Batman: Dear Detective (2022) #1 (Detective Comics (2016-))

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This story's quite thought-provoking as the character teases how they're a "monster, thief, murderer and psychopath. Batman: Dear Detective ist sicher nicht für jeden, da es weder ein richtiger Comic, noch ein Artbook ist, aber ich bin begeistert und würde es jedem Fan von Lee Bermejo ans Herz legen, schaut euch nur mal diese Bilder an, ein Traum von mir, die volle Punktzahl ☆☆☆☆☆. Once more, it appears the Riddler was poking fun at that existential dread within Batman and how he'll never see success, despite trying to become the embodiment of justice. This isn't a comic, it's a collection of Bermejo's cover art stuck together in a book, which is fine if that's what they were saying it is. The book is presented in the over-sized magazine format and his art, for the most part, looks absolutely great (there are a few early pages that look fuzzy to me.

However, by the time the book closes, the keyword that's left to decode revealed the identity of the author. The letter itself feels very gritty and tonally feels at home with Batman as it describes his greatest enemy. The art is the main highlight, but I’m not going to act as if it made for a more enthralling story that made sense or anything. Upon reconciling this reveal with these interlocking images, the book reminds Bruce that despite the fight against his villains, Bruce won't ever be able to heal Gotham, or himself.

Despite being told that Lee Bermejo's art is being collected into a cohesive story told through his covers, this conceit doesn't hold up for long. I liked the game with the different characters swapped for symbols so you have to figure out who’s talking to Batman throughout the book. It's a futile mission -- an emotional hydra where heads keep popping back up and multiplying -- so his lifelong mission at the end of the day doesn't matter. This issue is primarily a showcase of the art of Lee Bermejo and every page of art is brilliantly designed and filled with bold, beautiful detail. The “story” that is told between the pages is a series of mysterious letters to Batman by an unknown character.

The bit of story throw in is a fun little puzzle and perfectly paired with the gritty cover art telling the rest of the story. What happens when a comics art powerhouse meets one of the greatest, most exciting heroes of all time? In the official promotion for this issue Batman: Dear Detective is described as 'One part prestige art book, one part compelling noir tale', and honestly, I think this might be one of the worst pieces of miss-promotion that DC has ever done.It's not a comic in the traditional sense, but there is a story being told across all the covers with serial-killer-esque letters scattered throughout. I agree with others that this is a total DC money grab, but I also think the "letters" let the collected art tell the story - essentially something we all know. All the intentions and emotions are amplified by large prints of some of Lee Bermejo's finest work of cover art. In fact, the author teases they'll always own Gotham, and ensure that the city will make Bruce become what he hates most. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.

Lee Bermejo is an American comic book artist whose published work includes interior illustrations and cover art. Ultimately, it's a losing battle and a war that the Caped Crusader, despite small battles being won, will never come out on top of. Mich hatte der Band schon mit dem unfassbar genialen Cover Artwork, das mit Spotlack veredelt wurde. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

Lee Bermejo is one of my favorite Batman artists, and certainly one of the most prolific ever to touch the character. So I bought this explicitly for the art, but I vaguely flipped through it so I didn’t really get a good look at anything (intentionally). The colors were perfect and seeing other members of the Bat-family plus some iconic villains was awesome.