Detective Comics shifts gears once more and brings in an antihero that has not shown up much in the newer Rebirth titles of DC – The Spectre! This is a character seldom used, so its nice to see his inclusion. The why and where remains unknown as yet, but that is the fun of a new story arc to explore, beginning with Detective Comics 1006.

Detective Comics 1006 Cover To Cover

  • Detective Comics 1006

The Detective Comics 1006 covers are both incredible. The main cover depicts the story inside, which I always like. The giant, intimidating image of Spectre towering over Batman hints at the story to come. I will admit I do not like the “You failed this city” line. That line will always belong to Oliver Queen, The green Arrow”.

Then we have the second cover. No rich colors or popping art. Instead we have Batman at his most intimidating. Dark grays as he moves through swirling shadows. This tower of fear is what all criminals must see as Batman drops in front of them. Perfectly terrifying.

Detective Comics 1006 Story Time

The opening swirl of green cloaks is awesome and terrifying. I know very little about Spectre, so I actually had to look up who he was. All the green was a bit confusing when they all looked so much alike.

Spectre is a near God like entity. He can be hurt but cannot be killed. His one weakness is his need for a human host to reside in. Of the two cops featured in the beginning, Spectre currently resides in James Corrigan.

I do not know who the green mob is, but they apparently know everything about Spectre and that Corrigan is the key. They manage to take Corrigan away, leaving Spectre in serious trouble. Who does one turn to when in trouble while in Gotham? Batman of course.

The Reunion

I love the next few pages. Batman finishes some of his ‘nightly business’ and rips across the roof tops to reach the murder scene. There are some awesome frames of Batman and his exaggerated cape as it flows behind him. The part that makes these scenes even better are the panels where all we see are giant green feet or shadows of green moving between buildings many stories off the floor. Of course the repeated THOOM adds to the feeling as well.

The meeting between Batman and Spectre is less than cordial. With Batman are we really that surprised? OF course running from a giant being is harder than it appears. I love how easily Spectre just grabs Batman mid escape to get him to stand still.

There is an obvious history between the two. I would love to know more about it given Spectre’s enormous powers. What could bring these two together, and given Batman’s distaste for Spectre, it doesn’t sound like it went too well.

Crossing the Line

Perhaps we get a taste of why Batman doesn’t care for Spectre. They return to the crime scene, invisible to all who are there. Carnage plasters the alley walls and street. It turns out Spectre caused this mess. Spectre is no Ghost of Heavenly love. Turns out he is a god of vengeance. There is no crossing the line because, to Spectre, there is no line.

Obviously, this sits less than poorly with Batman. No one does this in his city and gets away with it, especially when Batman is the one superhero who refuses to kill. Batman will figure this crime out and where Corrigan has been taken just to get rid of Spectre if nothing else.

Of course the final panel shows us Corrigan is in just a wee bit of trouble. I can’t wait to see where this team up goes and who this green anti-Spectre team is.

One Minor Complaint

I have read this title for awhile now, and there is one thing that nags at me. I look forward to a great story with Spectre, but I also expect this story will be wrapped up withing 2-4 issue. The last story with Astrid Arkham as the Arkham Knight looked so promising, yet she was taken down quickly and easily. Any promise she showed, having picked Batman’s defenses apart, turned to waste with such an easy resolution.

I get that publishers like smaller stories so readers can jump into titles easily. It also makes for easy publishing of the trade paperbacks easier and self contained; However it comes with the downside of stories left wanting. I really wanted Arkham Knight to be the caliber of Bane, the last person who figured Batman out. Spectre will be cool in the next few issues, but it would be nice to see some arcs that stretch a bit larger.