Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 1: Rise of the Batmen (Rebirth)

Easily one of the best Batman titles in some time (aside from Scott Snyder's tremendous run on the New 52 era Batman) and one of the best first volumes from the Rebirth era. Detective Comics returns to its original numbering before the New 52 shakeup and focuses on Batman's efforts to recruit a new team of vigilantes to protect Gotham City. To that end he approaches his cousin and all around badass Batwoman to use her army training to whip his new recruits into shape. Batman selects a stellar team of past heroes who were ill served or lost during the New 52 years: Spoiler (Stephanie Brown), Tim Drake (one of the great original Robins who was terrible in the New 52 Teen Titans books), Orphan (Cassandra Cain a previous Batgirl), and the major surprise of the book Basil Karlo aka Clayface. The team dynamics are terrific in the story, especially Batman's offer of redemption and a new lease on life to Karlo. This book would be worth four stars alone just based on Tynion's terrific exploration of the former criminal and his attempts to use Batman's offer to reclaim a sense of normalcy. However, equally strong is the dynamic between Batman and his cousin. He and Batwoman are equal leaders to the new team, but Bruce always has a hard time completely opening up to others and putting his trust in them. While the villains of this title aren't the best (and the twist over their leader is obvious from the get-go) this is a tremendous team book and one of my favorites of the Rebirth era. SPOILERS: also the ending with Tim Drake is just fabulous and though the intervention of the mysterious Mr. Oz does undercut his big scene a bit it does tie the book into the larger Rebirth/Watchmen mystery which is great.

When an army of Batmen come to Gotham, Batman builds his own army complete with Batwoman as his general. As usual Batman is the only one with the whole story and he's playing his cards close to the chest. Full of intrigue and lots of action, the writing pulls you in for a real page turner and the art catches the eye in its detail and colors. A great read that ends with a twist.

If you really enjoy the extended Bat-family (Batwoman, Red Robin, Spoiler, Orphan and Clayface), you’ll enjoy the team based adventure of this story. I’m more of a Batman solo adventure fan with him working his detective moves and some Bat-battles obviously. This book has a great climax (no spoilers here) but definitely sets up for the next book. A great read but loses a star for my own preference of less focus on the other Bat-family members.

Superhero team-ups are not too difficult to stumble across in this day and age, and despite being a "lone hero" type, Batman is very often found in the middle of them. This run in Detective Comics, then, mixes things up just enough to stand out; this group is set up to act independently of Batman. The team is composed of fan-favorite allies Batwoman, Tim Drake's Red Robin, Spoiler, and Cassandra Cain (who is now under the alias Orphan rather than being tied in as Batgirl), as well as the unexpected but well-utilized Clayface, who is shown here at one of his most redeeming and sympathetic portrayals in recent memory. And while Batman is certainly important to setting up the team, it's made very clear Batwoman and Red Robin are the ones running the team. Simply put, everything you could like about the book is worthwhile. The storytelling is expertly crafted, the characters resonate well, the art is spot on. Spoiler and Cassandra don't get quite as much focus as Tim or Kate, but they still have enough impact in their focus to merit their inclusions. I highly recommend this book.

Batman is greater than ever!!

Batman, Batwoman, Red Robin, Spoiler, Orphan, and Clayface go up against a new elite strike force....While Batwoman confronts her father's career balance. While this is a good "Rebirth" reintroduction to most of these characters, I recommend you know a bit about the Bat-Verse before diving in...Though it's not necessary. We pick right up into a story jam packed with many characters, lots of emotion, and plenty of action and dialogue...And plot twists. If the "Batman" title is about Batman's heart, this book is about his fists. This book will leave you wanting more from these characters!

It was the relationships and emotional ties that made this story arc so captivating. The ending is quite the shocker!

Another year, another company-wide reboot. This time around the theme is 'Rebirth' and Detective Comics has been relaunched. The concept for Detective Comics is unlike any other we've seen for it, it's apparently a team book now, made up of Batman's former partners or close coworkers and uh, Clayface, for some reason. The cast: Batman, Batwoman, Tim Drake, the third Robin, now calling himself Red Robin, Cassandra Cain (formerly Batgirl, now called Orphan), Stephanie Brown, the Spoiler and Clayface. The idea is a really good one. There have been so many great bat characters over the years, but there just aren't enough books for them all. Rather than just let these characters fade away into obscurity, they put them into this book so the fans still get to see them. While every character gets their moment in, Tim Drake and Batwoman get the lions share of the attention in this volume, and the primary antagonist of this volume is straight out of Batwoman's series. If you have a soft spot for the 90's and 00's Batman when these characters were prominent, you will love this volume. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Toller Comic

I am on a marathon bing reading of the Batman Graphic Novels series and as ever I thoroughly enjoyed reading them. The story plot, the dialogue and the drawings are spectacular as ever. I am now on the next volume in the series. Best wishes Sean

Knappe strip.

I’m not a huge Batman fan but decided to give this story a try and was pleasantly surprised. The team softens Batman’s chronic severity and I found the individuals in the group each interesting in their own way. I was caught by the story and the choice Batwoman had to make and the heroism and sacrifices Red Robin. I’ll keep reading.

El comic llego en perfectas condiciones y en tiempo. Para mi la mejor trama de todos los comics relacionados con el murcielago dentro de lo que es rebirth.