Comic Books

DETECTIVE COMICS #878

Off the coast of Gotham City, with no help for miles, the vicious smuggler and pirate Tiger Shark holds Batman captive on his ship. Can Batman escape in time, or will he become food for Tiger Shark’s deadly pets? Plus: The saga of James Jr. continues. Is he a victim of circumstance or vicious killer? You decide. Don’t miss the shocking conclusion to “Hungry City.”

Written by SCOTT SNYDER; Art JOCK and FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA; Cover by JOCK

Price: $2.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 26.0%
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Avg Rating: 4.7
 
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Comments

  1. Top of the pile. Can’t wait to read how the whale story wraps up.

  2. @martinNL  – yeah I love the realism in Snyder’s Detective Comics. I wonder if he’ll use the same style when he writes Batman.

  3. I can hardly afford to buy food at the minute, but def putting £2.15 aside for this!

    I’m not a savage after all, without personal pleasure we are but human

  4. @origamikid  You’d be surprised by how long you can survive on 2-minute noodles haha

  5. @origamikid  – haha! I like that!

  6. ‘with no help for miles’? he’s Batman! he doesn’t need help!

  7. Can’t. Wait.

    Favorite book, I wish either Scott or Tomasi were Dick’s writer after the reboot, they get him like no other!

  8. @Alexferrer  I’m pretty confident Kyle Higgins will do an excellent job in writing Dick too. Have you been reading Gates of Gotham?

  9. I didn’t know we were gonna get another Francavilla side story but that makes this all the more exciting for Wednesday.

  10. Snyder is brilliant with dialogue. Can’t wait to grab this.

  11. @AmirCat: “realism”?? In this run we’ve seen giant morphing monsters, crocodile kids, and a guy with grafted-on hydralic jumper legs.

    I like this series, though. It’s solid enough. I like the Francavilla side more than Jock, though. Not that Jock’s “bad”, but Francavilla is “even better” in my book.

  12. Snyder has become my new BKV. I will follow him onto any book. If it’s Batman related even better. I’m a little sad he’s loosing his art team, but I’m sure his story will shine through.

    I remember when he started this run I was sad DC had given him Dick, rather than Bruce to play with. Now I’m sad won’t be following him to Batman.

  13. @Zeppo  Have you seen the preview pages for his new book Severed?

  14. Please tell me I’m not the only one who tripped over the dangling modifier.  The cover looks amazing.

  15. @martinNL – Yeah, I’ve been reading and it’s got me confident Dick will be in good hands come September. But between this and American Vampire, I’m becoming more and more of a Snyder superfan. Hahaha

  16. @TheNextChampion  something makes me think that the side story will not be included here, like it’s an old solicit (I hope I’m wrong even though I like Jock slightly more). The next issue though, is 100% Francavilla and James Jr.

  17. @froggulper  – haha … you’re right. But I think that monster was a hallucination. The technology for the hydrolic legs I  could totally see. When did we see crocodile kids? I don’t remember that, but it sounds awesome.

  18. Snyder, Jock and Francavilla in the same issue has got me pretty excited. This whole run has been pretty impressive, and while I like both Jock and Francavilla’s art, I’m leaning a bit more towards Jock.

  19. Alright! I am so glad this is coming out. I was under the impression all DC books were on hiatus while this Flashpoint stuff is going on. Glad I was wrong.

  20. @Andrew  No DC books are on hiatus for flashpoint?

  21. @MartinNL

    I’ve not seen any preview pages, but I think I have the first issue on order 🙂

  22. Can’t wait for this issue. Have loved what Snyder has done in ‘Tec, and have finally caught up on American Vampire which is excellent. One of the best writers in comics and I hope that he continues to produce the goods in Batman.

    As for the art – Jock all the way for me. Wasn’t a fan of his work during the Batwoman arc, but loving what he’s doing here.

  23. @AmirCat  I think the crocodile kid was the opening scene in the series. One of the cases of how villain’s technology or artifacts were leaking out into the public.

  24. Thanks so much for the kind words, guys! Promise this issue us one of our strongest – very eager to hear what you think of the end… 🙂

  25. @ssnyder1835  While I am very interested to see how you finish this one off, I am even more excited about the new ‘beginning’ that you will be putting together.

  26. @JaqueNargg  – oh right! I gotta dig through my long boxed to read it again.

  27. @MisterJ  Thanks man – just finsihed Batman 2 yesterday – very very excited 🙂

  28. So I guess I’m becoming a Snyder zombie as well. I’ve never had interest in Superman, but as soon as I saw he was writing the flashpoint tie in, I called my shop immediately to add it to my pull bin. I may have a man crush.

  29. @Fvckstick  I’m not writing that – just plotted by. But the guy writing it, Lowell, is great. S

  30. I’m still pretty new to the whole comic book thing (even though I’m 25!), and I have already gravitated to what Snyder writes. In fact, I would say he is one of the reasons I actually got into the hobby. Really looking forward to this issue.

  31. @ssnyder1835 – well f it then 😛

    If your involved in it in any way, I’m sure it’s worth my $2.99. Cheers and great work.

  32. Always happy to get my double dose of Snyder with Detective and AV! 

    @ssnyder1835 – Did we confirm that this issue is split in two or is it a solicit error? Either way, I’m stoked! 

  33. @MegaPhilip  issue 881, our finale, is split b/ween jock and ff.

  34. I don’t know, I thought the ending was a bit flat for me. Villains flee like their from Cobra, Dick’s attitude towards Mrs. Zucco doesn’t mesh with the last three, and the final page involving James wasn’t interesting to me at all. Even with these problems I did like the issue, but I’m starting to think Snyder’s endings aren’t as good as his incredible beginnings.

    4/5 

  35. Jock is good.  That is all.

  36. The art was great the story was great until the end. I thought for all the good work in this story the ending was kind of flat. But Dick’s handling of Mrs. Zucco was what saved the flat ending of this story for me.

  37. I agree that the stark reveal about James took a lot of the suspense away from the story, but when a book is as masterfully put together as this one, it’s hard to hold grudges.

    Batman’s last lines to Mme. Zucco were brilliant and perfect, and I love stories like this with a nice twist and an unconventional conclusion. Sometimes an unsatisfying ending is more satisfying than one tied up in a bow, with the villain defeated and justice served. It feels a bit more real that way. Also, the scene above the water, waiting for Batman to emerge was fantastic.

    Here is a run that deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as Morrison’s Batman and Robin, if not a bit beyond. It is wonderful.

  38. God I loved that ending

  39. I don’t know about you guys but Jimmy Jr. seems like a cool dude to hang with.

    I hope SS can get us proper ending with Tiger Shark before this whole thing is over. Also, I wonder if these villains can be a part of the relaunch… Either way this issue was sublime and the picture of Dick diving into the city was panel of the MONTH!!!!!!

  40. Flat ending? I loved it. I loved that James was finally shown doing something twisted instead of eluding to his twisted personality. I think Snyder had set the tone that he potentionally could have made James into a “not so bad” bad guy, but this finally solidifies it. Seeing him doing the twisted things. It’s one thing for someone to talk about murder, but something different all together to commit murder.

    Great issue IMO.

  41. American Vampitre was my pick but this was wonderful as well. I exclaimed when I got to the end. Definitely a satisfying ending for me. Now I just want more.

  42. I didn’t care at all for the Gordon Kid’s story….really boring talky talky stuff that felt like it was referring to things i’ve never read, but then that ending. Damn….changes the whole thing for me. 

    The art was really wonderful on this, although i did have a few problems understanding what was going on on a few panels in the first few pages…i got hung up on some of the sequencing.  

  43. “Reports of my death *koff koff* … I’m fine. Just hurry.”

    and …

    “You say tomato, I say you’re culpable.”

    Two of the best lines in my stack from the same book. Brilliant. It’s between this and Inc. for my POTW. Haven’t decided yet. Snyder is weaving something truly memorable here. My only concern post-reboot is that there’s a chance he writes a better Dick than he does a Bruce. His Dick is both dedicated and downright funny, and if he struggles with the transition that could hurt. But for now, I’m lovin this like McDonald’s.

    @TheNextChampion: Dick’s change in behavior towards Zucco stems from the fact that (as usual) he went out on a limb for this woman, he chose to trust her, and in the end she turned out to be a villain. This speaks to how well Snyder understands Dick Grayson. This has always been a struggle for Dick. He has trouble “looking from the diving board”. Unlike Bruce, Dick makes an obvious effort to see the good in people. Especially beautiful women. And when that belief is betrayed, he is forced to keep a wary eye on them. Thus the change from “I want to believe you” to “Goodnight Ms. Zucco”.

    And the fact that that ending fell flat for you … well I got nothin. To each his own. Though I find it interesting that despite two glaring “problems”, Snyder still wrung a 4/5 from ya.

  44. Fantastic issue.  I’m really anticipating, salivating for even, the next issue with Francesco Francavilla featuring Gordon Jr.  Awesome stuff.

  45. @WheelHands  The issue as a whole was still pretty good, almost great, which why it gets a 4/5 for me.

    But I felt that the reveal of James was a bit too obvious cause I liked the ambiguity of him being insane or not. Plus it did feel like Snyder had to rush a bit to get to the end with Dick. But even if it did felt like a rush job it was still entertaining to read.

  46. How was this not pick of the week. Snyder …killing it.

  47. Jock can draw Batman for as long as he likes.

  48. Creepy ending! That was unexpected and sweet!

  49. Absolutely amazing ending…and hey, that 1st letter in the letter column?  That guy rocks!  Hehe…nice addition to see your letter printed!

  50. @ssnyder1835  This was GREAT! I like how you skipped over how Dick wound up suspended over a killer whale tank. Right into the action. Then, the Jamers Jr. story was super creepy. That last page, I thought something like that might be coming, but I wasn’t sure what it would be, and it was more horrible than I expected. The only “iffy” part was the  “boosting oxygen levels with pure O2” – does that really work? I expected him to pull some gadget out of his belt. But this was a 5/5 book, no doubt. The art was killer – I’ll miss Jock drawing your stuff. Hope Jock has something coming from DC, because I didn’t see him listed on any of the 52 new books.

  51. Very good. That ending might have been too much for me, though. Yikes.

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