Scott Snyder is the second coming of Stephen King.
Yes, I’m well aware that The Greatest Living Horror Writer™ is still…well…living, but he’s not produced anything that feels fresh and exciting since before he got hit by that van. Scott Snyder on the other hand…
This guy seems to have come out of nowhere with the express purpose of blowing my tiny little mind. I confess, I only picked up American Vampire because of Mr King’s name. At that point I had severe vampire fatigue brought on by True Blood (great as it is), the unholy abomination that is Twilight and its various imitators; vampires were everywhere and it was hard to believe that this guy could bring something new to the table. I hadn’t heard of Scott Snyder or Rafael Albuquerque. But, I had faith in Stephen King (‘Salem’s Lot is one of my favourite books) and I dived in regardless.
Mind. Officially. Blown.
American Vampire was not only new and exciting - making vampires feel relevant and scary again - if anything, Snyder’s main series was even more gripping than King’s backup story. The man had my attention.
Then I heard whispers about his work on Detective Comics. I heard comparisons to The Long Halloween (one of my favourite Batman books). Needless to say, I was there.
This review takes in the entirety of Snyder’s run on Detective - #871 to #881 – and will look at the story in its entirety. Really, that’s the only way to look at this run. It might be made up of several three issue arcs, but you can only realistically think about it as one long story.
First up: Dick Grayson makes an awesome Batman. I vaguely know the story behind his replacement of Bruce Wayne, but I don’t know the specifics. Frankly, I don’t care. Snyder breathes life into his Batman in a way that makes it immediately apparent that this is NOT Bruce Wayne, and all the better for it. Dick is his own man, and he wears the cowl well. He’s got a wit and a light-heartedness about him that Bruce just doesn’t, and couldn’t have. Where Bruce is paranoid and introspective to a fault, Dick is more open with those around him and has set himself firmly within a support system of secondary characters. Bruce is well and truly a loner, but Dick is a social animal. As the series Big Bad (no spoilers here) puts it, Bruce would soldier on without his loved ones around him, but would Dick? Bruce’s crusade is deeply personal. He is Batman because he has to be, because his scars are so deep that he has no other option but to be the Dark Knight. Dick, on the other hand is motivated by compassion and empathy. He fights crime because he’s a good person, and he wants to protect those around him.
Playing off of this is what makes the Big Bad in this run is so compelling, and such a perfect antithesis to Dick’s Batman. He truly is Dick’s Joker, and it’s depressing to think that, given the September relaunch and Bruce returning to Gotham, this relationship might not be explored further.
You know what, fuck it: SPOILERS AHEAD!
It’s going to be hard to talk about this without actually talking about it. Let me get this off my chest:
The Big Bad is James Gordon Jr – that’s right, Commish Gordon’s own flesh and blood son – and he’s a clinically diagnosed psychopath and a downright scary motherfucker.
It’s with James that Snyder’s considerable talent as a horror writer comes shining through. I’ve been watching horror movies since I was five and I’d consider myself pretty jaded and desensitised when it comes to horror, but I have to confess, Snyder got me a couple of times during this run. There were several ‘Holy shit’ moments that had me grinning like an idiot in a way I haven’t for years. James in the basement of his old friend’s house. The shower. Not to mention the creepiest treatment of the Joker I’ve read since…The Killing Joke, I guess.
Oh, and honourable mention to the best ‘Fuck yeah’ moment of the whole thing: Batman giving Tiger Shark the Scottish equivalent of that upside down Spider-Man kiss.
James is a worthy addition to the deranged rogues gallery of Gotham City, and his master plan is the perfect mix of mad super villain theatricality and straight up menace. There’s something just cold and unknowable about James, which makes him a truly scary villain. It’s here that the art really shines. James’ vacant expression could have come across as lazy pencilling, but Jock and Francavilla make it into something chilling. James is definitely up there with my favourite villains of all time.
I’ve talked about Dick and James, but the star of the show is really Jim Gordon Sr. Commissioner Moustache gets the best arc, as he has to deal with the re-emergence of his son and the possibility that Junior could be on the mend. You can really feel for the old guy, forcing himself to believe that his son has turned over a new leaf even though his better judgment is screaming at him not to. Of course, Gordon’s compassion is something that James is relying on, and he uses it to his advantage.
Snyder’s other great success is in establishing Gotham itself as an important character. The idea that the city itself is partly responsible for the evil that constantly arises there is fascinating to me, and I’m super excited to read Snyder’s Batman #1, which promises to expand on this idea.
I suppose I should balance all this gushing praise with some criticisms, but to be honest I’m hard pushed to find anything all that wrong with the run. If I had to highlight something – on pain of death – I’d say the whole orca thing was a bit silly. Come to think of it, that whole arc involving the bank and the Roadrunner and Tiger Shark seems a bit superfluous. Well executed and immensely enjoyable, but a bit random. However, my current man crush on Scott Snyder forbids me to bad mouth any of his work, so I’ll leave it at that.
Oh, and that final panel in Detective #881? Creepy. As. Fuck. Well played, Scott Snyder, well played.
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