An excellent first issue in the "Mythology Raze" storyline. You'll be on the edge of your seat begging for more. Read Full Review

A solid book for those who like a good ripping yard that is equal parts horror movie and murder mystery. Read Full Review

Tomasi and Mahnke hit all the right notes. And it's just their first issue! Where can it go from here? I don't know but I can't wait to find out. Read Full Review

This is a strong start to the new creative team's run on Detective Comics. They've got a lot of possible directions they can take it and I'm excited to see where they go. Read Full Review

Detective Comics #994 is a remarkable issue from a new creative team featuring the reunion of Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke. The story draws on Batmans core emotional struggles to strike a near-perfect balance between mystery and action, delivering one of the best Detective Comics experiences this year. Read Full Review

I can't recommend this issue enough.  If you are a Batman fan turned off by what we've been getting lately in this or the solo Bat-title, this may be a ticket back to your favorite character.  It is so nice to like Batman again! Read Full Review

The art by Doug Mahnke is brilliant and beautiful. I loved every panel from the dramatic reveal of the bodies in the aquarium to the brilliant closing page. Great artwork throughout. Read Full Review

Batman's secret is out. Are his family and friends safe? How did the killer discover the truth? There are five more before issue#1000, and if they're all this good I'm going to be camping outside by LCBS! Read Full Review

This issue felt like a return to form for Detective Comics and Batman. The story drilled down into some of the qualities that make Batman loved by many. The art showed in great detail the evidence as Batman and Gordon pursued a mysterious new threat to Gotham City. This is a wonderful time for Batman and a great time to jump on board Detective Comics because of the new art team that will lead this property toward issue #1000! Read Full Review

It's hard to predict the exact direction this latest arc will take given how hard it pivoted in the back half of the issue. There are a lot of interesting seeds and while it's hard to see how they're going to connect, I'm 100% ready to see Batman persevere against the strange confluence of conditions. Tomasi's writing and Mahnke's artwork combine to create quite the opener to this latest arc, and it's going to be one hell of a ride to #1000. Read Full Review

Peter J. Tomasi delivers what I think so many Batfans have been hoping for: a book that throws all the angst out the window and gets back to basics: Batman fighting crime, dealing with Gotham's craziest, and a supporting cast we've grown to love over the years. This arc-opener is a mixed bag of mysteries for our Dark Knight to puzzle through, but for the first time in too long, they feel like the exciting kind of perplexities for which you're dying to know the answers! And with Doug Mahnke rendering every panel with thrilling urgency, this truly feels like a return to the glory days of Gotham. Read Full Review

A new run arrives on Detective, and Peter Tomasi and Doug Mahnke are off to one heck of a start. Read Full Review

I haven't been keeping up with Detective Comics much over the past few months, but the bizarre murder scene offers a tease to deeper mystery while Doug Mahnke provides some nice art of our hero in action. Worth a look. Read Full Review

DETECTIVE COMICS #994 is a great way to kick-off Tomasi's run on the series. The story offers intriguing mystery in the first half, followed by a great action sequence, all beautifully illustrated and colored. Definitely pick this up. Read Full Review

Detective Comics #994 sets up a solid run, bringing the title back to its roots as a detective comic, but it also suffers from its proximity to The Batman Who Laughs #1 " both featuring a very specific story involving a body designed to mimic someone very close to Batman. Read Full Review

I can actually look forward to and enjoy Detective Comics again. Read Full Review

Detective Comics #994 was a great start to Peter Tomasi and Doug Mahnke's run on this series. Tomasi did an excellent job highlighting Batman's detective abilities while providing a personal connection to what is going on for Bruce Wayne. It is all wonderfully brought to life by Doug Mahnke delivering his always stellar artwork. Read Full Review

This issue reunites Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke, one of the most able of creative teams to work on the Caped Crusader in recent years. As such, it promises a strong narrative without a lot of hype to over-sell the story. Just good, capable storytelling. Read Full Review

Detective Comics #994 is not only a very good issue of an iconic character, but a good jumping on point for new readers, and for those who may have drifted away (cough). It has everything you expect from Batman " detective skills, a remorseless will to win, and plenty of mayhem and action. The artwork is phenomenal, as is the coloring. There is a real cinematic feel to the art, which helps drive the story forward to its stunning last page. And while you would expect this particular villain to feature at this celebratory point in the comic's history, it still makes for a compelling reveal. Read Full Review

Peter Tomasi's start on "Detective Comics" was not a very effective or enticing one. Read Full Review

It's been a long time since I thoroughly enjoyed reading a Batman comic. The last one that really stood out to me was Batman Damned: Book Two and that was in 2018. 

The last Detective Comics arc was dog shit. The Batman who laughs has been meh and Tom King's Batman run has been uneven, to say the least. The run is consistent King doesn't have the most exciting take on the character. 

Peter Tomasi seems to be a natural fit for the Dark Knight. Unlike other depictions of the character. Bruce feels grounded and most like a normal person despite the extreme circumstances. 

Most takes on Batman either focus on deconstructing him or Amping his character and abilities to the point of parody. Tomasi's Batman feels like a guy. He's extremely capable, but just a guy. 

In this issue, Bruce is investigating a double murder. A typical night for Batman, right? Wrong, the twist is that the victims have been staged to look like Thomas and Martha Wayne. The alteration has been so extreme that the victims have even been subjected to cosmetic surgery so that they look even more like Bruce's parents. 

Bruce is obviously affected by the events but keeps a cool head during the forensic examination. The scenes are much less superheroics and highlights Batman in his natural element as the world's greatest detective. 

The second half of the comic pivots in a more action-oriented direction. Batman attempts to save the life of longtime friends and ally Leslie Thompkins as she is attacked by a massive beast. 

The issue ends on a heartrending cliffhanger and left me excited to see what happens next. That hasn't happened in a while with this line of titles. 

The art provided by Doug Mahnke and David Baron is consistent throughout the issue and work in the slow scenes as well as in the back half of the issue when the action picks up. 

The pace of the issue is also great. It's quick but not to the point where I finished reading in less than 5 minutes. 

Overall I can't really complain about anything here. There is really a night and day difference between #993 & #994 which is great because DC is stagnating across the line. I know this review is late and DC's focus seems to be centered around Batman but nevertheless you can't get much better than single issues like this one.  more

THE GOOD:

-Doug Mahnke's art was pitch perfect. Every character is drawn to perfection. Even the f***ing bat signal looks cooler than before!

-Just the entire concept of the reenactment of Bruce's parents murder was amazing. I don't know if it's ever been done before, but it was executed brilliantly here.

-Much like the art, the writing feels spot-on for every character. No joke. Every character.

-This series finally lives up to its title, making Batman a detective. This is my favorite depiction or angle on the Batman character. I'd take a clever, mystery-investigating Batman over a typical bad-guy-punching Batman any day. This issue extremely satisfied in that area. It is the first time in a while Batman has felt like this, and I am super happy.

-If this series is consistent, it could go down in history. This was one of my favorite debut issues in a long, long time. It typically takes a while for me to adjust to a series' tone and direction, but I latched right on to this issue.

-I really liked the format for this issue. Half as a slower investigation focused on setup and mystery. Another as a fast-paced, high octane action scene. I'll talk about that action scene very soon.

-How about right now? Anyways, it does use the rushing in order to save someone in peril cliche, that we can all safely say almost always ends with said person being saved. Not always, but many, many times. I don't think anything did it better than the Dark Knight, but this issue makes a strong case, upping the tensity and using great writing. I don't think anyone doubted Leslie would die though.

-That mystery villain was really cool in my opinion. It might just be the art. That's fine. He was pretty threatening and mysterious, a great combination.

-That ending was good. Unpredictable and surprising, albeit one that's been done before.

-Maybe Tomasi is just the master of taking things that have been done before and showcasing them at their best. There was still a lot of new stuff in this issue, though.

-Honestly, this issue gets credit just for completely reversing the quality of the series. I overall enjoyed Tynion's run. It was imperfect, and there were some bad issues however. I never read Hill's run, and I caught the tail end of Robinson's. Of those, this is the most impressive issue of the Rebirth era of this series, and a perfect debut.

-Even outside the context of this series, this was a damn near perfect Batman debut. I'm pretty sure I like it more than any of Tom King's issues, definitely #1 of that series. I might even like it better than Snyder's debut, which is saying A LOT considering Snyder's run might have been not just the first Batman but also the first run of any comic I loved. Hopefully Tomasi's is yet another in that now long list of comic book runs I have loved.

THE BAD:

-This is pretty nitpicky, but I've definitely seen the whole, recap the backstory in one page, then have a splash page of the main hero looking badass before, and it's growing a little old. The two others that come to mind are Grayson and All Star Superman. I would be surprised if there wasn't more however. This was close to breaking "The Good" column, but its cliches overpowered the effect a bit more than other elements of this issue. It really pains me though, considering I really, really, really want to give it a 10. I enjoyed it more than any of the other three 10's I have on this site. Oh well. My calculations have it at 9. I'll give it a 9.5.

EDIT: Y'know what, screw it. I love to love comics. For a while, there were very few I loved. Then, all of a sudden there was a lot. I'm supposed to give 10's sparingly, but the some of the comics I've been reading lately have been some of the best I've ever read, including this one, so despite it having its flaws, I'll give it a 10, just for thoroughly entertaining me, and giving me an amazing experience. more

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myconius - Dec 12, 2018

i had a feeling Tomasi wouldn't disappoint. the art team is really great too! hope they stay through most of the run, if possible.

ohhaimark - Dec 13, 2018

He certainly did not! I really loved the art here. I was amazed at how well each character was depicted.

myconius - Dec 13, 2018

most definitely!!! this comics was like a welcome breath of fresh air!

ohhaimark - Dec 13, 2018

Indeed! Not just for this series, but for the Batman character as well.

myconius - Dec 14, 2018

i could not agree more!

Darkseid24 - Dec 14, 2018

Not a full 10 for me, but it’s definitely a good issue. I however had my doubts with Tomasi, because of Arkham Knight& Arkham War. Glad he didn’t disappoint here.

ohhaimark - Dec 14, 2018

It was originally a nine, but I decided to rate it out of my enjoyment which was much higher. Never read either of those, I don’t read too many Batman comics, but I did love his Batman and Robin and Superman. He certainly did not disappoint. This was probably my favorite story debut of the year, overtaking Gideon Falls #1. It did everything it needed to, it never felt like it was trying too hard to be something it wasn’t.

Darkseid24 - Dec 14, 2018

I haven’t read those ( maybe I should), the problem I had with his AK comics was that they contradicted the game so often& they wasted the opportunity to explain answers that weren’t answered in the game. I hoped for more, when it was released. Don’t consider Arkham War or AK comics as bad though.

myconius - Dec 15, 2018

you should definitely check out Tomasi's New 52 Batman & Robin series. it's probably one of the best things he's ever done. i know his Rebirth Superman run also started off really strong. those Arkham Knight games were just a money grab by DC. Tomasi didn't really have much to work with there, as i found the very idea of the comics pointless. all the big reveals for the story were to be found within the game itself, so why even bother publishing the comic? DC just wanted to make extra $$$$$.

Amazing Psycamorean - Dec 15, 2018

His Rebirth Superman run stays strong for 25 issues. After that, it's not as good.

Darkseid24 - Dec 15, 2018

I’ll check them both out. I think there was a lot of potential with the AK comic. Tomasi could have answered unanswered questions like how exactly did Scarecrow survive& what did he do during these 2 years he was gone. Also Jason’s story could have been done better. The comics could have shown more how they planned their attack. And more importantly they shouldn’t contradict the game like Bane getting killed by Jason, while being alive in the game. So much potential, what was all wasted.

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Damn, tomasi did not disappoint.

The detective stuff were really well done. Art is great and this was one of the best issues of batman I read in a while.
And that ending! I can't express how much I want the next issue already. If you are looking for
a batman comic other than the main series, than this one seems to be the best one (at least according to this issue).

As someone who dropped Detective a while back after the League of Shadows arc and Tom King's Batman after Lee Weeks' on a Mr Freeze arc I am so happy to have picked this up! The setup is just so perfect and Mahnke's art is gorgeous. If you're looking for a Batman book, this is it.

Wow! Not only is Mahnke making Gary Frank/Dave Gibbons classic-style epicness, but Tomasi brought his A-game. Save for one syllable ("my...Martha" I guess the idea is Bruce is so thrown off he is imperfect in the moment?), this is pretty much a perfect issue. Batman detective-ing. Batman hero-ing. Flashbacks that aren't tiresome. I can't wait for the rest of this arc.

A VERY EXCELLENT START!

i held my expectations going into this one, but i was very pleasantly surprised.
Detective Comics was really dragging through the mud for a while there, and now Peter Tomasi has come with a mop and a bucket to do some much needed course correcting. thankfully so! it's about time we finally had a decent Batman title out there.

this was a fully charged strong issue to start off Tomasi's run.
characters act the way they should act, talk the way they should talk. the story had my full interest, took a few surprising turns, and the art was really great as well. the cliffhanger was a real shocker! a really great start and i can't wait to see where the story goes from here.
Doug Mahnke's art was in top form. Jaime Mendoza's ink complimented the pencils very well.
the colors were really great as well.
pound for pound, this was a really awesome comic!
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Really enjoyed this issue. It felt like Batman, like nothing else he's in nowadays seems to. I'm excited to see where this goes, even if it's Joker.

Finally, the long awaited return to a competent Batman written by a competent writer! Wonderful dialogue. Wonderful art. Tomasi and Mahnke at their best.

Definitely will be buying next issue.

Love the fact that Batman does actual detective work in the book.

SPOILERS

Death of Leslie Thompkins is pretty sad, but it doesn't seem cheap. Wonder what the giant red-demon thing is and what it has to do with the fake Thomas and Martha Wayne. Commissioner showing up and not getting punched is also great.

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bucswin611 - Dec 12, 2018

Maybe it'll be like some non-lethal/non-permanent toxin knock-off...? Idk...

myconius - Dec 13, 2018

it was left as a cliff hanger. so hopefully Batman has some Anti-Joker Gas antidote readily available in his Utility belt?

bucswin611 - Dec 13, 2018

Hopefully indeed!

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Well I will give him this, this issue definitely spark my interest! Have a feeling they’re some clues in this issue and will probably read it a few more times. The art is very good god though lately in Rebirth Batman has more of an ass voice but here he seems more soft. That cliffhanger definitely has me excited for next issue!

Tomasi came and did what we've all wanted him to - saved Detective Comics. And exceeded my expectations at that - the issue is stellar, and super tense. The setup is interesting, and very personal to Bruce, action is relentlessly fast paced, and the art looks definitely okay.
There's not a bad word I can say about Tomasi's introduction to Detective Comics. Welcome aboard, you have my attention!

Comic Book Review Scale (0-10)

0 -1 Story must keep me engaged:
From the first page to the last page I was kept engaged and wanted more, one part gave me chills.

1-2 Must be able to Understand the Story
A very fluid story you can just pick up without reading previous issues and understand what's going on.

2-3 Visuals/Artwork must make sense and be consistent
artwork was consistent and made sense

3-4 Visuals/Art work must be able to tell the story
The art in the panels told the story and the words mostly filled in the blanks

4-5 Visuals/Artwork must be pleasing
The artwork was very pleasing and detailed

5-6 Cover Artwork
Regular cover is nice the variant cover is amazing with Bruce as an 8-year-old boy standing over his parent's bodies with the batman reflection in their blood

6-7 Keep the reader wanting more
I wanted the next copy very bad as the story is pretty good and leading up to the 1000th Detective comics issue

7-8 Catches me off guard (story/art)
The story abruptly changed course from a quick phone call and ended with someone dying didn't see that coming at all from the cover and first few pages

8-9 Makes me want to talk about it ( to people outside the comic community)
The story is good but nothing amazing that I would talk about it with people unless I'm at my LCS

9-10 Re-readability
Looking the comic over after reading don't think after I seal it in the bag id ever reopen it for a re-read more

I thought this was great until the last page reveal. I kind of wish this had nothing to do with Joker for he's getting over used in every Bat title. Regardless, I'm happy and excited that Detective Comics is a detective book again with emotional stakes for Batman. Mahnke is great except for his design on the new creature in this book; very dark and uninspired which might be on purpose but still distracting. Overall, worth a read and I'm in on the countdown so far.

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bucswin611 - Dec 12, 2018

Agreed - but it could be someone else using the gas/toxin...? Maybe :/

thecomiccookebook - Dec 12, 2018

You're right, it could be someone else using the gas but even the gas has been overdone IMO.

myconius - Dec 13, 2018

we actually saw that mutant creature giving Leslie the gas. it's the part where she says- "i was the bait. you wanted Batman..."

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Good back-to-basics street level mystery.

That was a gut punch. No, two gut punches. But Tomasi writes Batman better than almost anyone, and Mahnke is never less than great. So glad to have two the best back on the Bat.

Very strange happenings in this one, but it is so welcome after James Robinson. This actually gave me Arkham game vibes. It felt like a story that would have happened on one of the missions, not complaining though those games had excellent writing.

Also this could be a huge stretch but the font of "The Mark" looked a lot how I remember The Mask's logo and Doug Mahnke was very prolific on The Mask. Coincidence? Probably...

"I promise"

Two great Batman stories in one week and Gordon wasn't punched in the face in either of them? Is this early Christmas or something?

Tomasi and Mahnke always make a great team or Dynamic Due if you want a Bat-pun. The first one almost always delivers a good and compelling story and the second one perfectly compliments it with his artwork.
This time it's the murder of Wayne's doppelgangers which rattles Bats a bit, making him almost spill his secret and the apparent return of the Joker. Still no word about the Three Jokers plot thread from way back when. But to be honest, does anybody still remembers that, including DC?

This is how you start a new story. Interesting and weird mystery, crazy ending and you can sleep easy knowing that the reader will be there for the next issue. I know I will be. more

Tomasi‘s Arkham Knight run was underwhelming& a waste of great potential. Arkham War also was mediocre, so I wasn’t really excited for his take on Detective Comics. However his new Detective Comics story started quite good. Bruce is finally acting like Batman& does some detective work. Tomasi also manages to portray Bruce’s relationship to Gordon& Leslie right. It was great to see these two work together like in the old days. The only thing I didn’t really like was the ending, since it seems to be a Joker story again. Joker seems to be everywhere lately.

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myconius - Dec 12, 2018

i could be wrong, but i don't think the Joker is actually behind this. pretty sure i'd read in a solicit that it was someone that had gotten their hands on Joker gas.

Darkseid24 - Dec 12, 2018

Yes you could be right here, I just thought „not Joker again“, while reading it lol

myconius - Dec 12, 2018

i wouldn't mind a Joker story if done right. i haven't enjoyed his portrayal in comics in quite a few years. not a fan of Tom King's Joker and i didn't really care for Tony Daniel or Scott Snyder's Joker stories either. i'll never understand why the Joker would want his own face cut off.

Darkseid24 - Dec 12, 2018

Same here. I think Snyder exaggerates Joker quite often. Actually I miss Pre52 Joker.

myconius - Dec 12, 2018

yeah. Joker was such a great character already before the New 52. then for the sake of making everything new and extreme, they just had to make him Edgy-To-The-Max! - - subtlety be damned. - - i wonder why they never wrote into the story, Joker having to take all sorts of pain meds for having all those open nerve endings in his face? or have him go into extreme shock then just bleed to death? or perhaps a story where his facial wound gets gangrenous? i don't know what the point was.

Darkseid24 - Dec 13, 2018

I was asking myself this too. Cutting his face off seemed pointless, but it at least gave us some disturbing scenes like the one with Damien.

myconius - Dec 14, 2018

i did like Tomasi's scene with Joker & Damian. but the whole scenario is still silly. the best Damian/Joker scene we ever got spanned through Morrison's Batman & Robin issues #13 & #14. - "

myconius - Dec 14, 2018

(Joker)“Behind this terrible, terrible face I’m just- I’m just- I was a little boy wonder once, too. I didn’t set out to be this.” (Damian)“You say you’re a force of chaos and you don’t plan anything, it just happens. But I’ve read your files and everything’s a plan. So what is it this time? Because I don’t think you know what chaos is. Chaos is needing needing someone to change your feeding tube. Chaos is not being able to go to the toilet without help.” (Joker)“You sound just like… like HIM"

Darkseid24 - Dec 14, 2018

Lol yeah. I liked Death of the Family though, but Endgame had some flaws.

myconius - Dec 17, 2018

i've tried my best to try to re-read Endgame. but i just can't get through all the exposition.

Darkseid24 - Dec 18, 2018

Some parts were weird, but Endgame is ok. The Gordon Batman story was awful.

myconius - Dec 19, 2018

some stories i find Snyder just likes to assault his readers with a barrage of needless dialog/exposition. not sure between or Endgame or Zero Year which is more guilty of this. they were both quite the slog to read. OH YEAH. that Gordon Bat story was absolutely MISERABLE!! i was counting down the issues until that was over with. even Capullo's art seemed to take a hit from that arc. you could tell having to draw that was draining his soul.

Darkseid24 - Dec 19, 2018

Me too, that’s why I was happy back then, when King took over& Bruce became normal again.

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This is definitely better than James Robinson, I didn’t always feel like it was really Batman’s voice, but mostly I enjoyed!

I left Detective comics some time after Tynion IV left, I tried Robinson without success but wanted to leave a chance to Tomasi.
This issues isn't bad but seems to put some element I already seen in another Bats story.
Ok not entirely identical but the murder of two people who look alike the wayne remember me the time Ra's stole their coffin for exemple. The way bruce is targeted that place Ra's or hush in my first suspects. Joker too now that one of them know bruce identity.

Cover - Nice and related 1/2
Writing - Not bad but not really original 1.5/3
Arts - Gleason did good. I tend to not be fond of the face of the woman he draw, but I can pass that easily with all he give. 3/3
Feeling - Not sure with this one. So mixed ! 1/2
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