(B-) 69% | SatisfactoryNotes: Told in such shallow, bedraggled, ramshackle shorthand that all its shock and bluster brews is apathetic disaffection.

You can find my review on our blog by clicking here.The New 52 event hit DC Comics like a whirlwind and brought us brand new series and brand new creative teams working on our favorite superheroes like never before. As some series stand out compared to others, comic fans still find themselves in front of dozens of new worlds to jump into and new ways to entertain themselves with never before seen characters, artwork and stories. If anything, this major comic book event helps new readers plunge i...

The start is what you want from a Batman story. Dark and twisted, with imagery you would find in the horror genre, this is the kind of atmosphere that sets Batman stories apart. Unfortunately, it falls flat from the mid point to the finish, with the elements of horror and mystery being overshadowed by needless action scenes with mostly throwaway characters, side plots that aren't all that interesting and resolutions that don't feel very rewarding. Dollmaker has potential, but it's hard to stand

3.5 stars, rounded down. So many storylines left unresolved. Drives me crazy. How about finishing the joker story before starting the penguin story? The artwork is the best part of this volume,and is the reason it wasn't rated two stars.

Ahem. There are two kinds of people in the world: the ones who believe Batman is the real personality and the ones that believe Batman is the persona.Ok, the latter camp is something I made up, but it was a cool way to open the review.Anyway, I belong to the third faction (population: 1) that believes that neither Batman nor Bruce Wayne is the real person, but something in between, a mixed personality that we never get to see.For the purposes of this review, let's refer to the middle ground betw...

Tony S. Daniel draws better than he writes, which means he's an OK writer, but a great artist. The "Dollmaker" arc was frankly just gross, but the second arc, involving a heist of the Penquin's "Iceberg Casino" left me with a good feeling toward the book as a whole.

I came for the Joker story because I was told this was the issue the doll maker takes his face, while this is true its very unfulfilling. You get some visuals of the removal but still no reasoning. The rest of the book is standard batman, the stories are fine but nothing amazing. The art is pretty good, its detailed and dark. I suppose if you want more batman, take a look but it wont be a keeper for me really.

I'll admit that you have to stuff up pretty badly to get less than a 4 star rating for me when it comes to Batman. I just love the character and most of the artists and writers know and understand him as he deserves. What makes Batman a great character is not just Batman or Bruce Wayne. Where Superman is made great by being Superman and balancing between saving everyone and also being Clark Kent Batman is great because of his famous rogues gallery and because of Gotham City. You don't get quite

Review originally posted here.Why I Read It: I love love love Batman, and this is a part of my challenge to read as much of the New 52 as possible. I did go in with some trepidation though -- one of my really good friends who is a fellow comic book geek warned me that the new line of Detective Comics isn't up to snuff.. I wanted to try it anyway for curiosity's sake.Well, my friend was right. This volume of Detective Comics was a mess I tell you. MESS! It's sad because the first issue looked pro...

What's the deal with Bruce Wayne and girlfriends? I mean, I get it. Who isn't into hot babes? But my question is, Why do people who write Batman comics include a girlfriend angle? I have to say, Bruce Wayne's girlfriends must be the least interesting aspect of most Batman stories. Think about it. This is a guy who flies around in jets and speedboats, is a martial arts expert, has all kinds of crazy gadgets, and I'm being told about a date he went on to some stupid ball? Hell, I get bored when my...

I really respect the "do it all approach" when an artist writes and pencils a title, something many people in the comics biz who were inspired by Jim Steranko have attempted, with decidely mixed results.So I'm willing to give Tony Daniel a lot of credit here for taking near-total charge of a major character's title (though, truth be told, with umpteen-million other Batman titles on sale the risk to DC was mitigated) and by and large pulling it off with a story that was both compelling both plot-...

I'm giving this 3 stars because of the first half. The Dollmaker storyline was the reason I picked this one up. I'm reading things out of order, but not intentionally. It wasn't until after I read Death of the Family that I looked for the story about how Joker lost his face. I honestly expected the entire book to be about Joker and the Dollmaker, but instead the second half is a tedious plot about Bruce Wayne's love life and Batman fighting Penguin and his cronies in order to save his girlfriend...

I thought about giving a three out of five stars rating for Tony S. Daniel's first volume that is comprised of issues #1-7 for New 52's Detective Comics but quickly changed my mind when I took into account how much emotional abuse I endured while I was reading and reviewing each issue. It would have been a solid three but given how much this ruined an entire week for me, I felt obligated to shoot another star down and just give this a measly two for effort and visuals. I have stated time and tim...

This is the most disappointing new Volume of the Batman titles from DC's New 52. I say that because Detective Comics is a flagship title, not just an afterthought Batman title to make more $$, but it sure seems like it here. The writer, Daniel, is also the artist, and he's talented enough drawing Batman/Joker and Gotham. However, he's no Scott Snyder. Some of the dialogue seems to have been written by a teenager on steroids...LOTS OF YELLING!!! Also, there's some stupid stuff where characters ou...

The first comic was my favourite! The last three were a bit inconsistent, I didn't see the connection between the different characters until the end. And I don't understand Strange's storyline in this, it didn't belong here at all. Still, I liked the first four comics. They were Batman-centered, too bad they didn't finish that storyline better.

SPOILERSThe book is about as close to cookie-cutter Batman as you can get. It opens with Batman running across the Gotham skyline in pursuit of Joker. Cut to Arkham Asylum and Joker’s in a straitjacket talking menacingly to doctors and then inevitably he escapes. Then Batman is after Penguin who’s opened a new Iceberg Casino floating in Gotham Bay which leads to Penguin’s arrest. The book’s over. Ho hum. Despite the inclusion of these stalwarts of Batman’s rogues gallery, there are some more int...

I liked the art I guess, thats the only good thing I can say about this book.It starts off with Joker murdering someone and well into Arkham he goes and someone named Dollmaker cuts his face and then we have Batman trying to find out why.. and then forgetting about it as there are multiple plots like searching for Olivia (the daughter of the person Joker killed), Gordon is also captured and its all connected and when he does confront it, he is knocked down by Dollmaker's henchmen and he is captu...

I liked this title much better than Batman, Vol. 1: The Court of Owls, but apparently I am one of the few who felt that way. I'm not sure why, though. The art was great and the story flowed really well. The only thing that was slightly annoying was that this new villain, Dollmaker, seemed a little too much like Professor Pyg (my opinion).sighI'm sure I'm gonna catch hell from all of you who are in love with Snyder's Batman. Sorry. I like Daniel's stuff better.Neener, neener....

The Joker has green hair. Check out the cover. Yeah, I know I’m really stretching the “green” theme, so shaddup!Two and a half stars.Batman has arguably the best rogue’s gallery of villains in comics and the books have been published since 1939 so the Bat creators have had years to come up with a few compelling characters. This makes the task, for current creators, of bringing something new to the table rather daunting. Take The New 52 (please!?!), the Court of Owls storyline in anyone else but

Solid, if unspectacular, Detective Comics here is much better than when Tony Daniel was writing/drawing Batman pre-Flashpoint.The opening storyline with the Dollmaker is a bold start with some good ideas, but ultimately doesn't go anywhere special and both Joker and the Dollmaker get away far too easily. The second story featuring the Penguin is your run of the mill Penguin story. It's safe, it's easy, and it doesn't really try to be anything it's not. One day, someone will tell a truly great Pe...