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

Detective Comics #868

          I've said it a thousand times, but I'm going to say it again, I love the Batman villains. So naturally copycats interest me. The previous issue was pretty good, it wasn't the best thing I had ever read, but I'm glad I picked it up. So I wanted to continue with the story arc.
         In this issue the Jokerz are still  in the streets. But where there are copy cat Jokers there are copy cat Batmen. So now there is a war between the Guardian Bats (who use guns) and the Jokerz.  Batman tries the Joker gas so he can see how it feels, and then the head of the Jokerz announces free money day. Then we find out a plan that the Jokerz have to hide the gas in pharmaceuticals.
        Free money day, and hiding the gas (in what I think was) pharmaceuticals, that is exactly what the Joker did in Batman. (the one with Jack Nicholson, and Michael Keaton) If that was done on purpose I think that is pretty cool, because it's a copy cat Joker, lets have a copy cat Joker crime. But if that was done by accident, then that ruins the comic, if it's just a complete copy off the movie then I've lost all respect for David Hine. I thought the Guardian Bats were okay, I've seen things like that hundreds of times, but when there's a copy cat Joker, there is a copy cat Batman.
        The scene where Batman tries the Joker venom was fantastic, he's been fighting the Joker for years, trying to get inside his head, and now he knows how he feels, the only thing that would have made that better, is if Bruce Wayne was alive, and he's the one that went through that. Plus it would be cool to see that done in more serious art. But for the most part I really like the art.
         Scot McDaniel's pencils and Guy Major's color were both great in this issue, they captured and enhanced the insanity that was shown in this comic. You have people dressing up as clowns and going on crime sprees, and then you have people dressing up as bats, and killing the clowns. That is just plain crazy, and the art really magnified it.
        I can't really grade this comic because I don't know if what David Hine did was on purpose or not, and just hearing that would be the difference between a great comic and an awful one, so I can't grade it, but I'll recommend buying it.



Grade: N/A/10
Buy at: www.mycomicshop.com