Written by: James Tynion IV
Art by: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira
Published by: DC Comics
Triumphant return of the favorite Robin!
Further mysteries of Rebirth and the driving force behind OZ are answered and new mysteries are entangled!
Detective Comics since its return in issue #934 was a pleasant surprise in Rebirth line up. Its imaginative use of extended Batman family and his rogue gallery hit a fever pitch when it seemed that Tim Drake was gone forever. Since that point in time the mystery of his disappearance consumed the book in the latter issues and now we are given some answers finally.
Oz’ reasoning behind keeping Tim was to protect him as he states but it does seem there is a more sinister motive behind it that is not quite clear yet. What this issue does is pays a fantastic homage to the Lonely Place of Dying storyline which brought Tim into the Bat family. It revisits those moments in the beginning giving a feel of nostalgia to old readers but also bridges a gap for people that were not quite familiar with Tim Drake prior to Rebirth.
In that sense James Tynion manages to write a pretty good jumping off point for the new readers which is always successful tactic for a book in a midst of a big story-line like this. Big twist toward the end of this story and there are two of them work for the most part, but at this point they work more as an intriguing plot device at this point; that being said it is going to take some time to see where this all leads and what consequences it will have for the future.
Eddy Barrows returns for this arc of Detective Comics and as the other art was relatively solid throughout the run Barrows’ art was sorely missed as he is able recapture the magic of Perez’ and Aparo’s run here by giving it a feel that you are reading that storyline again, especially in the earlier pages. His kinetic shading techniques are highlighting the range of emotion both Tim and later OZ portray throughout the book and as a storytelling point that was very important here.
Detective Comics Lonely Place of Living story-line looks like it could be a great turning point for the Rebirth line same as Action Comics was. Everything is looking intertwined but what is being avoided is a feel that every single book of Rebirth has to be read to get a full story. It is a crossover without being a crossover and that is what DC has done so well with Rebirth. Lonely Place of Living story and Detective Comics in general come highly recommended.
