Review: Detective Comics Vol. 6- Fall of the Batmen

July 16, 2020 ComicBookWire

Quick Summary

Pros: The main narrative is compelling and successfully continues the general story from previous volumes. The story has plenty of action and emotion. The volume addresses some interesting themes in a thought-provoking way. The artwork looks good and complements the story.

Cons: Some of the individual character motivations feel off.

Overall: This may be one of the best volumes in an already great series. It takes all of the set-up from previous volumes and uses it to launch a narrative packed with excitement and emotion. This creates a story that is fun to read and that is enhanced further by some good-looking visuals. Meanwhile, complex themes are layered in to add additional depth to the book. Anyone who enjoyed previous entries in this series should absolutely continue reading here.

Story

Detective Comics Vol. 6: Fall of the Batmen, by James Tynion IV, is a wonderful execution of everything that is good about this series. The entire volume centers around an exciting and instantly compelling narrative. This narrative advances the general plot of this series and the individual stories of specific characters in a way that works well and that creates some serious emotion. Plus, this volume directly tackles some great themes and issues, including mental illness, populist revolts, and criminal reform. There are a few minor problems here and there but nothing serious enough to damage the volume’s overall appeal. All in all, this is an awesome addition to this series.

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Right from the start, Fall of the Batmen successfully continues the general narrative of this series. It allows fans to see Tim reunite with Steph, witness the return of the First Victim and Anarky, and watch as the Gotham Knights program continues to deteriorate. All of these plot points bring forward plenty of action, particularly in the book’s climactic conclusion, and plenty of emotion, particularly in the reunions and at the death of Clayface. In this way, this volume achieves all of the successes that have been present in this series since it began.

The other advantage of this narrative is that it provides an incredible set-up for the next volume. There are still a ton of loose ends to address and it is completely unclear how they will be addressed. I’m excited to see the fallout from this volume, perhaps even more than I was to see the fallout from previous ones.

Where Fall of the Batman goes above and beyond is in its approach to complex themes and issues. Clayface’s struggle mirrors the struggle of those with mental illness, particularly in the acceptance of medical treatments and the fear that medication masks one’s “true” nature. Anarky’s crusade against the structure imposed by the Gotham Knights brings up valid points about Batman creating a police state but also shows how a populist movement can be corrupted by self-serving individuals. Finally, Batwoman’s decision to kill Clayface begins to address the validity of criminal reform and the use of capital punishment. Each of these topics is approached in a nuanced way that challenges the reader to think about the issue.

The only problems in Fall of the Batmen are minor and mostly center around character motivation. I found it odd that Spoiler would completely abandon her current ideological pursuits simply because Tim returned and that Anarky helped orchestrate an incredibly detailed revolt without fully understanding his partner’s plans. Luckily, these problems are pretty easy to overlook and, thus, only have a small impact on the reading experience.

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Art

Like the story, the artwork in Fall of the Batmen generally continues the high level of quality seen in previous entries from the series. Each of the artists working on this book is able to produce some good-looking visuals that accurately depict the large variety of characters seen throughout the book. In addition, the volume’s layouts are impressive and create a dynamic sense of flow that is critical in some of the volume’s action scenes and in some of its more emotional scenes. Though there are a variety of artists working on this book, they are able to produce a pretty uniform style that prevents jarring visual shifts when a reader passes from chapter to chapter. Jason Wright’s colors add to this sense of uniformity and also add the cinematic flair this comic has become known for. There are a few places where it feels like the positioning of characters could have been better in a few specific scenes but, outside of this, the visuals are solid.