Detective Comics #936

Script: James Tynion IV
Pencils: Álvaro Martínez
Inks: Raúl Fernández
Colors: Brad Anderson
Letters: Marilyn Patrizio
Publisher: DC

I'm filling in for Brandon this week as he was a bit busy, but I'm really happy that I get the chance to review what has quickly become one of my favorite new series! The greatest part of Detective Comics for me so far has been being exposed to all these amazing characters for the first time. Cassandra Cain has easily become one of my favorites, and Tynion's handle over his cast is masterful, having established each character's traits and personality in a very short period of time. And with Batman gone for the whole issue, the focus is entirely on Batwoman, Red Robin, Spoiler, Orphan, and Clayface, and there are a lot of fantastic little character moments that just make you root for them.

In this issue, we learn more about The Colony, who are the villains of this arc and were last seen fighting Batman. The main focus is placed on Batwoman as she's thrust into a position of leadership after we learn that The Colony has taken down the Batman. Leadership is the main theme as we see her talk to Renee Montoya (!) about her experience in the military and how it relates to her training the Batmen, however Tynion brings it back to how her duties affect her personal life as the secrecy with which she speaks ends up driving Renne away. Even though Red Robin built the hi-tech Belfry with the X-Men-esque Mud Room, at the end of the issue we see the team on the run and a lot will have to depend on their resourcefulness. It's something that positions them as underdogs as The Colony appear to get stronger with each issue.

With the first fill-in art team taking over this week, I was a bit nervous since I wasn't familiar with the work of either Martínez or Fernández but the transition is fairly painless. Martínez's lines are cleaner than Ebér Ferreira's but this issue still has the same baroque layouts and a very similar color palette to the one of the previous two installments, so the style of the series doesn't really change. The final product mantains that same mid-00s vibe that the first two parts of “Rise of the Batmen” had. That consistency can be expected from future issues as Martínez and Fernández will do the next 2 issues with Ferreira and Barrows drawing #939.

This book is a blast, it feels like a great movie blockbuster. It's thought of as an axiom that the quality of a series will drop when double-shipped but so far Tynion and the 'Tec team have kept a really high standard, taking full advantage of their amazing cast and clearly placing this book as one of the better things happening in superhero comics.