Each Friday, we'll be letting a different DC.com writer share what they'll be reading over the weekend and why you might want to check it out. Here's this week's suggestion for a perfect Weekend Escape!
Tom Taylor has arrived in Gotham City, and he’s hit the ground running. Hot off his now classic run on Nightwing, the Eisner-winning writer has turned his focus to the big man himself, imbuing Batman’s investigative adventures with action and suspense. But the opening saga of Taylor’s foray into DC’s longest running series brings more than just punching, kicking and the detective-focused crime solving upon which the book is titled. In Detective Comics Vol. 1: Mercy of the Father, Taylor and artist Mikel Janín present a Batman who meets new horrors and challenges with a humane stoicism, putting the value of human life at the forefront of every solution. Let’s jump into this new volume of Detective Comics and examine how the creators redefine Batman in his iconic title.
THE PREMISE:
An evening chase involving a teen suspect ends with the young man dead and Batman on the trail of his killer. This new player in town goes by the name Asema, and they’re eliminating juvenile offenders newly released on the streets, draining their blood from their bodies. The case has Batman’s rapt attention, who’s pushing himself so far that he opts for a new restorative medical procedure conducted by an old family friend named Scarlett Scott. But there’s, of course, more to Scott’s procedure than meets the eye. Is there a connection between her work and Asema’s killings? And what of her parentage, and how it relates to the Wayne family, including Thomas and Martha? It’s up to Batman and the Bat-Family to get to the bottom of the killer’s motives before the dead outnumber the living!
LET’S TALK TALENT:
Tom Taylor and Mikel Janín are veteran Batman creators. Janín has done stupendous work for years on the character, illustrating his adventures as a part of Tom King’s popular Batman run, including during the Batman and Catwoman wedding arc. His indelible approach to drawing both Batman and Bruce Wayne has been influential to the artists that have drawn the character in the years since. It’s easy to feel the weight of his Batman and Bruce in comparison to the other characters, reflecting muscle but also age, which works well to the story’s advantage. A fight sequence in a moving van involving Batman and Robin against armed hoods demonstrates the difference in individual skillset, complimented by Batman’s observation of both Robin’s speed and the speed he himself has lost over time.
Which brings me to Taylor’s interpretation of Batman, and this is the big takeaway of his writing for the character: Taylor’s Caped Crusader is thoroughly heroic, altruistic and dominated by an urgency to protect and save as many people as possible.
Now, you may be thinking, “Well, sure, isn’t Batman always?” Ideally, yes. And yet, over the years, many stories have been written on how powerful and violent Batman and his adversaries can be towards each other as a way of increasing the book’s intensity. The darker the supervillains, the darker Batman gets to be. With Tom Taylor, Batman’s always thinking about solutions and how fast he must operate to stop Asema’s killings, protect potential victims and keep the violence from spilling out further into Gotham City. No-win scenarios are quickly defeated with Batman’s experience and determination, fueled by a dogged commitment to saving lives. Taylor’s Detective Comics becomes a series where the art of detection is a means of Gotham’s—and Batman’s—spiritual salvation.
A FEW REASONS TO READ:
- Batman is the main hero in Detective Comics, naturally. But Taylor isn’t shy about bringing in the other members of the Bat-Family when the story calls for it. Both Oracle and Robin (Damian Wayne) are used to strong effect, as well as other heroes such as Signal, Robin (Tim Drake), Batgirl (Stephanie Brown) and Red Hood.
- The Bruce Wayne persona is used really well here, incorporating both his standing as a public figure and celebrity, as well as a famous victim of crime and a lady’s man. On occasion, Batman stories might forego the Bruce Wayne identity to jump straight to the action, but here we see an ideal balance of the hero’s complete nature.
- Commentary on the prison industrial complex, and Batman’s thoughts on the impact he may have had on rehabilitation and crimefighting, work well to flesh out how he sees himself and his efforts in warring against criminality, on both sides of the law.
WHY IT’S WORTH YOUR TIME:
Ultimately, Tom Taylor and Mikel Janín’s Detective Comics Vol. 1: Mercy of the Father hearkens back to a simpler period, where the Caped Crusader took on new mysteries and pursued them with grit and determination. It does this while exploring intriguing aspects of his classic personality, but with new flourishes to keep longtime readers on their toes. This is Batman in his most classic form, always moving forward, but fully recognizable at the same time. It’s no simple feat to pull off, but this initial arc of the new ’Tec has done it with great aplomb. An excellent Weekend Escape for fans both new and old alike!
Detective Comics Vol. 1: Mercy of the Father by Tom Taylor and Mikel Janín is available in bookstores, comic shops, libraries and digital retailers as both a hardcover and softcover graphic novel. It can also be read in full on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.
Donovan Morgan Grant writes about comics, graphic novels and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @donomark and X at @donoDMG1.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Donovan Morgan Grant and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
