So it seems that DC’s One Year Later gambit is an effective marketing tactic after all.
The idea of having all their titles leap forward one year is an interesting one, providing something of a fresh start for new and old readers. It puts everyone on the same footing, a rarity in continuity-crazed superhero books. Everyone is missing the same information, and nearly everyone gets the same clues. The wild card in the event’s success will ultimately rely on how much of the pre-OYL continuity is essential to understanding the book, as well as the reliance on 52, DC’s weekly chronicle of the missing year.
The other drawing card is the impressive creator lineup DC has assembled for many of the books. The obvious highlight is the forthcoming Hawkgirl by Walt Simonson and Howard Chaykin, but DC has plenty of talent to spread around. It’s that talent, combined with the nice jumping on point, that managed to convince me to try two books I’d probably never consider otherwise.
Detective Comics #817 is the more traditional relaunch. James Robinson, acclaimed Starman creator, takes over both Detective and Batman to define the Dark Knight’s new status quo. It’s more of a setup issue than anything else: Batman has been missing for a year. Harvey Bullock and Jim Gordon have both returned to the police, reasons as yet unknown. Harvey Dent, no longer Two Face, has assumed some of Batman’s vigilante duties (including taking down the KGBeast, who I thought was some sort of insanely elite killer). And then, Batman returns, with Robin in tow, just in time to witness Poison Ivy kidnapping a bunch of CEOs.
The main thrust of the issue is on putting things back in their place. It’s just not quite a Batman comic without Commissioner Gordon, and both Gordon and Gotham clearly need the Dark Knight. The momentous unveiling of the bat signal is appropriately impressive – if somewhat reminiscent of Dark Knight Returns – and it certainly feels like we haven’t seen Batman for a long time, even if there are still 50 Bat-Books on the shelves.
Robinson drags the One Year Later gimmick a bit too much at time. Bullock is back due to some amazing deed he did… several months ago. Gordon is back… but we don’t know why. Some weird stuff happened with the Gotham Police… but we don’t know what. Robinson lays it on too thick, too fast: Spread it out over several issues and it would probably be fine, but instead it feels like a reverse mystery the reader needs to be worrying about.
It’s quite nice to see Andy Clarke make the leap from 2000AD to DC. (If he did it before, I wasn’t aware) Doing finishes over Leonard Kirk’s layouts, he shows off a great Brian Bolland influence, made all the more clear by the Batman connection. Everything is dark and grim, yet still clear and detailed. He knows how to draw Batman: Dark, imposing, serious. The one flaw is his seeming interpretation of Robin as some sort of Mexican jumping bean: He jumps into the book with Batman… fine, Robin jumps. But he’s still jumping on the next page. And again 3 pages later, he’s hopping around for no apparent reason.
Batman’s post-OYL return is nicely accessible, yet still relying heavily on the missing year. That’s only natural: DC needs readers to flow from their established and popular books on to 52 in order for the latter to not become a staggeringly embarrassing failure. Its success will ultimately depend on how quickly and clearly it answers its own mysteries, and whether it falls back onto the convoluted Batman chronology or forges ahead with something new. As it stands, Robinson is running a tricky balancing act.
Next up: Aquaman. (Yes, Aquaman. Shut up – I told you it was an effective marketing strategy.)