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DETECTIVE COMICS #853


Price: $3.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 53.9%
808
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Avg Rating: 4.3
 
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Comments

  1. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    April 20, 2009 at 5:22 pm

    Yay! Finally!!

  2. Avatar photo RoiVampire says:
    April 20, 2009 at 5:32 pm

    @drake   you said it, most anticpated book of the week

  3. Rustyautoparts says:
    April 20, 2009 at 5:51 pm

    Yep, cannot wait for this book. I’m glad I just got into comics a little over a month ago, and Part 1 arrived in the mail last week, so I have not had to wait nearly as long. Still, I’m incredibly excited.

  4. Avatar photo eagle6002 says:
    April 20, 2009 at 6:19 pm

    Rust Yow To Parts!

  5. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    April 20, 2009 at 6:53 pm

    Hey I remember this…..it’s almost been three months….3 MONTHS!?

    Bah this better be good, cause the last issue reeked of mediocrity for me.

  6. Avatar photo AmirCat says:
    April 20, 2009 at 7:09 pm

    Can’t wait. I hope there will be a Neal Adams homage.

  7. Rustyautoparts says:
    April 20, 2009 at 7:23 pm

    I sure hope when Geoff Johns writes "Whatever Happened to the iFanboy User with a S/N that makes Ron Wake in the Night with a Cold Sweat," my funeral involves my greatest allies and enemies remembering more than just ‘Rust Yow To Parts.’ 😉

  8. Avatar photo JumpingJupiter says:
    April 20, 2009 at 8:03 pm

    Meh, I’ve sort of lost interest in this. I’ll decide at the shop.

  9. flapjaxx says:
    April 20, 2009 at 8:08 pm

    Usually I don’t care about such things, but does anyone know how plentiful the variant cover will be? The variant I saw for this issue looked SO much better than the regular cover. What I saw didn’t seem to be a "sketch" cover, though, so who knows what’s going on… I just don’t like the regular cover, which I know is supposed to be an homage…

    Yeah, three months for this. Yuck. Still it should be good. I think it’ll fall far short of what Moore did with Superman, which is no big deal in itself, but they’re really inviting the comparison by naming it what they did…

  10. Avatar photo Chris Rohling says:
    April 20, 2009 at 8:16 pm

    I really enjoyed the first issue and have a feeling that this one will reveal what’s going on. (It sorta has to) I still hold to my theory that this is a funeral for every incarnation of Batman from every story and every universe.

  11. Avatar photo Fvckstick says:
    April 20, 2009 at 9:15 pm

    About fracking time! Double sized too. I’m gonna have to dig part one out of the bin just to rememeber where it was going =P

  12. Avatar photo cutty says:
    April 20, 2009 at 9:36 pm

    LOVED the 1st part, I’m very excited for this

  13. Avatar photo Reform says:
    April 20, 2009 at 11:37 pm

    hope it’s worth the wait, wait Written by Neil Gaiman
    Art by Andy Kubert and Scott Williams… yup it will be.

  14. Avatar photo miyamotofreak says:
    April 20, 2009 at 11:41 pm

    Not double sized guys. Just 50% bigger.

  15. Avatar photo TheTaken says:
    April 20, 2009 at 11:45 pm

    Hooray!  This is gonna rock your socks, baby!  POTW!

  16. Avatar photo Crippler says:
    April 20, 2009 at 11:47 pm

    Most anticipated book of the week by far.  First issue read better the 2nd time – going back and thinking about some of what was going on.  I liked it a lot. 

  17. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    April 21, 2009 at 2:19 am

    Anyone know the reason for the delay?

  18. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    April 21, 2009 at 2:29 am

    @WadeWilson-From the latest "20 Questions" interview Didio did on newsarama:

    "DD: It should be in your hands next week, unless I’m mistaken. There were some slowdowns here and there, and there was a minor mishap with production at the very end that didn’t have anything to do with the writer or the artist that we lost a week and a half on, and unfortunately, when you lose a week and a half, that turns into two to three weeks on the production schedule. It was an unfortunate situation that was basically hardware-based, not people based."

  19. Avatar photo PostMan87 says:
    April 21, 2009 at 4:49 am

    Yeah, the wait has been a bit on the ridiculous side, but hey, as long as Kuberts art is on (and why shouldn’t it be with Williams doing the inks?) this issue should be worth the time it has taken.

    Gaiman will be solid as usual, even though I thought the last issue was a little on the "mailed-it-in" side of things.

  20. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    April 21, 2009 at 12:22 pm

    I just hope Gaiman shows what he’s trying to do with this story. I can kinda understand what he’s doing; but I have no idea where he’s taking it.

  21. Avatar photo RocketRacoon says:
    April 21, 2009 at 3:13 pm

    Woohoo! Loved the first one!

     

  22. MisterJ says:
    April 21, 2009 at 11:07 pm

    I thought that the first one was good, it showed a lot of promise.  That being said, if this one does not follow up and deliver a point, it is all for nothing.  Really liked the art, and after the ‘Last son’ debacle of a couple years back, I half expected tardiness for this issue.

  23. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    April 22, 2009 at 9:57 am

    Thanks Drake! "Hardware failure"? That’s a new one. Wonder if it’s true …

  24. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    April 22, 2009 at 1:45 pm

    Wow.

    I totally take back all the negative stuff I said on the last issue for this…..

    This was…..just fantastic! Loved everything about this issue. Hands down the POTW for me.

  25. Avatar photo RoiVampire says:
    April 22, 2009 at 5:19 pm

    @TNC   same here, easy POTW

  26. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    April 22, 2009 at 6:40 pm

    Okay… so I’m a big Gaiman fan, really I am, and I get exactly what this was and I really did enjoy it. But it was not what I was expecting, and really this was my pick of the week up until the Bat-signal became a figurative birth canal. I really lost it at that point…Now, I still give the book a 5/5 for really excellent story telling and a very cool mid-story reveal. The "Goodnight, XXX" was a really nice touch, as each page contained references to every aspect of the character from the 30s through today, from Movies to the 60s TV show it was all there. (Also Batman’s an atheist! Or at least doesn’t believe in the afterlife, which is just as good.)

    The only things I didn’t like about the issue were the aforementioned ending, which, again, I see the logic of it, I see why it’s valid, but it wasn’t what I was looking for. I would have been happy with a fade out. Also, I though Ras Al Ghul’s speech was a little off-key. While the "joke" of the speech was perfect, I felt as if Gaiman didn’t focus on the fact that Ras has deep respect for Batman and instead went for the "I’m a immortal be like me but that might make you evil" which is just as right a take on the character. if anything Ras speech, for me, should have been more about loosing the only good adversary he has. Also, and this isn’t a real problem, I was sad Gaiman didn’t have Batman declare "Somedays you just can’t get rid of a bomb" during the Batgirl story, because, honestly, that was the perfect place for that reference! It seemed to be begging for it.

    Oh, and Kubert’s art was really good, though the Joker’s face during the last panel of his story seemed very odd. His two page spreads were well worth it. "Goodnight, Mechanical Dinosaur."

  27. Avatar photo comicBOOKchris says:
    April 22, 2009 at 8:29 pm

    Fun read, very sweet ending, and I especially liked that final 2-page spread with the book of Batman’s allies and enemies.

     The big reveal was very Gaiman-esque, though very simple, and I’m sure iFanboy readers will be kicking themselves thinking "Of course! How did I not guess that that was happening?!"

  28. Avatar photo NealAppeal says:
    April 22, 2009 at 9:48 pm

    "Goodnight mechanicial dinosaur. Goodnight giant penny." had me laughing and getting misty-eyed. That was a pretty beautiful sequence.

  29. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    April 22, 2009 at 10:24 pm

    @Prax-I was a little thrown off by the ending as well.  But not really in a negative way, just as an "oh, hes taking it in that direction?  Interesting…" sort of way.  Overall, It still hit me like a sack of potatoes.

    This was an amazing story.  I almost teared up, which I can honestly say I can’t remember the last time a comic did that for me.  Hands down POTW.  Terms like this get thrown around a lot, not by me, but I honestly believe this is one of the best stories ever told in a comic.

  30. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    April 22, 2009 at 10:36 pm

    I’ve had it up to the eye balls with these abstract meta-textual or meta-fictional (or meta-whatever this was) type stories, especially in the Batman books. I hope this trend ends very very soon. I’m obviously in the minority if 72% of the iFanbase has this as thier POTW, I just wish they’d keep this stuff out of the regular Bat-titles. I’m not saying DC shouldn’t have these type of books, I’d just prefer if stuff that isn’t in continuity were in self contained one-shots.

    Anyway … at least the art was great. I loved the panel layouts.

  31. Avatar photo kwisdumb says:
    April 23, 2009 at 12:15 am

    Yes.

    Just, yes.

  32. Avatar photo JumpingJupiter says:
    April 23, 2009 at 12:37 am

    You know what? I’m really not into this. I didn’t buy it. I think I’ll just trade my issue of part 1 for something else.

    I mean, will I want to read this again in 5 years? I think this probably only works in the present context of Batman’s "death". Other than that…

    I dunno…

  33. Avatar photo NealAppeal says:
    April 23, 2009 at 12:46 am

    @jumpingjupiter I seriously  disagree. I think this is pretty timeless. It makes no references to current batman continuity. It might as well be an elseworlds. It will be still good in five years because it’s a story that adresses what’s at the heart of batman. It will still be good in five years because, regardless of anything else, it’s a great comic.

  34. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    April 23, 2009 at 12:57 am

    @jumpingjupiter With I told you it’s about the Earth-2 Batman who died in the 70s? Does that make more contextual? That’s not true, but it may as well be. Essentially Gaiman writes the story from the perspective of "He could have died at anytime, during any adventure but he hasn’t…. because he’s Batman."

  35. Avatar photo JumpingJupiter says:
    April 23, 2009 at 1:05 am

    Interesting. Maybe I’m not in the mood for it right now? Plus, I kind of don’t like Batman. I feel like I’m a bad person or something.

  36. Avatar photo TheTaken says:
    April 23, 2009 at 1:06 am

    I really want to believe this was a telling of the effects of the Omega Sanction Beam…but the stuff with his mum doesn’t fit that theory.  If he was merely living life after life, why would ole ma Wayne show up to help Bruce into his next life.  perplexing.   DC telling us the details don’t matter, all that matters is that the bat never gives in/up.  big frickn deal.  Sorta reminds me of spider-man OMD.  its not the stories, its the myth that matters.  really?  then why do I spend so much of my money on them?

  37. Avatar photo TheTaken says:
    April 23, 2009 at 1:07 am

    The scenes with the aged Joe Chill and the shadow of the Batman across the bar wall was pretty cool though.   Damn ghosts!

  38. Avatar photo miyamotofreak says:
    April 23, 2009 at 1:07 am

    One nitpick I had with the issue was that it only had 28 pages of story (out of 48 total pages). I checked and part one had 32. I think this would’ve been much better as a 60-70 page (if you want the extras) Prestige One Shot (no damn ads!).

  39. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    April 23, 2009 at 1:10 am

    @JJ-You are a very very bad person indeed

  40. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    April 23, 2009 at 1:39 am

    @TheTaken The story has been billed a the spiritual equivalent of "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" That book did something similar in that it sent Earth-1 Superman to his natural conclusion, along the way meeting his main loves, friends and nemeses. Moore told a very classic Super Hero tale with his own twists on the Man of Steel. Even when it came out, "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" was essentially out of continuity. It was the last story to feature that conception of Superman, a slightly dated late 70s approach to the character. This story was very much a celebration of Batman, a slightly dated late 60s version of the character. While it is meant to coincide with the disappearance of the character, it is not meant to be the full account of what happened to Bruce, but the story is broad enough that it leaves space for you to justify it as the Omega Sanction.

     @JumpingJupiter please excuse my atrocious mistakes in my last post… I hope you could read that.

  41. Avatar photo Noto says:
    April 23, 2009 at 5:18 am

    I’m going to propose to this comic I love it so much.

  42. Avatar photo Noto says:
    April 23, 2009 at 7:00 am

    UPDATE: My issue of Detective #853 has rejected my proposal because it saw me cheating on it with Kick-Ass #6.

  43. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    April 23, 2009 at 10:41 am

    Spoilers for both this issue and the Dark Tower series of novels.

    The end of this story is very similar to the end of The Dark Tower series by Stephen King (yes, I know you think he is a hack and that anyone who reads his work is low brow).  The only real difference is that in this issue reliving life is a reward and in The Dark Tower reliving it is a punishment and a chance at redemption.  I liked the issue.

    Ka is wheel.

  44. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    April 23, 2009 at 12:26 pm

    @stuclach: Very good observation

    Ka is Wheel

  45. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    April 23, 2009 at 1:53 pm

    @TNC – Have you read the Dark Tower novels?  I recently finished the last one (after having read the first book years ago).  I can’t decide if I genuinely liked it or if I kept reading due to inertia.

    And clearly that should read: "Ka is a Wheel".  I apparently hate the word "a" (but not the letter).

  46. Avatar photo twooldridge says:
    April 23, 2009 at 2:16 pm

    I thought this issue was completly awesome.  I loved it.  The weirdness and the comedy.  The Giant Penny line.   I think it was a weird little two issue story, but I say 5s all around.

  47. Avatar photo Kory says:
    April 23, 2009 at 2:26 pm

    This was quite good.

  48. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    April 23, 2009 at 3:06 pm

    @stuclach: I read them a long time ago, but I have recently tried to re-read them. I’m on the third novel right now. They are pretty good, although you can kinda tell they are a bit out of date….Some of that writing in the first book you can clearly tell is written in a late 70’s/early 80’s type of mind set. (Which is was written at that time)

    I know after reading this issue I will never look at the bat-signal the same way again

  49. Avatar photo AmirCat says:
    April 23, 2009 at 5:34 pm

    @flapjaxx

    The variant is 1:50 and I saw it going for 19.99 @ one of the stores. 

  50. Avatar photo AmirCat says:
    April 23, 2009 at 5:36 pm

    This was the most staisfying Batman book I’ve read the last two years … it was short and agreat ending. I guess I will have to get more Gaiman books …

     @Noto

    Marry them both

  51. Avatar photo Reform says:
    April 23, 2009 at 8:54 pm

    worth the wait.  wOw what a good story,

    it was fun re-telling it to the folks at work, everyone was shocked by the end. 

  52. Avatar photo jobob247 says:
    April 24, 2009 at 9:44 am

    @ JumpingJupiter. You’re not alone. I LOVE Batman but at this point I’m so tired of this "death bs" I can’t even explain it. If I see one more flashback drawing of Bane breaking Batman’s back I’m going to rip whatever issue that is in half. So tired of it all and Detective used to be better than Batman every month. To think I paid 3.99 for this… *sigh* Superman off earth is better than this, and thank God for Green Lantern. 

  53. edward says:
    April 24, 2009 at 9:51 am

    this was good not great. Gaiman’s dialogue is a little painful to stomach, goodnight XXX equals massive eye rolls.

    when i read an issue of a comic i always try to enjoy the comic of the basis of what’s written on the actual page instead of my 20 plus year relationship with the character.

    i really think the 72% POW reflects trhe iFanbase being overly emotional about the "death" of a beloved character not the merits oif this issue.

  54. Avatar photo jobob247 says:
    April 24, 2009 at 10:28 am

    @ edward. Couldn’t agree more with your points. I got to those pages and already couldn’t care less at all. Goodnight blah blah blah is what i read.

  55. MisterJ says:
    April 24, 2009 at 10:41 am

    Loved this.  I have always been a fan of the ‘core of the character’ type stories.  Any story that directly centers on the idea of highlighting who the character is always enjoyable to me.  Whether it is Batman never giving up, Superman embodying hope, or Spidey telling us that ‘life is a bitch, but it has its good points.’  It is those types of stories that keep me reading my monthlies.

    @jobob247  All that having been said, I could really use a rest from the Bane image as well.

  56. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    April 24, 2009 at 1:33 pm

    @edward-If you don’t like it, thats fine.  But don’t assume you know the reasons for other people’s enjoyment of the issue.

  57. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    April 24, 2009 at 1:49 pm

    I can say I loved this issue without seeing a childhood hero die in a bunch of comics.

  58. Avatar photo gnanniv says:
    April 24, 2009 at 2:21 pm

    Loved this book the whloe way through.

    I guess some people don’t like Goodnight Moon.

  59. Avatar photo Urthona says:
    April 24, 2009 at 3:22 pm

    @Edward – if what you are saying is that the book is better for those who enjoy the history of Batman, I can’t argue with you.  But I’ll tell you that me, personally, I hate the death of Batman concept, am not getting the Battle for the Cowl, am counting the days till Bruce is back, just want to read Batman stories, etc, etc…and I liked this issue a lot.

    BTW – My only problem is that moving forward there is no way I can resist Morrison/Quitely B&R, which leverages everything I just said I hated! 

  60. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    April 24, 2009 at 5:06 pm

    @edward My "childhood hero" Batman has been "dead" in the comics since Frank Miller put pen to paper on Dark Knight Returns. I’m not a Batman fanboy, I don’t really like him all that much (Superman either, but that’s another post.) my enjoyment of this issue is exactly based on its own merits. Now, I didn’t Pick it, but that’s for different reasons. Just because you didn’t like doesn’t mean you get to rationalize why others did. I imagine there are quite a few "Burn, Baby, Burn" fans out there that want Bruce Wayne to stay stuck in the past. (I am, too. I’m tired of this character’s 70 year history. Let’s give someone else a shot.)

  61. ScottH says:
    April 24, 2009 at 8:11 pm

    It’s funny how a comic fan can become jaded about a character.  I haven’t really read Batman or Detective in years, but this story arc made me miss Batman (even though I’m sure he will be back soon enough).  Neil Gaiman is a master story teller (as we all know) and this particular story explores everything we love about Batman comics, as well as taking a whole new look at the mythological aspects of these characters.  There is nothing here that should be read literally, but I do believe it is an essential Batman story the way Morrison’s "Arkham Asylum" is essential. 

  62. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    April 25, 2009 at 4:07 am

    Correct me if I’m wrong (like I need to say that :P), but Batman isn’t dead, right? He didn’t die in Final Crisis but is back in time, so … this whole comic is basically an Elseworlds. Right? That’s main the reason I wasn’t into it — it didn’t mean anything.

    @Stuclach & Champ — The Dark Tower series is my favourite novel series EVER. 

  63. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    April 25, 2009 at 12:18 pm

    @Wade: It’s most likely not in continuity with the Omega Sanctions story points in FC. I doubt very much Gaiman wanted to focus on such an idea….That’s weird even for Gaiman 🙂

    But I loved this issue cause it was such a huge idea about life and death. It made me think…..which I know people are tired of seeing Batman turn into an artsy type of comic (or metaphysical).

  64. Avatar photo Kory says:
    April 25, 2009 at 12:45 pm

    This was exactly what it was supposed to be–the last Batman story.  It’s not supposed to fit into current continuity.  When the day comes that I stop reading Batman, or God forbid they stop publishing Batman stories, this will be a fitting bookend.  Sometimes you have to quit worrying about continuity and just go with it.

  65. Avatar photo Fvckstick says:
    April 25, 2009 at 3:02 pm

    I LOVED THIS ISSUE!

  66. Avatar photo Parker says:
    April 25, 2009 at 11:22 pm

    I’m not sure why but this issue just didn’t do it for me. I liked the first one, maybe it was because I read how wonderful everyone thought it was that got my expectations too high.

    It just didn’t seem to add anything new. There must always be a Batman and Bruce can never escape being Batman even in "death." 

    It was very well done, just not able to live up to the hype I guess.

  67. Avatar photo stuclach says:
    April 26, 2009 at 7:41 pm

    @WadeWilson – Do you see the parallel with The Dark Tower series?  Seems almost like Mr. Gaiman is doing some sort of homage to that series.

  68. Avatar photo themanagement says:
    April 27, 2009 at 12:18 pm

    Wow, the boys kinda gave this issue the business on the podcast.  And Gaiman, too.  They apparently have ice water in their veins.  Especially Josh (big surprise there).

    I’m going to respectfully disagree and say that I enjoyed the sentimentality (although I’ll admit the Goodnight Moon stuff was a bit much).  Nice tribute to the Caped Crusader.

    And yeah, Kubert and Williams KILLED IT.

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