DC Crimes of Passion #1 Review

by Wes Greer on February 05, 2020

DC Crimes of Passion #1
Written by – Various
Art – Various
Publisher – DC Comics


Well, for all you big fans of love, romance, and passion, DC has done something special for all of you to enjoy for your Valentines Day. DC has assembled a giant 80 page issue that contains ten tales of “crimes of passion’ from around the DC Universe. The publisher enlisted various writers and artists from across the publisher and put them all together to make one surprisingly fun to read book. I was a little skeptical of this issue, thinking it was just another valentines day grab, but was actually delighted by some of the stories in this issue. Rather than review every single story in this one, Ill just introduce the stories and their creative team, and talk about a couple I enjoyed the most.

So, the titles of the stories in this issue are as follows:

Batman in “More Than Maybe”
Writer – Steve Orlando Art – Greg Smallwood

Wildcat in “Pulling Punches”
Writer – Stephanie Phillips Art- Riley Rossmo Colors – Jordie Bellaire

Pied Piper n “Secret Admirer”
Writer – Sam Johns & James Tynion IV Art- Gleb Melnikov Colors – Luis Guerrero

Green Arrow and Black Canary in “The Crimson Bomber”
Writer – Phillip Kennedy Johnson Art – Paul Fry Color – Jeromy Cox Ink- Mark Farmer

Plastic Man in “The Prettiest Thing”
Writer – Sina Grace Art – Mike Norton Colors – HI-FI

Batwoman in “Out o – Kieran McKeownf the Past”
Writer – Jordan Clark Art – Kieran McKeown Ink – Dexter Vines Colors – Adriano Lucas

Slam Bradley in “One Last Dance”
Writer – Mat Groom Art – Anthony Spay Ink – Jason Paz & Wade Von GrawBadger Colors – Arie Prianto

Nightwing and Batgirl in “(K)night Falls In Bludhaven
Writer – Jay Baruchel Art – Andie Tong Colors – Steve Oliff

Catwoman in “Cant Buy Me Love”
Writer – Liz Erickson Art – Abel Colors – John Kalisz

The Question in “Reflections Of The Heart”
Writer – Ram V Art – John Paul Leon

Ok, so if you guys are still with me, all of these stories are amazing and its so much fun when DC brings in various writers for these projects because we get a new take on some of these characters we all know and love and its nice to get something fresh from time to time. Granted this doesn’t always pay off, for the most part this issue is one of the better ones to do this.
 “More Than Maybe” by Steve Orlando is one of my most favorite stories in the entire book. It really breaks down Bruce’s emotional side as it shows him and a woman he has grown close too, but he is conflicted by his own anger and darkness that he uses to motivate himself as the batman and Orlando does a very beautiful job breaking down the emotional side of Bruce and showing just how truly conflicted he is by his mission as Batman. The story really breaks down why Bruce must go through his life alone, because being Batman is so much more then what most conceive it to mean. I also really loved the art style that Greg Smallwood decided to go with. It’s a very early comic look as if out of the War Era in DC comics and it relates its self seamlessly with the story. It feels like a classic tale, but really is timeless in its meaning. This story easily could have come from an earlier age of comics, or an issue hitting  print today. The creative team really hit it out of the park with this one and its just so deep and beautiful and something every Batman fan should read.

All of the other stories follow close behind, and I really recommend you check out the entire issue. Nightwing and Batgirls have a fantastic story spun in this issue written by actor Jay Baruchel which is just brilliant, and I also loved The Question story written by Ram V. I was pretty bummed not to see a Flash story as I always loved Barry and Iris’s connection and there was no Superman tale which we all know the classic tale with Lois Lane. DC Crimes of passion is available today, so pick it up at your local comic store and enjoy all the tales inside!
-Wes Greer
 

Our Score:

8/10

A Look Inside