‘Detective Comics #1002’ unleashes a new threat to Batman and Gotham City. Who is the Arkham Knight and what are his plans for the city of Gotham?

Detective Comics #1002
Written By: Peter J. Tomasi
Art By: Andrew Hennessy and Bradley Walker
Published By: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: 04/24/2019

When the Arkham Knight ambushes Batman with a sunbomb that turns the night into day, Batman barely escapes with the help of Jim Gordon. After he recovers from the ambush, he begins his investigation into who the Arkham Knight really is.

The story by Peter J. Tomasi is interesting and moves at a breakneck pace. The overarching threat of the Arkham Knight and the mystery of his identity is the driving force of the story. While I enjoy this story, my favorite moments come from the interactions between Batman and Gordon and Bruce, Alfred and Damian. There is one set of panels that feature Bruce and Damian arguing about who is the better detective. I found myself laughing at their interaction while Alfred and Ace the Bathound are observing the exchange. It’s in these small moments where the writing from Tomasi really shines and helps drive the story home.

The art by Andrew Hennessy and Bradley Walker is beautiful and unique to the story. The panels that feature the action sequences between Batman and the Arkham Knight are gorgeous and brutal. It showcases the lengths that both characters are willing to go through in order to survive. As I stated earlier with my favorite moments are the ones between Bruce, Damian, Alfred and Ace and the art drives home the humor of the scenes. Another strong aspect of the art is the design of the Arkham Knight’s armor as it looks like the design from the video game of the same name. He looks menacing and like a credible threat to the Batfamily. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do for the rest of the story arc.

While I did enjoy this book, I did have an issue with some of the writing. There is a sequence towards the end that features some of Gotham’s top villains. When I saw that I thought it was an interesting thing to do but it also didn’t make sense. I found it a bit jarring as I assumed we’d see more of the Knight recruiting them to his cause and it took me out of the story. Hopefully in the next issue, Tomasi will showcase the villain rally.

All in all, I did enjoy the book and I look forward to seeing where the story goes.

4 Happy Ace The Bathounds out of 5