Snyder’s Detective Comics run remains one or two notches below greatness for me. I want to LOVE this run, but instead I only like it. The art is amazing, and getting better every issue, but every now and then some clunky tics crop up in Syder’s writing, and they take me out of the story a little bit.

The problem with this issue–the only problem–is how Snyder shoehorned in long stretches of somewhat pedantic off-topic expository dialogue. I’ve got nothing against learning something new in a comic. I’ve got nothing against characters making big speeches that go off on tangents. But when those things happen like four times within one issue, it just feels clunky. It feels like Snyder was taking notes while listening to random iTunes U lectures, and then felt the need to cram everything he learned into this one issue.

First there’s Dick’s inner monologue about the circus diver: It’s a decent framing technique for the whole issue, but the monologue goes on for SO long, and it’s only vaguely metaphoric for what happens in the issue. Then immediately after that we get Tiger Shark’s henchman’s lecture on the practices of 16th-century pirates: It’s clever because of what happens when the speech ends, but again the monologue amounts to a VERY LONG build-up to a gag that’s merely “okay” (because, does the henchman really matter?). Then there’s Dick’s inner monologue about what it would take to survive the flood and return to he surface: Again, this isn’t horrible, but Dick’s thoughts are quite pedantic. Then there’s James Gordon Jr.’s brief treatise on the Helmut-Greeble Phenomenon: Wha?? Maybe the guy’s been studying extremely unpopular branches of psychology, but the dialogue exchange rings extremely hollow, with Dick setting up James to tell us about this phenomenon in a way that’s too convenient.

That’s not to say I don’t like Snyder’s skills overall. I do. I think the writing’s “Good”, just not anything more. The overall plot and structure of scenes is very solid. I’m sure that the overall run will read like one big cohesive season of a crime drama. Aside from Morrison’s saga, Snyder’s writing the best Bat-run in who knows how long. And with characters like James Jr. and Tony Zucco’s daughter, Snyder’s populated his story with very intriguing adversaries who exhibit much depth and draw out specific emotional conflicts for Dick (and James Sr.). Overall, what Snyder’s doing is very well thought out. It’s just that sometimes the actual words on the page are kinda clunky in my opinion.

As far as the art goes, Jock is amazing here. And I’ve never been a big Jock fan. When others have raved about his art, I’ve only thought “Yeah, I guess it’s ‘good’.” He’s either started to improve (a scary thought, because he was already very skilled), or else he’s simply won me over. Every page in this comic is amazing to look at. Earlier in the run I was hoping to see as much of Francesco Francavilla as possible, but now I’m equally anxious to see more Jock art in every issue.

Overall, this is still a very exciting series, despite my quibbles about some of Snyder’s dialogue.