Review: Detective Comics Vol. 4- The Wrath

Quick Summary

Pros: The majority of the book’s storylines are interesting and well-written. The book’s main villain is compelling and the final showdown against him is very epic. The artwork is high-quality and the entire book looks great.

Cons: The “Emperor Penguin” storyline, from the previous volume, receives a lackluster ending here.

Overall: This book starts out by making a pretty serious blunder but manages to make up for it as it progresses. This blunder revolves around a storyline from the previous volume, which is handled poorly here. However, the rest of the stories told here are fun and lead to an awesome conclusion for this volume’s main villain. Fans of the previous volume might start this one a bit put off but should be able to end it satisfied with the rest of the content.

Story

Detective Comics Vol. 4: The Wrath, by John Layman, botches the storyline set up by the previous volume but gets almost everything else right. The majority of the tales told here are interesting, compelling, and exciting. There is even a solid mix of diversity in the type of stories being told, as some are standard superhero fare while others are closer to psychological horror. The only major disappointment is that the “Emperor Penguin” storyline, started in the previous volume, comes to a surprisingly quick end here. Otherwise, this is a very enjoyable volume that almost every fan should be able to appreciate.

(spoilers start here)

This volume starts out by continuing the “Emperor Penguin” storyline from the previous volume. Emperor Penguin releases a Man-Bat plague on the city and uses the resulting chaos to commit a spree of robberies. This portion of the story is pretty exciting and kicks off a new storyline that has a good deal of potential.

However, the conclusion to the Emperor Penguin arc is a significant disappointment. A huge part of the previous volume was devoted to establishing this plotline, in order for it to come to an epic and meaningful conclusion. Instead, it ends with two quick fights and surprisingly little fanfare. I was really hoping for more from this compelling character, especially since the previous volume made it seem like he would play a large role here. So, for me, this was the worst part of the book.

From here though, the rest of the book manages to successfully hit its mark. It starts this by telling two short stories, one about Bruce Wayne’s past love and another about a creepy psychopath. These stories are great right from the start; they are compelling and well-written. However they are also great because of their diversity. The first is intense action while the second is more along the lines of horror. Having two short conflicts also helps in separating the more major arcs in this book and gives time for the “Wrath” storyline to build up to a larger and more meaningful conclusion.

This setup allows for the “Wrath” conclusion to become the best and most exciting portion of this book. Layman lays out the mystery behind Wrath’s identity far in advance, giving readers plenty of time to speculate about it. As the story moves toward its endgame, the mystery is revealed and suspense and action skyrocket. All of this comes together as Batman and Wrath face off in a showdown that sees Wrath driving a giant tank through the streets of Gotham. It is a conclusion that is appropriately epic and is sure to satisfy readers.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Like its predecessor, The Wrath primarily features artwork from Jason Fabok and Andy Clarke. Both of these artists are incredibly talented and are able to create a book with beautiful characters and plenty of detail. They are also specifically adept in depicting the gruff streets of Gotham, which they do throughout this volume. The end result is a book with the same high quality artwork we raved about in our review of the last volume.

Continuity

Detective Comics Vol. 4: The Wrath continues the story started in Detective Comics Vol. 3: Emperor Penguin (Review).

The story here continues in Detective Comics Vol. 5: Gothtopia (Review).

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• Joker’s recent attack ended with GCPD officers dead and the Bat-family full of distrust. This is explained in Batman Vol. 3: Death of the Family (Review).
• Talia al Ghul’s use of the Man-Bat serum is referenced. She obtained the serum at the beginning of the Batman and Son storyline, however other aspects of this collection conflict with that storyline.
• Harper’s previous run in with Batman happened in Batman #18, which is collected in Batman Vol. 6: Graveyard Shift (Review).
• Batman mentions that Commissioner Gordon punched him recently. This happened in Batgirl #22, which is collected in Batgirl Vol. 4: Wanted (Review).
• The “Night of the Owls” is mentioned. This event takes place at the very beginning of Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls (Review).