One of my biggest problems with this book has been that it always has Batman rushing in to save the day when things are looking a bit rough for our detectives, and while there's a scene in this issue where this looks to be the case, the scene does take a somewhat unexpected twist when we see that after the explosion Batman didn't protect the detective from the explosion. Now this may not seem like a big deal and it may annoy some Batman fans who believe the character should never be allow to fail, but frankly I rather like the fact that there are times when the detectives aren't going to be saved by Batman when the going gets rough. This issue also nicely plays up the idea that the Joker is someone that our cast isn't prepared to deal with, and while I felt they were shown to be far too relaxed when it came to viewing Joker as a threat even while in custody, the sequence where he breaks free does a wonderful job selling the idea of how quickly the character can become a truly terrifyin Read Full Review

A great conclusion to this arc. I loved the brief commentary at the end on Batman and his work in Gotham compared to Superman in Metropolis. Batman isn't given the benefit of the doubt when people get hurt, and people tend to blame him for attracting all the crazies and innocent people getting caught in the crossfire. His mysterious and reclusive persona makes people hesitate to trust that he has Gotham's best interests at heart and whether he always does the right thing. The people don't believe in Batman like the citizens of Metropolis believe in Superman. I guess it just goes to show: he's not the hero Gotham deserves, but he's the hero they need.