A good start to the Rebirth line for Batman, and I liked the inclusion of Clayface, but I'm mixed on how the solo Batfamily series comes together here.

So this is functionally the sequel to B&R: Eternal, grabbing most of the characters from that book plus Batwoman and Basil Karlo the Clayface. This time around the Elder Kane has decided this vigilante business is all too much for him or the marine corps buddies to deal with anymore so they take all their fancy toys and training and whatever gumption he instilled in Kate to end Gotham's madness. Gotham's madness being various and unendable we get to watch the sidekicks suit up and wreck their shit and the some familial pathos.

Verdict: Classic. Tynion Plots tight and hits characterization oh so very well.

I wasn't a big fan of this. I skimmed read a lot of it. It just didn't keep my attention like it should of.

A solid trade that any fan of DC Comics can pick up and enjoy. Rebirth continues to be just that for DC and a breath of fresh air for the superhero genre.

A new direction for the Dark Knight
following the Rebirth
reset to the DC Universe.
Detective Comics have always been
more down to Earth stories.
As the tittle suggests it's
Batman exercising his skills as a great detective
and investigator.
Cunning tales by one of the best writers
today, Tynion brings new life to
one of the oldest comics extant today.

Another good Rebirth book. This shocked me and kept me reading. Villain turned hero? Batwoman returns and she still kicks ass!

My second foray into Rebirth. Yeah...the stories aren't very good. The artwork is very nice, but the stories and characters didn't do much for me. The story was a generic liar revealed plot and I found most of the characters kinda meh. It's funny, the one I wanted to know more about was Clayface, who apparently fans hate. I thought he was the most interesting character in the beginning. A pretty boy actor turned big blob of crap? Sounds good to me. And his "introduction" scene in the first book, the pathos! But then he just turned into the big, dumb comic relief. WTH? It seemed like a totally different character. What a shame.
Also, the "Belfry"...seriously? So...the Bats in the Belfry now? Seriously, DC?

**I received this copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

James Tynion's Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 1: Rise of the Batmen is startlingly good, in many ways a faithful bridging of DC Comics's pre-Flashpoint and Rebirth continuities, but one that's not beholden to the past. Artist Eddy Barrows is doing the work of his career, adeptly illustrating all of his pages and offering some fantastically complex two-page spreads, upheld later in the book by Alvaro Martinez.

I finished this last night but was too tired to write the review then. (Sorry.)

I actually had an issue with my copy of the file that I received (via NetGalley) which left me with a chunk missing from the start. Obviously, this was quite annoying and prevented me from being able to really enjoy the full story. I liked it nonetheless, and will still be reviewing what I was able to read.

I'm not going to tell you the whole plot and spoil it for anyone, but the basic gist of this is Batman and his recruits putting up a fight against "The Colony". There's action and shock and relationships - everything you could want in a volume of comics.

The ending was just... damn. Tim?!?!?!?! I loved the ending. And hated it.

I'm going to give 4 stars to this edition of comics, mostly because I can't give any higher without having read the start. The ending is definitely what got me.

Batman: Detective Comics, Volume 1: Rise of the Batmen is a refreshing surprise in the post Snyder era of Batman stories. Overall I have had mixed feelings about the DC Rebirth and like many, loved the Scott Snyder Batman tales that with time, may prove to be the best ever done. Yes that is very high praise and meant to be so. So rebooting a line that needs no reboot, that for me is risky business. But with this first storyline for Detective Comics, DC may just have knocked this one out of the park.

A mysterious army begins to infiltrate Gotham and Batman decides that what is needed to protect his city is not just a sidekick, but instead a team. He approaches Batwoman as team leader and recruits Red Robin, Spoiler, Cassandra Cain and Clayface to form a team. But before they can prepare themselves, they find themselves under attack from an army that is taking down its enemies with military precision.

When the unthinkable, Batman is taken hostage, the team must step up and quickly if they have any hope of saving the Caped Crusader. But what they soon find is that they are battling against an army that is as well trained and equipped as they are. Friends become adversaries and for one, the ultimate sacrifice may be called for.

James Tynion, creative genius or madman if you prefer, behind the Batman/TMNT crossover, takes the helm in this one and delivers a well told and fleshed out tale of family dysfunction and the need for acceptance in the dark streets of Gotham. Each member of the team brings their own abilities and genius, but also their baggage. Batwoman, Red Robin, Spoiler, Cassandra and Clayface have never been truly accepted in the Batman Universe and never established as part of the Batman family. They are, no pun on Batwoman, the red headed step children in comparison to Dick and Damien and Batgirl. Even behind Jason Todd. Tynion brings his crew together and with Batwoman at the helm, because Batman actually appears very little in this book, the team gels and is actually very good.

As a fan of Batwoman and Cassandra Cain it good to see them move into the limelight a little more than we get to see in the Batman books. They are strong characters who, if they did not exist in the shadow of the Caped Crusader, would probably have been more popular. This is a gritty book, as Batman books should be.

It will be fun to see where this series goes and how deeply Tynion is willing to explore the individual characters.

A good read.

Hmm, I guess Detective Comics has basically become the Outsiders now, just with Bat vigilantes. Batman discovers someone is watching Batwoman, Red Robin, Spoiler, Orphan, and Clayface and decides to turn them into a team to protect themselves. Yeah, a bit of a flimsy premise, but just get past it, because the book is good. Eddy Burrows and Alvaro Martinez provide fantastic artwork. I love how dynamic it is and we constantly see Bat vigilantes zipping and tumbling through the Gotham skyline.

<spoiler>The idea that the government realizes how much of a badass Batman is and decides to mimic him is genius and something actually original to bring to Batman. Having Colonel Kane in charge of this group makes sense, but he ventures into Col. Kurtz territory by the end of the book. It's dumb that he would for no reason think the League of Shadows was in Gotham and hiding as regular citizens, so let's go kill American citizens.</spoiler>

My favorite moment in the book was when Spoiler makes fun of Red Robin's old costume. That Brett Booth designed costume was ridiculous, with actual bird wings as the cape.

Batman, having taken Duke Thomas under his batwing, wants the Kate Kane version of Batwoman to help him train a new generation of batheroes. Batman unmasks himself to use the “cousin help a cousin out” approach on Kate. She agrees and they decide to recruit The Spoiler (Cluemaster’s daughter), Red Robin (Tim Drake version), the Orphan (the current Casandra Cain’s current masked identity), and, um, Clayface? Yes, Clayface is now one of the good guys. At least he doesn’t need a costume.

Red Robin is distracted by all the choices he needs to make. Should he join a super-genius graduate program? Should he help Batman make Gotham safe? Should he have sex with his girlfriend? Well, that’s a no-brainer.

But the bigger issue involves a semi-rogue military group called the Colony that has modeled itself after Batman even as it tries to nullify Batman. The Colony has its sights set on what it believes to be the bigger picture. And as always, when the military stops answering to civilian authority, things to sideways. That leads to some serious family drama for Kate.

Fortunately, Batman and Batwoman have a little army of their own to counter the Colony. Okay, half a dozen superheroes is kind of a small army, but they rock.

And so does the story. It builds slowly and it ends up being dramatic without being melodramatic -- something DC rarely managed to achieve during the disastrously overwrought New 52 era. Where before everything was over-the-top, this story is underplayed until it reaches a powerful, unexpected ending. Or rather, a penultimate climax, because the last scene sort of undoes some of the power, but I still love the characterizations and the care that went into the storytelling here. I’m giving it 4 1/2 stars.

Batman's closet is getting cleaned out for this volume. Bawoman, Spoiler, Red Robin, Orphan, and Clayface team up to oppose a secret US anti-terrorist organization that has gone off the rails and is threatening Gotham City. Lots of action, nasty reveals, and a very twisty ending. It will be interesting to see where this volume will go next!

ARC from Netgalley.
Detective Comics, which had a fairly good run in New 52, comes back in force (in its original numbering!) with this book that focuses on some of the other "Bat-Family" heroes.
Batman has created a team to help him stay on top of crime in Gotham. Led by Batwoman, seconded by Red Robin, and filled out with Spoiler, Orphan, and Clayface (who is trying the "hero life" out), this team is called into action when Batman is seemingly defeated by a mysterious military force of Batmen. The Batmen are led by Colonel Jake Kane, Bruce's uncle and Kate's father. Years ago, after the events of "Zero Year", the government came to him and started him down the path to analyze Batman and be able to replicate him, but on a military scale. All of the skill, but with military precision and teamwork. Drones and cameras have been watching Batman since then.
The new team works well together, but this book shines around Batwoman and Red Robin. Obviously, with the Colonel being part of it, quite a bit of Kate's backstory is here. (Her comic run was excellent, and I am glad to hear that she's getting her own book again!) She really does step up and is a great leader.
Red Robin's tech skills help them immensely, but the ending, where he single-handedly takes on the drone swarm by himself? Such a chaotic and sad moment, but I'm glad it got handled by the end. Where is he?
Looking forward to seeing how this all develops as we steadily head toward issue 1000.
High recommend.

A fun read. If you're interested in more of the Gotham world than just Batman then these is the read for you. Batman teams up with Batwoman, Red Robin, Spoiler, Cassandra Cain (Orphan), and Clayface. An emotional read, and they leave you with a cliffhanger making you want to pick up the next volume asap.

It has been a very long time since I have read Detective comics. This book was always the grittier Batman series with more violence and darker themes but that changed a long time ago. I didn't read when Batwoman was the lead in this series and I do regret that. I loved her story in in 52 or Countdown to 52, I can't remember which one it was it has been that long. I have always been really curious about this character but never took the time to catch up with her story so I was glad to see her in this Rebirth volume.

Batman has noticed that these drones are keeping tabs on all these different heroes in Gotham and he needs to find out why. In order to do this Batman gathers the people who are being monitored and it makes for one surprising team. Of course Batman, Batwoman, and Red Robin are not a surprising team nor is having Spoiler and Cassandra Cain on the team. What is weird is having Clayface as part of a superhero team.

I love that Clayface is part of the team. I love how DC Comics is giving some of their long time rouges a chance to change who they are and help people. Captian Cold has joined the Justice League from time to time and even now Killer Frost might be joining the Justice League too. Giving Clayface the chance to be something other than the monster he is stuck being was really interesting. Besides, Batman is going to need all the help he can get. These heroes are being monitored because an entire army of Batmen are being trained to be unleashed on not just Gotham but the world.

These military Batmen are wrapped up in an idea about the League of Shadows which is a farce Ra's Al Ghul used to make himself more powerful and feared. This secret military faction is all about stopping the terrorists before they strike and they have latched onto an idea that is false. This book has some political undertones but not enough to upset one side of the argument or the other. It touched on the idea of how dangerous it is to assume one type of person is a terrorist before you read the whole situation. Batman has to rise above his own pride to try and fix this on his own and realy on his team to not only save the day but save him also.

I loved this story and the emotions run really high in this book. This grabs you from the very beginning and never lests go. I mean never lets go because I am already itching to read vol 2 because the cliffhanger at the end of this book is tough to forget. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. Rebirth has delivered on every story I have read and I am massively impressed.

From what little I know about DC Comics I believe their “Detective Comics” series is the longest series in comic book history and that’s largely due to the character Batman. This is volume one of Detective Comics as part of DC Comics’ relaunched called “Rebirth” that started in 2016. I’m still quite the rookie when it comes to Batman and this is the first Batman I read in the Detective Comics series and thus far I’m enjoying it.
I notice for this particular volume the theme of the importance of team and teamwork. Often it seems Batman likes being on his own when he goes on his mission. Yet there is this paradox with Batman in that while he’s often alone and can be somewhat of a lone ranger when he’s out fighting crime. This is the case despite the irony that Batman does has friends and a “Bat” family. Think of Robin. Or Batgirl. Or his loyal butler Alfred. For our immediate story there’s a team assembled including characters that are new to me. Batman assembled this team because he realizes he can’t take on this new threat alone. The stakes are too high when the government’s secret military branch goes rogue and even have soldiers that are patterned after Batman.
I also thought this book showed a Batman with a wider range of human emotions than that which are typically found in most Batman’s storyline. Readers wouldn’t want to miss Batman’s emotion towards the end of the book. Personally it made Batman more human and believable.
Overall a fun read. There’s a few twists and turn as the story progresses but it wasn’t necessarily anything legendary or epic. Without spoiling anything I want to say the book does end in such a way that makes readers curious as to what was going on and what’s going to happen next.
NOTE: This book was provided to me free by DC Comics and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

I purchase for an adult graphic novel section at a public library. I adore Batwoman and was glad she got to show off some of her leadership skills in this story, but really, this felt more like a Gotham focused teen titans graphic novel than a Batman story. With 3 out of the 5 in the core group teens, and let's face it Clayface has always been a rather immature character so concerned with superficiality than anything else, it felt like Kate was babysitting and training up a teen defense group rather than a group of mature fighters in Gotham. Also, the main villain was incredibly predictable, ruining any suspense trying to figure out whodunit. The other villain? Another teen. This probably would satisfy a lot of young adult fans, but adult fans will wonder why on earth this is a Batman title when he is barely involved.

The best Batman Family title right now. The Dark Knight partners with Batwoman , red Robin and Clayface . the story is straight forward , non confusing . This story has a good mystery , lots of action and a hell of a cliffhanger. Artwork is gorgeous.