DC Comics
Greg Rucka, writer
Rick Burchett, artist
I have mentioned before in this space that Greg Rucka's run on Wonder Woman from 2003-2006 is one of my all-time favorite runs for the character. Not too long ago, I also re-read and discussed Rucka's great run on The Adventures of Superman between 2004 and 2006. Rucka also handled a great run on Detective Comics from 1999 to 2002, a fact reinforced for me recently when I re-read those Detective issues.
There was a lot going on in this run to like. Rucka took over at the end of "No Man's Land" and did a lot of what would become groundwork for the later Gotham Central series he and Ed Brubaker co-wrote. The concept of the Wayne Enterprises board of directors insisting that Bruce Wayne accept a bodyguard allowed Rucka to introduce the character of Sasha Bordeaux, a character who he made a key part of the Bat universe for awhile, and later a big part of the overall DC Universe. The regular artist for much of the run, Shawn Martinbrough, is pretty great, too.
Rather than talking about this entire run this time out, however, I want to narrow the focus a bit to this excellent done-in-one stand alone issue that falls in the middle of Rucka's run on Detective Comics. None of the various subplots make an appearance in this issue at all. It is so very stand alone, it could almost be a fill-in issue, but Rucka's name is still in the credits. As for the art, Rick Burchett's Batman looks close enough to Martinbrough's usual pencils that it isn't jarring because none of the other characters in this issue are seen in the series again.
The first page introduces us briefly to a family of three approaching Gotham on a lonely stretch of highway late one night. We don't even get their names except the father calling his wife Hannah.
Turning the page, we get a seemingly unrelated voice-over by Batman. The Dark Knight is very annoyed by the direction his night is going. We also see four thugs fleeing a drug deal and gunning down at least two Gotham City Police officers as they go. Batman is in pursuit as soon as possible but is not able to catch the felons before they meet and force the family of three to drive off the road, their car dropping off a cliff into open water.
Batman has no idea of the plight of this family as he continues to pursue the thugs. Subsequent pages switch from showing Batman taking down the villains to the family fighting to survive as best they can. The parents are surprisingly calm and resourceful, but they can't get out of their car as it continues to fill with water. Batman finally becomes aware of the presence of another car and questions the final criminal before knocking him unconscious.
I like that the family in danger in the submerged car is able to survive as long as they do because they don't panic. Often in these kinds of stories, the heroes are all-knowing and brave while the people they save are helpless victims. That isn't exactly the case here. But the ending is also excellent as Batman saves the family and then apologizes to them for taking so long. The Dark Knight seems genuinely distressed by the inconvenience to these people.
But the mother replies, "You arrived just in time. Any sooner, the water pressure would have kept you from opening the door."
And Batman simply says, "I hadn't considered that."
Yeah, I just ruined the ending for you if you've never read this issue, but it's still worth your time to check out. There are a lot of details skimmed over in this synopsis, and this issue holds up well to multiple readings.
This is a fantastic story that shows Batman is NOT always infallible, but rather than making him less of a hero for that, it makes him all the more heroic for all he accomplishes without being perfect. This issue is definitely good comics!
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