Prior to the New 52, much of Tony Daniel's Batman work was centered around establishing a new version of Black Mask, a villain who turned out to be none other than Dr. Jeremiah Arkham. Recently, Daniel has returned to Black Mask in his Detective Comics run, though now Roman Sionis is back under the mask and Arkham is on the right side of the law again. Detective Comics Annual #1 offers Daniel a chance to explore the current status quo of these characters outside the confines of the main series. Though it definitely has its rough patches, this annual isn't a bad way for Daniel to end his writing stint on the series.
This is one of those issues where Batman is basically a glorified guest star. But the benefit to having such a large, diverse, and downright awesome rogues gallery is that it's okay to relegate Batman to the background now and then. The majority of Daniel's attention is focused on Sionis. In many ways the villain is reverting to a more old-school version of himself, between the hypnotic powers and the return of the False Face Society. I miss the more sadistic take on the character seen in the days of Judd Winick's Batman run and the War Games crossover, but this version has its merits as well.
Black Mask may be the star, but he's hardly the only familiar Bat villain to make an appearance. Whether explicitly mandated or not, it's seemed that most of the New 52 books have focused on introducing new villains in their first year rather than relying on old favorites. It's a nice change to see characters like Clayface and Tweedledum and Tweedledee about and there's another mystery villain who Daniel puts to great use as a foil to Black Mask. In general, the issue makes effectvie use of the annual format, building on past plot points but not relying so much on continuity that newcomers cant enjoy the story.
There are some fairly significant problems with the script, unfortunately. The book becomes unintentionally silly at times despite the fairly grim tone. Part of this is because Daniel's dialogue doesn't always function as intended. Characters who are meant to come across as tough and scary instead trip over awkward lines. This is a problem that has plagued Daniel's Batman work to one degree or another from the beginning. The final showdown is also unnecessarily silly. I was reminded of Cartman's psychic showdown from the South Park episode "The Real Psychic Detectives."
Romano Molenaar and Pere Perez divide up the art duties on this issue. Molenaar's work resembles a more loose, frenetic version of Daniel's, and fits the general aesthetic of the series pretty well. It does become a bit too loose and lacking in detail at times. Perez's work is a little more straightforward and plain but also more detail oriented. It's not a visually spectacular issue by any means, but both artist contribute some memorable action scenes.
Detective Comics Annual #1 does little to push any of the characters involved forward or make changes to the Bat universe, but it does at least solidify Black Mask and a handful of other villains' places in the New 52. Hopefully Detective Comics can find a stronger sense of identity and purpose as the creative team shifts in the coming months.
Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and IGN Movies. He can't wait until he's old enough to feel ways about stuff. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.
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