Federici and Raffaele deliver beautiful art in the issue. I love the otherworldly look of the Batman story complemented by the gritty, brilliantly detailed Montoya story. Read Full Review

This issue manages to pack a lot of themes, commentary, and tones throughout the pages while still making for an entertaining read. Ram Vs run has always been about taking time to experience the story and visuals and this issue continues that trend. While readers may benefit from multiple reads, there is a lot to offer each time making for a great experience. Read Full Review

Detective Comics #1082 continues to explore the psyche of Batman on a hallucinatory trek for the ages. Paired with the equally fascinating psychological game being played in the backup, this is a great read. Read Full Review

Detective Comics #1082 creates a Socratic dialogue on the effectiveness and morality of Batman's war on crime. By framing Hurt's visions against the reality of Gotham, it's able to show why the city needs him. It's a unique narrative structure that lets the rhetorical debate play out through actions rather than words, creating an extremely compelling story. Each side is reinforced by the gorgeous visuals by both sets of artists, and gets you invested in what will come of his psychological struggle. Read Full Review

The third act introduction and focus on Dr. Hurt is interesting, although it feels somewhat late in this long-running arc to bring him in and play anything more than a representation of the devil on Batman's shoulders. Read Full Review

It's rough when the secondary story is stronger than the main one, but that Dr. Hurt story has been so compelling it warrants checking out. Read Full Review

Detective Comics #1082 delivers a painful blow to Batman as he's clawing his way back to life. Will one of his greatest foes help him, or is he just a part of the poison? Let's meet here next month and find out. Read Full Review

While individual pieces of this tale continue to hit home emotionally, the sense that none of it has a coherent foundation continues to rob it of ultimate impact. Read Full Review

Detective Comics #1082 delivers amazing art, an intriguing series of developments in the Question's investigation into Fielding's death, and blathering nonsense for everything else. The major failure of Ram V's tenure is a need for more direction and purpose. So far, Ram V is determined to push that failure to the very last minute. Read Full Review

Batman's psychological journey through Dr. Hurt's trial continues to struggle as standalone issues, though hopefully it will read better as a collected edition. The story itself seems to be wandering for answers just as much as Batman is. @ramvwrites hasn't shown his full hand for this story yet and its a bit frustrating as it feels like we're swirling in this final arc in Ram V's run on 'Tec. The art by @riccardo_federici_art in this portion of the book is some of the best ethereal horror imagery you'll ever see. The visuals of demonic clowns which made up this version of Gotham were creepy as hell!

I'm really enjoying the other half of the main story. In this issue, we find The Question teaming up with Cassandra Cain as we see how much Gotham is devolving under the Orghams rule. Cassandra's entry gives readers hope that there is still some form of resistance trying to fight back and I'm excited to see how this unfolds. @stefano.raffaele's art matches the tone of these sequences with a gritty, frenetic style that looks amazing. I loved the use of 9-panel pages mixed in with some bigger splash panels to help establish pacing.

The backup story by @danpgwatters had a lot to like and helps build up Dr. Hurt as a truly evil villain who uses mind-control for enjoyment. For a shorter backup, the the pacing was excellent and built up a level of suspense to keep you hooked. The art in this backup was a great homage to classic horror comics and looked awesome.

Ratings:
6/10 (main Batman story)
9/10 (The Question + backup stories & all of the art) more