Review: Detective Comics Vol. 4- Cold Vengeance

Quick Summary

Pros: The Mister Freeze story has all the action and drama one would expect from Batman plus the emotion one would expect from Freeze. A short story within this book tells a very human tale about real-world issues. The artwork looks good throughout this book and suits each story.

Cons: The Mister Freeze story has aspects that read a little sexist. The volume’s closing story is forgettable.

Overall: This volume gathers together a mostly entertaining read. The majority of the book’s stories are engaging and offer something unique for Batman fans. However, there are some problems with the main storyline and the closing story is just alright. In the end, this volume may be worthwhile for most Batman fans but will particularly appeal to those interested in the dynamic between Mister Freeze and his wife.

Story

Detective Comics Vol. 4: Cold Vengeance, by Peter J. Tomasi, collects a mostly positive series of Batman tales. The central storyline is a thrilling and emotional tale about Mister Freeze’s latest attempt to revive his frozen wife. This portion of the book is fun and exciting but, unfortunately, has pieces that fall into weirdly sexist stereotypes. The next story is a short but fantastic tale that has Batman provide some help to the world, mostly, without resorting to violence. Then, the volume closes with a pretty mediocre story about Batman fighting a cult of Norse god worshipping villains. Overall, though not every aspect of this book is great, the entire volume trends positive.

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The main storyline in Cold Vengeance sees Mister Freeze finally resurrect his frozen wife but, unexpectedly, has Nora take to a life of crime. The entire adventure is an interesting twist on expectations, with Nora actually rejecting her husband and becoming an even more threatening villain than he was. Plus, it has all of the standard Batman heroics one would expect, with cool gadgets, a new suit, energetic battles, and some neat detective work.

Unfortunately, this storyline also plays into some weird and sexist stereotypes. A man insisting his wife is unwell and trying to ship her off to an asylum after she spurns his love is something that happened too often in the real-world past. This storyline even tries to explain that Nora’s villainous actions may be the result of altered brain chemistry from the rejuvenation serum, which only serves to take further agency from this storyline’s only female character. This makes it hard to root for Batman and Freeze. I still enjoy Nora’s character in this book though and, as her story is still ongoing, am hopeful that future storylines will be able to rectify these issues.

From here, Cold Vengeance tells the story of Bruce Wayne uncovering a child trafficking operation within one of his own orphanages, written by Tom Taylor. This is a well-written and well-executed story that shows Batman is more than just throwing punches. It also serves as a reminder that real-world problems are often even more troubling than the problems that plague the world of comics.

Finally, Cold Vengeance closes with the story of a cult attempting to summon a Norse god but accidentally summoning a demon. This story has a fair amount of action and tension. However, it isn’t nearly as interesting as the other stories in this book and, ultimately, feels pretty forgettable.

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Art

The artwork in Cold Vengeance starts out strong and remains positive throughout the read. The first half of the read contains some beautiful work from Doug Mahnke. Here, Mahnke’s gritty and realistic take on Batman allows the tension and unease within the storyline to come through. The detailed character work also highlights emotion, which suits this particular storyline. Then, Fernando Blanco takes over for a beautifully depicted story about a real world problem. This is another visual highlight for the collection, particularly in the way the structure of this issue assists the storytelling. Finally, Scott Godlewski takes over for an imaginative mix of Gotham City and Norse mythology. The art style here is more stylized than it is in the rest of the book, which helps considering the less grounded nature of the story being told. Ultimately, the artwork in this book suits and enhances each story, which makes this a better book overall.

Continuity

Detective Comics Vol. 4: Cold Vengeance continues the story from Detective Comics Vol. 3: Greetings from Gotham (Review).

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

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

• This volume’s opening chapter briefly references Batman and Catwoman’s first meeting from Batman #1, collected in Batman: The Golden Age Vol. 1.
• The opening chapter also vaguely references the general situation between Batman and Catwoman. Specifically a situation that started in Batman #50, collected in Batman Vol. 7: The Wedding (Review) (Reading Order).
• Something recently happening to Commissioner Gordon (Reading Order) is referenced. This is depicted across The Batman Who Laughs (Review).
• The symbol seen in the sky in Detective Comics #1014 is a reference to the Year of the Villain (Review) event.
• Detective Comics #1016 briefly mentions the B-Zero experiment from the Forever Evil (Review) (Reading Order) event.
• Detective Comics #1018-1019 make vague references to a death that occurred at the conclusion of the Batman: City of Bane (Review) event.