DC Comics & Detective Comics #1052 Spoilers & Review: Who Wins Between Team Batman Vs. Psycho Pirate’s Fragile Psyche?!

News, Spoilers

DC Comics and Detective Comics #1052 Spoilers and Review follows.

Who Wins Between…

…Team Batman Vs…

…Psycho Pirate’s Fragile Psyche?!

The promise of the issue can be gleaned from its solicitation.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1052
Written by MARIKO TAMAKI
Art by MAX RAYNOR
Backup written by MATTHEW ROSENBERG
Backup art by FERNANDO BLANCO
Cover by IRVIN RODRIGUEZ
Variant by LEE BERMEJO
1:25 variant by JORGE FORNÉS
$4.99 US | 40 pages | Variant $5.99 US (Card stock)
ON SALE 2/8/22

“His hold is breaking!” That’s the message written in blood across the minds of Arkham Tower’s inhabitants, after a nightmare melee is unleashed! With Gotham’s deadliest criminals reverting to their former, murderous selves in one horrific night, Dr. Wear has a lot of explaining to do…and a lot of covering up to perform. Can Nightwing get to the bottom of this mystery before the people of Arkham Tower are put in peril again?

Plus, Batman’s iron grip on Gotham is enough to drive the desperate to madness…and madness is on the mind of the Boy in part six of “House of Gotham.” When an average night at coat check at the Iceberg Lounge turns into a violent battle royal between the Dark Knight and the Penguin, lines are blurred, people are hurt, and the Boy’s descent into a life of crime deepens…

We open with seeing how Arkham Tower, patients, staff and undercover heroes lik Nightwing and Huntress, are impacted when Psycho Pirate collapses and his influence over them all is broken.

He reestablishes his hold and puts everyone to sleep; I thought Psycho Pirate could only make you feel emotions, but sleep doesn’t seem to be one.

During the earlier melee, when Psycho Pirate’s hold was broken, Dr. Meridian called and left a v-mail to Dr. Frow to explain what was happening and out the Pirate.

Well, Dr. Frow was an undercover Batwoman and Dr. Wear and Psycho Pirate are none too happy about the call.

The call led Team Batman to Gotham City’s storied sub-city and Arkham Towers’ branded drugs.

In the Tower, the Huntress  is back under Psycho Pirate’s control, as is Ana Vulsion, but…

…Huntress left herself a message in her own own blood under her bed outing the Psycho Pirate too.

The back-up House of Gotham tale continues…

…with our conflicted young lead turning on the Penguin, but…

…still not keen on Batman either.

The Pulse:

Another frenetic issue on the main story side, but it feels like its coming to a head. Action and intrigue plus decent art. The back-up was decent too, but the art isn’t to my liking. 7 out of 10.

John is a long-time pop culture fan, comics historian, and blogger. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief at Comics Nexus. Prior to being EIC he has produced several column series including DEMYTHIFY, NEAR MINT MEMORIES and the ONE FAN'S TRIALS at the Nexus plus a stint at Bleeding Cool producing the COMICS REALISM column. As BabosScribe, John is active on his twitter account, his facebook page, his instagram feed and welcomes any and all feedback. Bring it on!