I think you are right - no critical reviews and your one user review is a shame for a character that should be a must read each month

It’s too bad because there are some great ideas in this storyline. Wally splitting himself to fight a battle is a good idea. But there are some real problems with it as well.

What about Batman Dark Patterns?!?

You know what's funny, I thought of that earlier and did consider adding a caveat. Thank you for the nudge my friend. Perhaps let's put it like this? Dark Patterns is the best solo Batman comic and Year One is the best Batman and Robin comic. I must say, it's nice to see Dark Patterns get so much love. It does detective Batman so beautifully that other more recent attempts have really paled comparatively.

I can agree to that…

Sweet. What are your top 5 current favourite comics?

Absolute Superman Absolute Martian manhunter Dark Patterns Daredevil cold day in hell Batman & Robin year One And you?

What is it about Dark Patterns that does detective Batman well compared to other recent attempts?

For me it’s Batman’s attention to detail in crime solving. That’s the best way to summarize it without explaining to much. There is also the point of the three issue arc. For comparison, PKJ detective storu in B&R is going on forever. There are also other problems with that title that are distracting. Then there is the Ram V story in Detective, which wasn’t really a detective story. And the Tom Taylor opening story is more about character than it is detection.

Plus art is great. Same artist as absolute Wonder Woman. Hayden Sherman.

George, you nailed it beautifully. To me, it's investigatory nature feels more front and centre than most other modern Batman comics. You make a good point, due to its brevity with three issues - we got more frequent mysteries, resulting in more detective elements. The art is beautiful. It adds a grit that really fleshes out its mystery vibe.

Thanks!

i reviewed this issue earlier today and reading your review, I believe we might have had a mind meld

Great art dragged down my mid stories.

Jo is a green lantern from a series called far sector. It’s a good story. I didn’t care for the art. But making Jo the lead here with the other green lanterns as supporting characters was a mistake. One of the great things about absolute is simplicity of approach. This isn’t well executed. And I’m a big Al Ewing fan from 2000ad days on Zombo.

Cheers George, appreciate the details. Al Ewing's Hulk run was monumental. I've read a lot of his works and I'm seldom disappointed. The problem here is the premise. Even good dialogue wouldn't save it. It's a mystery story but I find myself uninterested in uncovering it. I've made a personal commitment to read all Absolute series. I'm going to stick with it but it's going to take something special to save it. If indeed, it can be saved.

I want to stick with it but there are a lot of good books on the stands. This is by far the worst absolute book, at the bottom of the stack for me, and I need to cut a few books.