Batman has been captured by the Church of Two-Face and only the flip of a coin can determine his fate. Spoilers for Detective Comics #1022 follow.
So far, this current storyline in Detective Comics has contained some of the best Two-Face characterizations in years. It’s been an incredibly fun read over the first issues of the story as it has been a mystery thriller story, which is something that is perfect for Batman, but, for some reason, doesn’t occur all that often. This issue flounders a bit compared to the first two issues of the storyline though. There’s a lot going on and not enough page space to make everything occurring feel actually worthwhile. The most important stuff in this issue though is phenomenal, even though it ties into “Joker War” in a way that it really doesn’t feel like it needs to.
Probably the best thing about this issue is the fact that it confirms that this is basically a direct sequel to “The Big Burn” from the New 52 Batman & Robin series. Said story was also written by Peter J. Tomasi and there have been plenty of hints through the first two issues that this very much is a sequel to it. Here, we learn exactly how that’s the case, picking up almost exactly after Two-Face shoots himself at the end of “The Big Burn.”
It’s a nice coda to that story that ties in well to the timeline presented when first published as there’s also the return of The Joker with his face strapped over his muscles after he cut it off. There’s not much plot actually going on during this portion of the issue, instead, its necessary character work which is great.
The biggest problem with this issue is the fact that it feels like two issues worth of content crammed into one issue. Several scenes are over incredibly quickly and it often leaves you with the feeling of “Why was this scene in there?” The overall story does fit those scenes in, but the actual scenes themselves don’t provide any momentum for the story. It’s just an excuse from Batman to jump from Point A to Point C without actually being a plot hole. It really feels like if Detective Comics wasn’t tying into “Joker War” there wouldn’t have been the pacing problems evident here.
As for the art, Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy, and Brad Anderson kill it once again in this issue. Walker’s pencils and layouts are excellent in telling the story well, despite the issues already brought up, and he brings the perfect emotion to every page. Hennessy’s inks, in tandem, establish the perfect, dark tone for the issue and really just accentuate Walker’s fantastic pencil work. And Anderson, there’s literally never been an issue of comics colored by him that isn’t phenomenal in that department. This issue is no exception. The entire art team is great and they are the highlight of this issue.