REVIEW: ‘Detective Comics,’ Issue #1066

Detective Comics #1066 from DC revives a battered Batman to continue his crusade against the vicious Orgham clan. The main tale is written by Ram V, with art by Ivan Reis, inks by Danny Miki, and letters by Arianna Maher. Story Two comes courtesy of Si Spurrier, with pencils by Hayden Sherman and letters by Steve Wands. Dave Stewart supplies colors for both. The main storyline of ‘Gotham Nocturne’ takes on another volume, a new Act One, Part One. It begins days after the last issue. Batman, at last, awakens from the drowning/electrocution he received, with ‘daddy’ Jim Gordon on watch.

We get the gist of what happened before from Gordon reading the newspaper. As Batman comes to, he and Gordon have a very good, albeit brief, exchange. It’s great knowing that Batman had no idea Gordon was back in town, but also that even a weary Dark Knight can still vanish on his old pal. Elsewhere in Gotham, the Orghams celebrate by demolishing what remains of Arkham Asylum, while Two-Face plays a game of life and death with one of his subordinates.

First off, while we are still waiting to see exactly what the Orghams have planned, I am loving the subtle psychological shift in Two-Face. By awakening the dark side of Harvey while keeping the Two-Face persona just an annoying backseat passenger, Two-Face has become a hideous fakery of his former criminal self. It’s such a good pivot on what would otherwise be more of the same. Harvey is evil, but he never had to be, so he hides it behind an act: the Two-Face behavior pattern. This is marvelous. Add this to what will happen once Batman finds out he’s in league with the Orghams, and things can only get better (and worse, for characters) from here.

Detective Comics #1066 is grim. V gives us a lot of drudgery in the stories, Two-Face, and Bruce Wayne, even though the city itself is celebrating a new horizon. There’s a good deal of darkness in the art to partner with the writing, courtesy of Reis’ gritty handiwork and Miki’s macabre inks. The Two-Face panels alone are horrifically good. Stewart keeps the mood literally blue for the most part but gets to unleash a broader spectrum of hues that really pop as the main story moves along. Maher lays down a lot of words in this issue, never in the way, and I love the three-pupil symbol for Shavhod’s speech boxes. There’s a lot of juicy dialogue before the story descends into action, with a lot of characters facing hard truths about how things are going down.

The second story continues Two-Face’s internal struggle in the trippy art style from Sherman I adore and Stewart’s wild use of colors. Two-Face is trying to save Harvey from being the bad one, and it would be cute if it wasn’t creepy and, well, narcissistic. Curiously, a new player introduced a few months back tries their hand at healing the deep-seated psychosis within Harvey Dent. Not gonna spoil who steps in, only that it’s good to see them stand out, even for a moment, to see what else they can do. But Two-Face is…a hot wreck. More than ever before. This issue makes that abundantly clear. Twice. Glad to see him getting more coverage in the comics.

I love the breakdowns taking place. Characters are disintegrating as they try to exist in whatever Gotham is about to become. It seems, for now, like only the Orghams can own contentment. Batman is behind the proverbial eightball. Two-Face is a pawn without and within. Gordon is just skirting by. And we haven’t even gotten to the terror the city’s new villain family will release. The air of change and its stressful weight is well handled in this book. I love these storylines and hope they continue to sizzle on every new page to come.

Detective Comics #1066 is available wherever comic books are sold.