Detective 786 – gifts to the Wayne boys, and the Dog Catcher makes a call

Brubaker, Zircher and Sowd are joined by Steven Bird for the final chapter of “Made of Wood, ” the Batman/Green Lantern team-up, in Detective 786 (Nov. 03).

Jim Gordon is in the hands of the killer, who tells him about his father, and discovering, after his death, that he had been the Made of Wood killer.  The son felt this made his father much more important of a person, his huge achievement, and so has chosen to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a serial killer as well.

Batman gets on the trail of the man, and Alan does his bit to make Batman even more frightening than usual.

When they confront the killer, they learn the reason behind it all.  Alan Scott had been hugely admired by the boy’s father, up to the point when he got knocked out by Sportsmaster during a fight, and Sportsmaster destroyed the father’s business, plunging him into debt and depression.  He felt betrayed by Green Lantern, and his motive was to show how weak the Lantern was.  Alan is cut to the quick by this, and genuinely remorseful.  Batman has less patience with the excuses, and no trouble taking the man down.

After a concluding talk, in which both heroes express admiration for each other, and tell the other not to be so hard on themselves, Alan leaves Bruce a gift, the bat he had been knocked out with, which started the whole thing.  Bruce puts it with a signed photo of Alan Scott with a young Thomas Wayne.

Not a big, huge story.  But keeping it smaller and more personal made it emotionally quite powerful.

Rick Spears and Rob G continue the saga of the Dog Catcher in this issue.

He follows procedure, attempting to contact the dog’s owner, but Arkham tells him that the Joker has escaped.  Which is not really good news in any fashion.

He tries asking on the street about the Joker, but everyone thinks he is crazy to try and find him.  But as his only other choice is to put the dog down, and he figures the Joker will kill him for that, he puts up notices to try to get his attention.

The story continues in the next issue.

Detective 785 – Batman and Green Lantern, and the Dog Catcher begins

Brubaker, Zircher and Sowd continue their three-parter, which brings together Batman and Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern, in Detective 785 (Oct. 03).

As usual, Batman prefers to work on the case on his own, even after consulting with Green Lantern.  But, as usual again, the other hero refuses to step aside.

Jim Gordon also continues to pursue the case his way, looking back over the files on the original murders.

Batman and Green Lantern do not get too far with their investigation in this issue, but Alan is reminded of how difficult it is to keep some sort of order in Gotham.

Gordon has more success, and deduces the identity of the original killer.  He goes to seek out the son, and finds him.  But he has little time to take pride in his achievements before being knocked out and dragged away.

The story concludes next issue.

Rick Spears and Rob G begin an entertaining back-up story, which will run for five chapters, the Dog Catcher.

The main character has that occupation, and is quite content with his life as it’s going.

Until he finds a stray dog, with a tag that claims he is the possession of the Joker.

The story continues next issue.

Detective 784 – a new murder copies a very old one, and Josie Mac gets promoted

Patrick Zircher and Aaron Sowd join Ed Brubaker on Detective 784 (Sept. 03), which begins a three-part story that teams up Batman with Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern.

Jim Gordon opens this story, as he fights off muggers in a park.  There is a statue of Alan Scott (never shown before), commemorating his days as Gotham’s guardian in the 1940s.

Gordon finds a grisly sight at the base of the statue, and one that seems vaguely familiar.

Batman consults with Gordon, and they agree that the murder likely has something to do with Green Lantern, whose weakness, not widely known, was to wood.

Alan Scott also hears about the murder, and recalls finding a similarly carved victim at the base of the statue more than forty years earlier.  Doiby Dickles cameos in the flashback.

Batman finds what must be the killer’s lair.  The suspicion that this is a copycat killer seems off-base, as the lair has newspapers from the 40s, but is still being used.

The story continues in the next issue.

Josie Mac returns for a one-shot story,by Judd Winick and Cliff Chiang.

Her partner at Missing Persons is retiring, moving to California to become private security.

But she is moving up as well.  After so many successful cases, Josie Mac gets promoted to the Major Crimes Unit, under Maggie Sawyer, and becomes a regular player in the book Gotham Central.

Detective 747 – Happy Birthday, Renee Montoya, and the Jacobian gets a case

William Rosado joins Greg Rucka and Steve Mitchell on Detective 747 (Aug. 00), which puts the spotlight on Renee Montoya.

It’s her birthday, but all that seems to mean in her neighbourhood is that everyone hassles her about not being married with children.

At work, she discovers a bouquet of flowers, and an unsigned card.  Her partner Crispus Allen is curious, but isn’t even aware that it’s her birthday.

Commissioner Gordon knows what day it is, but his attempt to bring some birthday cheer turns into a shoulder for Renee to dump her troubles on.

With no pressing cases, Renee investigates the mystery of the flowers.  Tracking down the florist, she discovers that they were ordered by Bruce Wayne, and goes to confront him.  Hr confirms her suspicions, that the actual sender was Harvey Dent.  He had contacted Wayne to send the flowers, counting on their old friendship.

So her birthday party winds up consisting of shared cupcakes in the prison visiting room, with the man who held her captive.  It’s sad, and touching.

There is an uplifting moment at the end, as Batman leaves her a birthday card, thanking her for her kindness towards Dent.

Not a big story, no huge drama.  But it sure hits you.

The Jacobian faces the sniper in this installment of his series, by Gorfinkel, Johnson and Sowd.

The Sniper is a woman, Leelee, and quickly moves from attacked to client, as she asks the Jacobian to find her husband, though she has no idea who he is, or where he might be.

The one clue she can provide winds up leading him to his old friend, Farouk, as well as a group of assassins, dressed just like Leelee.

Detective 746 – Whisper A’Daire falls, and the Jacobian begins

Detective Comics gains a back-up series, after over a decade without one, in issue 746 (July 2000).

Rucka, Martinborough, Watkiss and Mitchell being this first Whisper A’Daire storyline to a close in this issue.  With Tzu dependent on her, Whisper becomes openly dismissive of the gangsters she has cultivated.  Never good to piss off those who your rise depended on.

Abbot confesses his failure to kill Batman, and for that gets punished with some cobra spit. That takes him pretty much out of the action, although he will return a few issues down the way, with only one good eye.

When Batman busts up Whisper’s attempt to get the Galante family hooked on her serum, she makes Tzu transform and fly her to safety.

Or at least, that’s the plan.  But Tzu has far more respect and regard for Batman, even though he is an enemy, and he lets Whisper drop, and turns himself in.  Whisper’s body is not found, just another shed skin, and she will be back in a few months.

This issue also sees the launch of an unusual detective strip, The Jacobian, by Jordan Gorfinkel, Jeff Johnson and Aaron Sowd.  We get little information about the hero in this first chapter, which begins mid-stream, as he races to find a kidnapped baby.

A cloaked sniper is causing him problems,  but turns out to be completely unrelated to the kidnapping case.  This is the tease for the bigger storyline.

The Jacobian relies on hunches, putting himself in “the moment,” and trusting that his actions will be right. In this case, he has to pick the correct infant out of a dozen or so, all gathered by his client’s bitter ex-wife, to show how the man neglects his kids.  Extreme parenting, but the Jacobian’s hunch proves correct.