Review: Detective Comics Vol. 4- Deus Ex Machina
Quick Summary
Pros: Both of the book’s main storylines are well crafted and do a great job of complimenting each other. The characters continue to be fantastic. The book gives out some great hints at a larger story. The entire book looks beautiful.
Cons: The Spoiler storyline stumbles a bit in its message.
Overall: This is another example of how the Detective Comics series is continuing to evolve and become more entertaining as it continues. This book takes the characters everyone has grown to love and places them in a variety of exciting and tense situations. The result is a story filled with action, fun, and even a little bit of meaningful dialogue. This is a book for anyone who wants to read more about the Bat-family or see a great episode from Batman’s past.
Story
Detective Comics, by James Tynion IV, is a series that seems to get better and better with each subsequent volume. Around half of the book follows the member of the Bat-family dealing with demons from Azrael’s past, while the other half follows Batman and Zatanna’s pursuit of a new mystery. Both halves are entertaining on their own, but here they play off each other in a delightfully complimentary manner. There is really only one chapter where the book stumbles, though it is still a fun chapter to read. All in all, Detective Comics Vol. 4: Deus Ex Machina is exciting when it comes to plot, touching when it comes to characters, and addictive when it comes to mystery.
(spoilers start here)
About half of the book is dedicated to the Bat-family’s response to an attack from Ascalon, an artificial intelligence form the cult that created Azrael. This portion continues the artificial intelligence and mysticism themes teased at the conclusion of Detective Comics Vol. 3 (Review) while also telling a story that is just plain fun. One moment Azrael will be talking about his purpose in life and what it means to be an individual, while the next will have Batwoman make a joke about dating an actress from a vampire movie. This blend of serious and fun hits just the right notes and makes this a tremendously entertaining read.
Meanwhile, the other half of the book has Batman seek out his old friend Zatanna in order to discover the answers to his life’s mysteries. This arc raises questions about the inherent mystery of the future and whether it is better to know or not know. It also contains several great scenes from Batman’s past that build him as a character and reestablish his childhood relationship with Zatanna. In addition, though I’ve loved the way this series focuses more on the Bat-family than on Batman himself, it is nice to see the Caped Crusader get some character development in this particular instance.
In the end, these two halves coalesce in a conclusion that provides a thematic end to both parts. Batman decides that he cannot know the answer to all of life’s questions, accepting that this is something no human can possess. Meanwhile, learning these answers completely reverses the rogue AI’s programming, something which matches Azrael’s faith in humanity and giving his story a satisfactory end.
In addition to providing a satisfactory conclusion to this volume, this book also gives readers a number of reasons to come back for more. The Ra’s al Ghul conspiracy has become even more developed, with his influence stretching from Zatanna’s father in the past to Azrael’s father in the present. Plus, the return of Tim Drake is quite nearly confirmed as this storyline closes. Tynion is clearly working toward something big here and I am very excited to find out what it will end up being.
The only part of the book that seemed to stumble was the chapter completely unconnected to the “Intelligence” arc. This chapter focuses on how Spoiler is doing things in a nontraditional way and is finally being better than Batman. Though it is entertaining on its own, the message is lost in the simple fact that Batman has had storylines that play out just like Spoiler’s did. Sneaking in, taking out the villain, and giving the police credit is not something atypical of the Dark Knight, which makes it harder to connect with Spoiler’s cause. This is still a fun chapter to read but not one that hits its mark like the rest of the book.
(spoilers end here)
Art
The artwork in Deus Ex Machina is almost exclusively done by the same team throughout, which immediately provides a level of consistency that many current titles lack. What helps even more, is that this particular team is really good at what they do. Álvaro Martínez’s penciles, Raúl Fernández’s inks, and Brad Anderson’s colors create a book that is filled with beauty and detail. They perfectly capture the cinematic tone that this series has established and use it to its full potential. Locations are detailed, action sequences are exciting, and the tone is always exactly what it needs to be.
In addition, I think that the character design in this book is particularly impressive. The heroes look just as good in street-clothes or in flashbacks as they do in full costume. Their everyday attire is distinct and designed to match their personality, as evidenced by the gang’s clothing at the basketball game or Bruce and Zatanna’s clothing in flashbacks. It is a small detail that helps solidify these characters as real people, something that is very important in a book as character focused as this one.
Continuity
Detective Comics Vol. 4: Deus Ex Machina continues the story from Detective Comics Vol. 3: The League of Shadows (Review).
The story here continues in Detective Comics Vol. 5: A Lonely Place of Living (Review).
This volume also references and continues the stories from other comic books, detailed below:
- The story behind Azrael’s connection to the Order of St. Dumas and the story behind Mother are detailed in Batman and Robin Eternal Vol. 1.
- The origin behind the “Rookie” Luke addresses is detailed in Batman Vol. 8: Superheavy (Review).
- Zatanna mentions a “question about Metal”. This is a reference to the Dark Nights: Metal series.
- The reference to the Joker’s history with Henry Claridge dates back to the very first issue of Batman, now collected in Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 1 or Batman: The Golden Age Vol. 1.