It’s very annoying when a creative team you love just leaves a book. Whether it be their decision of the company’s; we would really like to see a writer and artist combo stay forever. This might not be Detective Comics, but it certainly feels like it with Dini and Nguyen back together.

Let’s fact facts: Paul Dini is up there as one of the greatest writers for the Dark Knight period. What makes him such a great writer though, is how he puts just as much love and care to the side characters of Batman then the hero himself. This is going to apparent with this series, as Batman and Robin aren’t the main attraction to this comic. Oh they are shown threw-out the issue, but Dini seems to be taking the ‘Streets of Gotham’ title seriously. The comic goes threw out the entire city to showcase who the main players are going to be. Jim Gordan might be the main thread to what is going on with this series. It’s most likely not going to turn into ‘Gotham Central v.2’ but it’s nice to see the GCPD get showcased more. Then we get a mysterious big man saving a young prositute, maybe he is already an established character but I didnt recognize him. Finally we got the villain, Firefly. Now I know when you think of Batman villains, Firefly doesnt strike a cord. But what he does in this issue…..will make you think twice of the guy, easily one of  the more disturbing things to occur in a Bat title.

It took me many of months but I have grown fond of Dustin Nguyen. His artstyle seems simple at first, especially when it comes to the characters. But look deeper into the panels and you will see an amazing amount of detail. Simple lines on faces make the character look more defined, and a simple change of the face can make any type of facial expression. What makes his art more beautiful to look at is pretty much everything else. The clothes people wear, to the buildings in the background, to anything else that goes on within a panel. It’s all painstakingly beautiful to look at. If you get thrown off by the art in this issue like I did so many months ago with Nguyen….give him a chance. He will blow you away somehow in an issue.

Finally there is the backup feature with Manhunter…..eh it was okay. I mean I know nothing of the character nor have I ever read the comic she had. (Considering how many times it was cancelled no one else probably knows about her either) Marc Andreyko does a decent job setting up why Manhunter is at Gotham and what makes her different to all the other heroes in the city. But overall it’s just simple, by the numbers introduction. What sold me a big more on this was the art by Georges Jeanty. Sort of a mix between Brian Bolland and Michael Lark if you ask me.

I was so willing to wait for trade on this, but the power of Dini and Nguyen forced me to buy the issue. With a great set up to this bat book, it’s basically Detective Comics but with a more edgy. In fact this might be one of the more adult comics I have read of Dini in about…ever. Little kids as prositutes and people just burning alive? Brutal stuff. Overall with great writing and almost perfect art by Nguyen. This is yet another home run for DC in their Batman: Reborn titles.