Remember the back up story from the first 2 issues of Scott Snyder's smash hit 'Black Mirror' story that focused on the return of Commissioner Gordon's son James Gordon Jnr? Good, because that means you have been doing the sane thing and reading Scott Snyder's great run on Detective Comics. Anyway, when DC announced their 'Drawing the line at $2.99' initiative, as a caveat they decided to remove the back up stories from their books so we never got to see the conclusion of that story. Until now. Scott Snyder took what would have been the final chapter of the back up story and wove it into a larger story featuring Batman and Red Robin, that story is Detective Comics #874. The first half of the issue continues the meeting of Gordon and his son, it's a creepy, overtly dark encounter that finally gives us some first hand insight into the character of James Gordon Jnr. He doesn't seem to be a very nice person and freely admits to being a psychopath. Blithely making jokes about cutting off a waitresses head and stuffing it into the toilet, a nice touch here is how they show the slow trickle of water coming from the bathroom giving the impression that he could have indeed done just that. The undertone created in the first two parts of this story were that Jimmy Jr returning was not a good thing and that he couldn't be trusted, that perception is solidified here as he comes off as a little bit sinister with an air of the crazies. References to Dick not trusting him, the Peter Pan killer and the death of his sister Barbara's friend Bess further add to the overall picture that Snyder is trying to reveal to us bit by bit. Slowly filling in his back story and giving us the impression that his return is no going to be easy on the commish. Gordon opening the bathroom door to find that the water coming under the door is because the sinks have been filled with rolls of toilet paper and left running. Stupid practical joke or the seeds of a manipulative mind game by an admitted psychopath?
As we follow the water down the drain it takes us to the second part of the story and to a Batman still recovering from the effects of the toxin used on him last issue, teamed with Tim Drake AKA Red Robin. This segue into a seemingly unrelated story is not only done well from an art point of view with the water draining and flowing to the outlet pipe at the docks where Dick and Tim are but handled expertly by the first line of dialogue on the page "You're fooling yourself again". A reference not only to the current scene and Batman's refusal to admit the toxin is still in his system but to the previous scene and Gordon's willingness to sit and listen to his son. It's a damned effective little piece of storytelling. The second part of the story is a little more standard Batman fare but call's back to the original story in the form of one of the missing birds from the aviary. Tendrils of this story are already tying back to the return of James Gordon Jnr. The dynamic duo bust up the animal smuggling ring hampered a little by the effects of the toxin still in Batman's system. In the end though they are still no closer to finding out who or what is behind the whole thing.
Overall this issue was really good, Snyder's writing was on point and the way he wove both stories together to give a complete issue that didn't feel disjointed in anyway was awesome. I love his approach to the Jim Jnr angle, by not just hitting us with a deluge of information and instead dropping breadcrumbs for us to follow it really adds to the whole mystery and overall atmosphere of the story. Speaking of atmosphere Francavilla's art is about as atmospheric as it gets. The muted, limited color palette only adds a great brooding aspect to the whole show and his bold textures really work well. He deserves just as much credit for the beutiful transistion between stories, with his depiction of something as simple as water running it's course and findings it way out to sea, as Snyder does for his bridging dialogue. They really play well off each other and one just wouldn't work without the other. It's looks like the darker, seedier view of Gotham is going to continue in future issues and I for one can't wait. Even after just four issues I would recommend that any fan of, not only Batman, but mystery books in general should start to pick up Snyder's run on Detective Comics.
Writer - Scott Snyder
Artist - Francesco Francavilla
Colors - Francesco Francavilla
Letters - Jared K Fletcher
Cover - Francesco Francavilla
Publisher - DC Comics
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