Detective Comics #3

I've been critical of this series, and for good reason. For the series that DC Comics is named after, the quality of the comic, especially after the relaunch, should be top notch. But they assigned Tony Daniel to create this book, and well, not much more needs to be said. The two books he's been assigned? The Savage Hawkman book, which is better kindling than it is an actual book, and the second is this book.

Simply put, Tony Daniel has been handed books and squandered both opportunities. He is a fantastic penciller, yes, but after Hawkman is cancelled and Detective Comics reassigned, I dearly hope he isn't allowed to write again. The third installment of the Dollmaker storyline isn't much better than the second, suffering from lack of "so what?" What are the stakes here, besides the whole save Gotham without trying to die in the process thing.

Detective Comics #2

Admittedly, I was very hard on Tony Daniel after reading Detective Comics #1. Though in my defense, there was a lot to be harsh about in this issue, both artistically and on the writing side. It was definitely a different book than I expected, but I wasn't too impressed.

Issue #2 is more dialed back from the debut issue's exaggerated behaviors and images, but it suffers from the same faults. It's a classic Tony Daniel written issue. Cool plot, bad dialogue and average at best storytelling. While his ideas aren't bad, his execution of them is weak.

The issue spends the beginning in his Bruce Wayne guise, wheeling and dealing with a mysterious (and mysteriously athletic) businessman named Hugh Marder, and then having an "affair" with journalist Wendy Rivers (wait, I thought he was dating Catwoman?).

Detective Comics #1

Full disclosure: Frank Miller sucks. He doesn't always suck, but most of the time...he sucks. Why does that matter in a comic that he doesn't write? Because one Mr. Tony S. Daniel has apparently channeled his inner-Frank Miller to write and draw the debut to Detective Comics. (Side note, I found out here that the 'S' in Tony S. Daniel stands for Salvadore, that's freakin' sweet!)

Feedback from readers on this issue is mixed. Some think it's amazing, others think it's merely good. But the most common thought is "this is the best Tony Daniel written piece I have ever read." Any of these thoughts are understandable, if one understands where different types of Batman fans are coming from.