Detective Comics #29 (2014) Review
The Good: John Layman does a great job showing the detective side of Batman and will be missed since (to my understanding) he is leaving the Bat-Family. We get the conclusion of his Gothtopia, and it really captured a side of Batman that we don't usually get to see. He had to make some tough decisions in this issue to save the bigger picture, and he portrays how difficult that was for Batman really well.
The Bad: With such a wonderful premise to work from, I kind of felt left down that it got wrapped up so quickly. This felt like it could have been a 6 issue kind of arc, but it was over before it really felt like it'd begun. The idea that all of his allies were going to be more-or-less turned against him could have tied directly into the threads of Death of the Family that Snyder hasn't been around to tell the after-math of, but by being over so quickly, I really felt let down that the story didn't reach it's potential.
Also, seriously? Scarecrow and Clayface again? Why couldn't Professor Pyg or Harley Quinn or Mr. Freeze or any of the other villains that were present be the focus of this story? I know there was the fear subplot, but those two have been way over used lately and then to imply that he's running off to face Clayface? Come on.
The Verdict: This isn't a bad issue by any stretch. It's a good one. It just isn't as good as it could have been. Layman is a good writer and I wish he wasn't leaving the Bat-Family, and maybe there are underlying issues that we don't know about, but I really think his story would have been better stretched out some more. Gothtopia is a nice little arc, but it could have been an excellent event.