There have been several powerhouse duos that have taken it upon themselves to tackle the mantle and burden of bringing The Batman to life. Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, along with Scott Snyder and Greg Capulo. But this week we’re looking at a different pair of power players. So recently off of their work from The Flash, Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato have been attached to Detective Comics since issue #30 and the team has brought the same finesse and excellence to The Dark Knight Detective that was ever-present in the Scarlet Speedsters realm. But the comic is more than just wonderful art, it is steeped in so much story and character that each page turn increases the excitement for the reader. Let’s look at some parts of the pair’s first story arc, “Icarus”.

Detective Comics, as a rule, has been more concerned with the crime solving aspects of The Batman than the more fanciful side of the character. Not to say that there aren’t amazing feats of The Bat’s prowess in this series, but at its heart this shows more of the street crime and detective skills that make Bats such an intriguing character. We begin the first of the five issue arc on the mean Chinatown streets of

Gotham City, Batman is tracking down the roots of a human trafficking operation that specializes in young children. After a small success, Batman stumbles across a drug operation that is attempting to seed the city with the glamor narcotic known as Icarus. However, before he can pick up the trail, Batman must make an appearance as Bruce Wayne. He meets a philanthropist named Elena Aguila and together they plan to stabilize the Eastern Docks of Gotham City, by providing shelters, free clinics, and education centers that would restore unity to the surrounding slums and community. The deal seems solid but once night falls Elena ends up dead on Wayne Manor’s doorstep, succumbing to a violent Icarus overdose. Enter Detective Harvey Bullock, he fingers Wayne as the cause of the death and all of a sudden this story becomes a juxtaposed investigation – two angles on the same story, told from Bullock and Batman’s separate perspectives.

The writing on this first arc is superb to say the least. Manapul and Buccellato have excelled at the analytical side of vigilantism – as seen in The Flash – but here it comes to an extreme. Batman is the greatest detective in the world and I can only imagine the joy of getting to write towards that potential. Dialog, exposition, action, intrigue, and most of all mystery are what one would expect from this series, and the two artists deliver that with a flourish. There are particularly poignant moments between Harvey and Bruce Wayne that leave the reader hanging on every word, coupled with the intense emotion of losing a parent as well as the gaping void that Bruce feels after the very recent death of Robin. But any good caper requires an excellent villain working behind-the-scenes, and instead of relying on the already established Rogues Gallery that Batman boasts, Manapul and Buccellato have instead utilized a thug named The Squid and motorcycle gang out of New Orleans known as The Kings of The Sun – a gang that isn’t too far from Sons of Anarchy. If these factors haven’t convinced you to take a look at this arc, then I’m sure the art will win you over.

Unlike most teams that tackle the Bat, Manapul and Buccellato share the entirety of the creative process, both the writing and the art – in fact the two of them are credited as “storytellers” as opposed to writer and artist. Just by reading the first page of issue #31 the collaboration is clear. The pencils and inks sketch out a fantastic visual tale, and with the addition of color these comics become instant classics. Big, dynamic, and intense art is what we saw on The Flash, and that is just what you get here. Whether it’s a massive two-page spread dotted with smaller panels that track the passage of a moment or a single page that shows the methodical nature of Batman’s investigations, the art on this story remains the biggest advantage for this book. There’s a seriously detailed spread of Harvey Bullock’s home life in issue #32 that gives new insight into the type of person exists beneath the detective’s shield.

Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato are literally THE dynamic duo of DC comics, a bright light within the world of the big two. While I would relish the chance to see these two tackle an independent series, I can’t imagine a world where they aren’t a part DC Comics. Please, for the love all things nerdy, grab Detective Comics #30-33, read them, re-read them, and see for yourself.

Josh

hickory

If only these two were on Superman….sigh

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