Detective Comics #1086 Review: The Shadows Loom Large

uilar - June 29, 2023 0

The core theme last issue, and arguably the entire Intermezzo arc before that, was the idea of reconciling the different sides of one’s self. Much of Bruce’s internal conflict stems from how he deals with his trauma in the form of the “Batman” persona. Often this can lead to isolating himself from others (as was just seen in the pages of Batman) or even becoming self-destructive. However, his spiritual journey in the desert has led him to finally accept both sides of himself into a stronger whole. That same idea continues here as Bruce confronts Harvey Dent.

The conflict with one’s self is an obvious fit for a character called Two-Face. It comes up just about every time he features in a story, and here is no exception. Despite Harvey’s psyche supposedly having been subsumed entirely by his evil side, he still manages to fight back, if even for the briefest of moments. With Batman’s help, he’s able to totally regain control and work with him to create a plan to retake Gotham. Each point of this encounter shares the same idea: embracing the darkness within instead of trying to destroy it. Bruce, Harvey, and even Gotham City itself are all harmed when they try to excise an intrinsic part of themselves.

This is also the core of the Orgham’s plan. Like so many real life politicians, they want to divide society by creating an abject “other” which can be used to include all of their enemies. More than that, it instills obedience and terror in those on the inside, lest they be assailed by the other, or worse, become them. Of course, this is comics, so mundane ideas must be expressed in fantastical ways. The Orghams do not simply metaphorically turn the impoverished into monsters to be feared – they literally transform them. This attack also doubles as a false flag to demonize anyone who might challenge their rule.

All of this is made so much more effective by the art. Stefano Raffaele’s heavy linework continues to create a surreal and foreboding atmosphere. It can especially be felt in the sequence with the Ten-Eyed Man, where he’s presented as a deranged version of Oracle who taps into the psychic energy of the city instead of its computers. However, what I really want to focus on is Lee Loughridge’s colors. His use of stark color contrasts makes everything on the page pop, even if in subtle ways. Each panel will only contains two or three colors, but then rely on slight hue changes to give it depth. It greatly adds to the alien feeling of the story.

The one exception to this style, which only further emphasizes its use elsewhere, is in the scenes introducing Duela Dent which take place in a normal suburban neighborhood. Part of this is to make it all the more shocking when the Joker arrives, but I’m not sure he works here. While Raffaele’s unsettling linework does a great job of creating unease elsewhere in the story, his Joker maybe goes too far. Any sense of joviality or humor is lost in what just comes across as foul. This is mirrored by the writing, where the only “jokes” are that he thinks it’s funny when things die. Despite a characterization over-infatuated with murder, Joker is only briefly present. His primary purpose is to bring Duela into the story by ruining her peaceful life.

It’s too early to say where her inclusion will be going, but as of now it feels very out of left field. We’re very late in the run (only three issues left to go) to be introducing an entirely new character, especially one with so much potential narrative baggage. It grinds the pacing of this issue to a halt as we get caught up to speed on who she is and why she’s involved, and even then it’s still not clear why she’s part of it. This sequence does tie into the overall theme of masking your true self with a veneer of acceptability, so hopefully that will come to the forefront as she plays a presumably larger role next month.

Score: 7.5/10

Backup: Habeas Corpus

The backup gives a glimpse into Harvey’s mind with a setup that should initially look very familiar. It involves him managing his criminal empire through fear, mitigated by his reliance on the flip of a coin for whether to be good or evil. The opening successfully captures the seedy, crime-filled atmosphere in which Harvey operates. Much of this is thanks to Lisandro Estherren’s art along with Patricio Delpeche’s colors, which ooze grime in the dark streets of Gotham.

A lot of time (maybe too much for such a short story) is spent with Harvey monologuing about the current situation so as to explain what’s happened so far. However, once that’s out of the way we get to the meat of the story: his inner conflict of whether or not to punish a subordinate