DC Comics
Ed Brubaker, writer
Tommy Castillo and Wade Von Grawbadger, artists
This is an excellent Batman story for a number of reasons: it introduces a brand new villain; the plot of the story allows the creators and the readers to visit a number of familiar rogues along the way; it focuses on the detective nature of the hero, a facet of his personality and procedures that can easily be overlooked; and it grabs your interest and holds your attention throughout.
Ed Brubaker spent most of his time in Gotham City writing Batman, but he did do a brief stint writing Detective Comics in 2003. At the time, DC was trying to differentiate the two books by emphasizing superheroics in Batman and deductive reasoning in Detective Comics. Hence, this mystery titled "Dead Reckoning."
The plot stems from a tragedy eight years in the past, yet still during Batman's career. It's rare for writers to pin down past events so concretely in comic stories where the passage of time is so elastic, but this tale does just that. It's not impossible to still fit that timeline into the typical 10-year span of Batman's career, but it does seem a little tight to me. Eight years ago would put it pretty early in Batman's career, yet portions of the story dictate that these events can not have happened too early in the criminal career of Two-Face. That distinction serves to narrow the window of occurrence for these events, because Two-Face first worked with Batman as crusading Gotham district attorney Harvey Dent. They had a great working relationship -- one depicted at times as almost closer than that between Batman and police commissioner Jim Gordon -- until Harvey was assaulted by a criminal in court and transformed into the two-obsessed Two-Face. Two-Face must have pulled at least a few criminal capers pitting him against his former ally, Batman, for the Dark Knight to become familiar with Two-Face's habits, and that familiarity is important to this modern story.
As for the villain, Charlatan, he's a master of disguise and a truly tragic figure, at least at the beginning. His obsessions lead him down a rather dark path, and ultimately, his poor decisions lead to his own downfall, but a great deal happens to this man that leaves readers feeling some sympathy for him. I don't believe he has ever appeared in another Batman comic since this initial appearance, although he would make an excellent addition to the Gotham City rogues gallery.
It's no secret I enjoy Ed Brubaker's writing, and he is a large part of why I like this story so much. There are a few bits of this six-issue arc that could have been shortened a tad; maybe four issues could have been enough to tell this tale without it bogging down in a few scenes.
The art is great for this type of story. I'm not familiar with Tommy Castillo's other art credits, but here, his illustrations recall the look and feel of "Batman: The Animated Series." Not identical, but still quite similar. That makes for a nice touch as Batman and Charlatan make their way through various familiar Gotham faces such as Commissioner Gordon, Renee Montoya, Penguin, Scarecrow, Killer Moth, Catwoman, the Joker and Two-Face.
This story is good comics!
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