Tony Daniel has his share of detractors but I’m not one of them. As with most writers, he’s had some really good stories but also some bad ones. But throughout his time on the Batman books I have remained a fan. Here he gets the daunting task of not only writing “Detective Comics” #1 but following Scott Snyder’s epic run on the title. Daniel starts his run featuring arguably the best villain DC has to offer, the Joker. Daniel gives us our first look at Batman’s violent relationship with Joker as well as his more complex relationship with the red-haired Jim Gordon in the world of The New 52. This is a fast paced story and I enjoyed the ride. As with many Joker stories, there’s plenty of violence and misdirection. It’s frantic and intense and the last page really shakes things up a bit. It’s a stark contrast with the style of storytelling Scott Snyder had used but for the most part it really works.

Tony Daniel also handles the art on the issue and I’ve always been a fan of the way he draws Batman books. There are some really cool pages in this issue but overall his work didn’t look quite as polished as in previous books. That’s not to say it’s bad. In fact there are some panels that are drop-dead gorgeous. His action sequences are fluid and are helped out by his page layouts. Most of his character depictions are solid with only a few small inconsistencies here and there. It may not be his best work but it’s still really good.

Batman and the Joker’s connection hasn’t changed much in The New 52 and I’m glad of that. We get a taste of it in this issue but the cliffhanger shows that Joker, as always, has much broader intentions. For the most part this is an action issue and I do wish Daniel would have slowed things down and fleshed things out a little more. But I actually found myself having a lot of fun with this book and I’m really intrigued by what’s to come. And after all, isn’t that the mark of a successful comic?