COMICS IN THE CAN- Episode VII (Detective #28)

COMICS IN THE CAN
I used to have time to read my comics in a coffee shop. Now I have to read them in the bathroom. Then I write reviews of them. I wash my hands in between.

DETECTIVE COMICS #28

Gothtopia doesn’t work for me. I even went back and re-read the first part of the crossover that was so unceremoniously crammed into the fabricated-milestone money-grab that was last issue. But no, doesn’t work.

Not that it’s not a good story. It’s a fine story. I thought that the reveal in this issue of Scarecrow’s motivations was creative. The idea that he has to gas people into super-ultra-contentment in order to get the most out of his ongoing fear experiments is a nice twist for this essentially one-trick pony. And I do like the New 52 Scarecrow way more than the old one. He should have some stones and not just be a frail little chemist like he was portrayed in the past. Incorporating all the other ‘Doctor’ villains adds a level of danger too.

No, what I don’t like about this storyline (apart from it involving yet more superfluous peripheral books), is that contentment or ‘heart’s desire’ (essentially ‘For The Man Who Has Everything’) doesn’t work for Batman. On a FUNDAMENTAL level.

Batman’s entire existence is based on tragedy and the prevention of additional tragedies. From the basis of his mission down to his choice of costume, if Batman gets what he wants, there’s no more need for a Batman. And this storyline touches on that briefly in the previous issue, when he’s getting some fresh air in the Wayne Gardens and is rethinking his purpose (right before the deus ex machina of a ‘missed Poison Ivy thorn in his cowl’ snaps him out of it. Even the costumes look ridiculous in this ‘Gothtopia’. A white Batman costume? That’s your brightly colored outfit? 

So Batman spends this issue searching Arkham for evidence of who’s behind the scam and why. He’s Batman so he of course built in a backdoor for himself when he was testing out the new Arkham computer system a few issues ago. Also because he’s Batman his gloves are lined with computer technology and he can synthesize an antidote for the whole shebang from a taste of Poison Ivy’s mouth.

But, of course, Scarecrow shows up at the end with all of Batman’s allies now under his spell (and wearing Scarecrow masks over their costumes for some unknown reason (because it looks cool? I don’t know).

I wouldn’t say I’ve got ‘Event Fatigue’, exactly. Just ‘Overwrought Event Fatigue’. And a slight case of the Boogie Woogie Flu.