Detective Comics #846

Let’s face facts, Grant Morrison is getting all the attention right now.  His crazy, psychedelic run on Batman (love it or hate it) has everyone talking.  Meanwhile, Paul Dini’s solid work on Detective Comics seems unambitious by comparison.

Detective Comics 846 seeks to change that.  By and large, Dini’s run on Detective has been made up of short arcs and done-in-one stories.  It’s been a pleasant change of pace from the multi-part epics everyone else seems to favor.  But this issue is the first part of Dini’s Heart of Hush storyline.

The issue is essentially an origin story for the enigmatic villain, Hush.  It’s the kind of thing Dini excels at.  Just check out the great villain origins in Batman: the Animated Series.  And Hush is a villain that really needed fleshing out if he was going to be a worthy addition to Batman’s rogues.

Although the issue serves as the set-up to a five-part story, it can also be read as the kind of done-in-one story that has comprised most of Dini’s run.  The Hush origin is framed with a conflict between Batman and Catwoman and a new villain in Gotham.  It’s truly impressive the way the issue stands on its own while also serving the needs of the larger story.

There are minor disconnects between Morrison’s RIP story line and Dini’s work here.  Frankly, the two runs are very different and they don’t always mesh well.  It’s a little jarring to jump back and forth between the two.  Dini makes a few references here to the events of RIP, but I think I’d almost prefer thinking of the two books as happening in completely separate universes.  They feel that different.

The art, by Dustin Nguyen, is very stylized.  It’s the kind of art that is likely to polarize fans.  Personally, I think it fits the moody story-telling to a “T”. 

On the whole, this issue shows a lot of promise.  Hopefully, this story will live up to its potential and recreate Hush as a worthy foe for the Dark Knight.

Tags: Batman, DC Comics, Detective Comics, Paul Dini