Review: Detective Comics #1016

"In Cold Blood"
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artists: Doug Mahnke, Tyler Kirkham, Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne and Mark Irwin
Color Artist: David Baron
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Review by Steve J. Ray
Detective Comics #1016 Turns up the heat on Mrs Freeze, as her husband teams up with Batman. Yes, dear reader, you read that correctly; this issue gives us the brand-new Dynamic Duo of Batman and Mr Freeze. Hell may well indeed have finally frozen over.
I must say that I’ve loved virtually everything I’ve ever read by Peter J. Tomasi; his New 52 run on Batman & Robin and his Rebirth Superman runs in particular. 23 issues into his Detective Comics (yes, it’s been that many already) has already put his tenure on this legendary title right up there amongst his very best, in my estimation. What’s even more impressive is that this is two years worth of output, and we’ve had it all in less than 12 months. Seeing Freeze and Batman teaming up is awesome enough, but bringing Nora back in such a brand new and super cool way (pardon the pun) has made this “Year Of The Villain” tie-in that much more exciting.

Another Supreme Team

Doug Mahnke has also produced some stellar work over the years, and these issues are no exception. His work is very intricate, so while I’m not overjoyed that he didn’t draw 100% of this issue, I can understand why. The good news is that Tyler Kirkham’s art is very good indeed, and fits in fairly well, aesthetically, with Mr Mahnke’s. The excellent inks by Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, Mark Irwin and Mr Kirkham himself also help. The action is superb and everything flows brilliantly, despite us having two different pencillers in the one issue.
David Baron and Rob Leigh put the ice-ing (sorry again) on this proverbial cake. Baron has become one of my favorite color artists, thanks mainly to this run, and his exceptional work on The Batman Who Laughs. Rob Leigh’s prolificity is matched only by his impeccable craftsmanship. Together they’ve proven to be the most consistent World’s Finest team on this book since Mr Tomasi took over as writer. Huge kudos to both these extremely talented professionals.

Conclusion

I’m a pretty hard person to surprise, but the ending to this issue really put a smile on my chubby little face. Victor Fries’ ultimate fate at the end of Detective Comics #1016 was heartbreaking, yet supremely poetic. This has been my favorite Mr Freeze comics story in a long, long time, and this finale was both incredibly entertaining and thought provoking.
The other thing thing that this storyline has proven irrefutably that the female of the species is, indeed, deadlier than the male.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thought Bubble 2024 convention & festival dates announced

Image
Article by Steve J. Ray Thought Bubble  is, without a doubt, the UK’s best entirely comic-based convention and art festival. I’ve been fortunate enough to attend the show for the last three years, and have been anxious to see what’s in store this year. Well, the wait is over, as the team behind the event has announced the Thought Bubble 2024 convention & festival dates. THOUGHT BUBBLE ANNOUNCES 2024 COMIC CONVENTION & FESTIVAL DATES ACCLAIMED COMIC ART CONVENTION AND FESTIVAL TO TAKE PLACE ACROSS YORKSHIRE THIS NOVEMBER THOUGHT BUBBLE FESTIVAL LEEDS & ACROSS YORKSHIRE 11 -17 NOVEMBER 2024 THOUGHT BUBBLE COMIC CONVENTION HARROGATE CONVENTION CENTRE 16 & 17 NOVEMBER 2024   https://www.thoughtbubblefestival.com “Thought Bubble is the place to be. This is the show where everyone feels and is treated like family” –  Dark Knight News “Thought Bubble is the most important comic convention around” –  Popverse Returning to the Harrogate Convention Centre,...
Read more

Mystic Muses: A D&D Podcast

Image
Article by Philip Clark An all queer cast. An all femme ensemble. A non-binary Dungeon Master. Throw in some quality story-telling and role playing too, this sounds like a whole lot of fun! If any of the previously mentioned things has piqued your interests, then I implore you to check out Mystic Muses. You can find this wonderfully crafted podcast where you can find all your other favourites including Spotify. There are currently four episodes out. Episode 0 is the prologue and character introductions, and I have to say it is very well put together! The intro to each episode is cleverly crafted, with the players and DM each sounding off a sentence to bring us into the game space. Speaking of bringing us into the game space, Adam, the talented DM sets the scene for the story very nicely. A descriptive, yet concise introduction to the environment gives both the players and audience a vibe of what we're in for. Then come the delicious character introductions that give vivid descripti...
Read more

Fantastic Universes Interview: Madison, Matthew and Macsen Lintz From 'The Walking Dead'

Image
Interview panel led by Steve J. Ray, with a gathering of Comic/TV Media Journalists. I've spoken to some amazing people over the last couple of years; writers, artists, costume designers, and actors from some of my favorite TV shows. It's no secret that I'm a huge comic-book fan, and one of the TV series that's based on and inspired by a comics title - but has gone on to be so much more - is The Walking Dead . At a recent Comic-Con in London, I had the great opportunity of leading a panel where some fellow journalists and I spoke with Madison, Matthew and Macsen Lintz, three siblings who played Sophia and both iterations of Henry on the show. The eldest, Madison Lintz (born 1999) played Sophia Peletier - Carol's daughter - in the first two seasons. She's also well known for playing Maddie Bosch in the Amazon series Bosch . She started acting at the age of six, filming commercials and voice-overs. Matthew (born 2001) took over the role of Henry from ...
Read more