Detective comics #870

          I've really enjoyed this arc, it showed the mayhem of what the Joker, or even someone who was joker gassed can be. The last couple of issues have been fantastic, they've been nearly perfect. I've liked David Hine for a while, because of his work with Batman and his villains, but he has out done himself.
          In this issue the "Impostor War" is on its last day. War has broken out in the fair that Winslow Heath set up. Batman goes and hunts down the Impostor Batman. He fights him and then rips off his mask, revealing that he is Winslow Heath/Impostor Joker. Heath says "I found that spot when I was exploring the rooftops. I used to climb around up there where it's quiet, away from the crowds and the hustle. No one else ever went up there, just me and Beth, we'd get stoned...I was planning to ask her to spend the rest of her life with me." That is when the Joker gassed him and Beth. Batman rescued Heath, but no one noticed Beth. The two survived because of some drugs they took, but Beth was hidden and frozen, as the birds fed off of her, while she was still alive. He blames Batman "We're collateral damage. You're the reason [the Joker] comes to Gotham. You're the reason they all come. The impostor Joker escapes and goes home to the skeleton of Beth.
           This is a great issue. Hine really pulled the watch the world burn thing down. I especially liked how Winslow Heath was the Impostor Joker, and the Impostor Batman, he just wanted to see the world burn. As I've said before the art in this is amazing, not because it's especially good, but it captures the insanity of the Impostor War, it's even better now that Winslow Heath was trying to accomplish just that. The part with Beth I thought was done very well because that combined with Joker gas, and a little bit of being awake during a coma, is enough to make someone crazy. Although I didn't like the "you bring the Joker here" bit, because like in Superman #705 I've seen it so many times before. While I do know with thousands of Batman stories, and it's probably getting hard not to recycle things, but those past two events have been constant themes in series of comics, and each time the authors think it's going to be as shocking as last time. My last complaint with this issue is that Winslow Heath being the Impostor Batman was really predictable. So I wouldn't say this issue is a must buy, just a check it out if you have nothing to do. Although if you've been a fan of the series then pick it up.          
      




Grade: 7/10
Buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

Detective Comics #869

           I really liked the first issue of this arc, but I didn't know what to think about the issue after that, I will admit that I was misinformed about what Winslow Heath was putting the knock off Joker gas in. I thought it was day to day products, which would have copied the Batman movie, making the plot unoriginal.
           In this issue some cops come back to work after they have apparently been out with food poisoning, but Bullock is suspicious that they are working for the Guardian Bats. Also when Heath's chief scientist enjoys watching people kill each other Wilson is not amused. He then opens a fair and resizes tones of Joker gas to the people who are attending, all of which are previous gas users. The Guardian Bats rally, where the leader of the Guardian Bats throw a "Guardian Robin" off the roof. Also somewhere in the middle of the issue, when the Impostor Joker was in a comma, he was actually awake for that entire time.
          I almost didn't pick up this arc because of the art work, but now it is continuously impressing me. It is ridiculously cartoony which reflects the insanity of Gotham, and the Jokerz. I also like that this "Impostor Joker" has a sole, if he were exactly like the Joker (which is one of the better characters ever made) the series would be boring, because even though it would be pleasantly violent, and twisted, the entire time I would be thinking" this isn't actually the Joker."
          I especially like the idea of the Guardian Bats. This rash and violent militia is what would happen in a situation that was this scary, this publicized, and this out of control. That is why I like this arc, between addiction, the violent militia, and the crazy art work, this arc does exactly what Batman is supposed to be, realistic, and twisted. DC has been doing a great job with Batman in that way, the only problem is that would be much better if this was Bruce Wayne, which would then be the person who was supposed to be Batman, being who Batman is supposed to be. Regardless, pick this issue up, it's fantastic.



Grade: 9/10
Buy at: www.mycomicshop.com