the relaunch was renumbering both Detective and Action Comics. I've always wondered if the fact that each have been around, uninterrupted, for so long kept them immune from any threat of ever being cancelled. Now obviously, Batman and Superman are both very popular, but the fact that each title had a palpable sense of history to it due to the high numbering makes it seem sort of sad they're starting them over.
When I told my old comic shop guy the day he was announced he was dumbfounded. Hell, he still can't believe DC is renumbering them.
Detective Comics is well known as a Batman Title. New fans don't know it was just another Amazing Fantasy in which Batman debuted. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detective_Comics When reading the history It listed the back up series. I read it as Robin the teen wonder and Batgirl the human target. That got an LOL out of me. It would have been nice If for the relaunch DC had made it a detective's club book featuring some of DC's more notable detectives rather than making it just another Batman book.
Hate me all you want, 95 % of the time I'm write.
It doesn't get too much love because it's often more of a crime-drama series (albeit with the supernatual/superhero trappings) as opposed to some of the more out there sci-fi/superhero action in the main Batman books. And of course it's usually the big superhero stuff that ends up leading the line's direction, so naturally Detective suffers a bit.
Some of the best Batman runs are in Tec, though. Brubaker had a wonderful run in Tec some years back, for example, and they used it as a Batwoman showcase.
Not sure why they'd renumber it, though.
Phoenix Legacy is a wonderfully entertaining rollercoaster read that conjures up the fantastical worlds explored in comic books yet provides a romance between unconventional characters.--review of Phoenix Legacy at Night Owl Reviews.
Sure. Definitely great writing, but even with all the acclaim the Rucka/Williams Batwoman run got, it didn't receive the hype or sales that Batman & Robin or even Daniels' Batman run got. Or even before that, Dini's run on Detective vs. Morrison's run on Batman.
Mostly? Because they're renumbering everything else.
To be honest, when I think Detective, I think Goodwin and Simonson's Manhunter, which, in my opinion, is one of the prime contenders for first "modern" comic in terms of narrative style, artistic technique, and overall maturity of its theme.
That said, I've always felt that Detective was the Bat-title, much like I consider Action to be the Superman title. The problem recently is that the Bat books have been a muddled mess in terms of focus. Morrison's book, be it Batman, Batman & Robin, or Inc., has been the core book, and the rest of the books just sort of loosely float around it. Even Snyder's very good current Detective run is in the shadow of Inc, and don't get me started on the other ones.
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