COMIC BOOKS: Detective Comics: Deus Ex Machina
May 15—As noted in previous reviews, if you don't like Batman in a team situation, skip writer James Tynion IV's run on "Batman: Detective Comics."
But, again, Bat-fans who skip it will be missing out.
Tynion created a new team for Batman during his run on "Detective."
Short take: A military unit threatened the vigilantes of Gotham City. To protect the mostly young costumed heroes, Batman formed a team to train them and increase their strength through numbers.
Once the initial threat has been weakened, the Bat team sticks together ... mostly. There is one apparent death and one desertion on principle.
But each story arc highlights one of the team members.
In the fourth volume collecting Tynion's run, "Deus Ex Machina," the featured player is Azrael — the assassin who was Batman's one-time replacement, then a Bat-team player and now a potential threat from within because he is not completely in charge of his fate.
Again, if you don't like Batman in a team setting, or even though the book bears his name and he is the leader but is often absent from the pages and story arc, this "Detective Comics" run from a few years ago will not be everyone's cup of tea.
That said, it remains very much a Batman book. His presence is felt even when he's absent and this is a team he created.
It doesn't take a detective to realize it's also pretty good stuff but readers will likely know what they do and don't want in a Batman story before ever arriving at this title.
Still, readers who decide to skip Tynion's run will miss young Bruce Wayne learning illusion and mystic arts with a young Zatanna.
