Magnificent
Have you ever read or watched something, and after all was said and done you had to immediately review it again just because you were taken aback (in a positive way) by what just occurred ? Scott Snyder's work with American Vampire had that affect upon me and likewise Snyder's work on Detective comics is no different. What makes this title so great for me is that the team of Snyder and Jock are establishing the mythos and Legend of Dick Grayson as Batman, and quite honestly this title for me has been miles ahead of many majorly hyped up stories and titles(granted that is my own opinion, yet i digress). It takes real magic for a comic book to really effectively pull me into the reality of Gotham City. In Scott Snyder's and Jock's detective comics, you can taste all the muck and grime that is Gotham, Jock and David Baron's Illustration and color choices are so effective, I feel like I'm going to have nightmares like i did when I was a little kid watching Batman The Animated Series and seeing the horrible transformations of Man Bat for the first time. Snyder's writing is where the real magic happens though, for me the use of Dick Grayson Narrating within the story has really captivated me for the reason that It is very reminiscent of a younger Bruce like in Loeb and Sale's Long Halloween or Frank Miller's Batman year one, where we don't have the invincible "Bat God". Rather we have a young man who makes mistakes and has fears. Possibly my favorite part of this story is how Dick looks to his inspiration and training with his parents to see himself through an eccentric death trap:" the Grayson's Three rules for staying alive", "Pick a point", if that fails "Build yourself a net", and if that fails "Hope you land somewhere soft". That said there is a point in this issue where you question whether Dick can OVERCOME, not just the death trap but the burden of maintaining the creeping eccentric darkness in Gotham, as well as the cloud of doubt on whether or not he is making a difference. All that said I gotta say this title and the last two issues are well worth the time and money. This is the beginning of something great people! do not overlook it and don't underestimate it, What we are witnessing is a legend in the making!
Overall story: 5/5
Series Story: 5/5
Art: 5/5