Now that Court of Owls is over and Death of the Family is just on the horizon, Scott Snyder is taking a one issue break to elaborate on the girl we saw helping Batman in issue 7. And more importantly, Snyder now has to establish a further tone for his Batman run now that the initial storyline is over. So how does that work out? I’ll just say it like it is: Batman #12 is the best issue of the series so-far.

In order to follow such a huge story as the Court of Owls, Snyder decides to do one of the smartest things that comic book writers never seem to realize: scale back. It’s not always about some larger than life threat. Sometimes its just about helping people who deserve it, and Snyder has given us two instantly likable characters in the Row siblings. Despite Batman barely appearing in the book, it doesn’t feel like filler or a tangent. If Snyder’s Batman is really about building Gotham City as a real place, then this chapter is absolutely necessary.

If there’s something this reminds me of, it would probably some of those Will Eisner human interest stories, or for more recent readers “The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man.” Superheroes are supposed to be a commentary on the changing world we live in, so addressing civil topics like poverty and homophobia are fine. What makes them really work is approaching these topics from the human perspective; to look at real-world struggles from a human angle, as opposed to have someone comment on them directly. And then, of course, insert superhero fantasy.

If there’s one thing that holds this issue back from instant classic, it’s the art. Make no mistake: Becky Cloonan’s pencils are excellent. They have the proper moodiness of Gotham, and excellent facial expressions to boot. The problem is when Andy Clarke comes in. Clarke is also an excellent artist, but his style next to Cloonan’s his so jarring it takes you out of the issue.

Despite its brief art hiccup, Batman #12 is excellent. If you’ve been hearing about how great Snyder’s Batman run is but haven’t picked it up, start here.