Review: Detective Comics Vol. 3- Greetings from Gotham

Quick Summary

Pros: The stories here are all tense and exciting in their own way. The book generally feels like a series of classic Batman adventures. The artwork is generally positive and suits the stories here.

Cons: The volume doesn’t have much when it comes to a deeper meaning.

Overall: This volume will appeal to some readers but not to everyone. The book emphasizes Batman’s ability to thrive as a hero. It has all of the action, tension, and suspense one could ask of the Dark Knight. However, it lacks the moral or intellectual complexity typically found in Batman stories. In the end, this is a collection for readers who simply want uncomplicated stories about Batman taking on bad guys.

Story

This entire run on Detective Comics has emphasized straightforward Batman stories about villains being evil and Batman saving the day. These feel like a way to bring old-school Batman stories to the series. However, Detective Comics Vol. 3: Greetings from Gotham, by Peter J. Tomasi, may be the most successful in this regard.

This volume takes a no-holds-barred approach to Batman’s war against crime. It pits him against a dangerous villain, creates a tense situation, and generally shows off Batman’s abilities. There isn’t much when it comes moral complexity or emotional drama within this narrative, just a straightforward battle between good and evil. This might not appeal to everyone but readers looking for this type of story will find plenty to love within this book.

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As mentioned above, Greetings from Gotham primarily focuses on intense encounters between the Dark Knight and some villain or villains. The first is an uneasy team-up between Batman and the Spectre, one that emphasizes Batman’s detective skills while also containing plenty of tension. The next has the Joker hold a huge group of people hostage, while generally taunting Batman. The final story has Bruce Wayne crash land on a nearly deserted island and has him use his available resources to stop Deadshot. All of these stories have the levels of action, tension, and suspense one would expect from a Batman book.

However, these stories don’t have the nuance to them that most modern stories do. The Spectre story takes a surface-level approach to Batman’s “no kill” rule when a deeper exploration could have been interesting; the Joker story doesn’t really examine the Joker’s mindset at all; and the final story starts to feel like a criticism against excessive wealth before doing nothing with this idea. The fact that these stories don’t have deeper meanings isn’t necessarily bad though. I actually found that, as Batman stories typically focus on deeper meanings, this was an interesting change of pace.

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Art

The artwork in Greetings from Gotham is generally positive and suits the stories found within. The book starts with Kyle Hotz’s work on the Spectre story. These chapters feel like they were ripped straight out of the 90s, when bold action and intimidating figures were all that mattered. This works perfectly for the gripping and intense story being told here. Then, Doug Mahnke takes over and shows off an excellent version of the Joker, one that feels alive and menacing in every scene he is in. Finally, the volume concludes with Christian Duce’s work on the Deadshot storyline. These chapters aren’t as striking as the earlier chapter but they also aren’t objectionable either. Overall, the artwork in this book trends positive and makes for a better reading experience.

Continuity

Detective Comics Vol. 3: Greetings from Gotham continues the story from Detective Comics Vol. 2: Arkham Knight (Review).

The story here continues in Detective Comics Vol. 4: Cold Vengeance (Review).

This volume also references and continues the stories from other comic books, detailed below:

• Detective Comics #1008 starts by mentioning Joker’s (Reading Order) recent work with Lex Luthor’s (Reading Order) Legion of Doom. He began associating with the Legion of Doom across Justice League Vol. 1: The Totality (Review) and stopped associating with them in Justice League #13, collected in Justice League Vol. 3: Hawkworld (Review). 
• Detective Comics #1008 concludes with a tie-in to the Year of the Villain (Review) event.