Detective Comics #940

Script: James Tynion IV
Pencils: Eddy Barrows
Inks: Eber Ferreira
Colors: Adriano Lucas
Letters: Marylin Patrizio
Publisher: DC

**This review contains spoilers**

I think the general fatigue among big two readers towards death isnt only about the impermanence of it but seeing the same thing over and over is tiresome, if all the main and supporting characters are heroes, if the writers decide to kill them off it makes sense that heroes have to be broken down physically or mentally before performing an act of ultimate sacrifice to save civilians from a larger threat. And many superheroes die in that fashion: among otheres there's Batman, Thunderbird, Hawkeye, Superman, etc. Their deaths can't be understated. If you have these characters, which many of us love, that are meant to stand for everything that's good in the world, their demise needs to be grandiose and cement them as capital-h Heroes.

And that doesn't really make for compelling reading. Tim Drake doesn't die (due to Rebirth hijinx of some sort) on this issue of Detective Comics but he might as well have. It's very overwrought, and this final chapter of “Rise of the Batmen” was kind of a drag to read. Most of the issue is about him being eulogized by his fellow vigilantes, bringing the momentum that this series had built to a halt. Amidst all the mourning, that streak of unchecked rage that has always creeped me out about Batman resurfaces, but since the focus of Tynion's story is about the Batfamily there is a tender scene between Bruce Wayne and Spoiler, which kind of summarizes what's been so good about this series.

Ths issue also contains my least favorite art on this run so far. Everyone's face is very heavily rendered, presumably to give some gravitas to their expressions, but I just don't like the way it looks. That being said, Barrows is great at drawing certain characters, so even though Nightwing and Spoiler, who have most of their faces uncovered by their costumed, look a bit goofy, Batwoman and Batman are really imposing. Adriano Lucas takes over the coloring from Al Barrionuevo here and the palette he uses for Gotham's skyline gives the setting a more supernatural quality.

I'll admit that the twist at the end was surprising. I thought that final scene worked well because of the hints of despair in Robin's dialogue. I'm somewhat Concerned about the internal logic of the larger Rebirth story, but I would be happy if after all this we're going to still see more of Tim Drake in Tynion's Detective Comics.

I didn't enjoy this issue of Detective Comics as much as the previous ones but I'm still on board. The “Monster Men” crossover might get skipped by me because I'm not reading Batman and I'm on the fence about Nightwing but this first arc single-handedly made me care about this cast of characters, it's definitely worth reading.