DC Comics & Detective Comics #1055 Spoilers & Review: Gotham City Descends Into Chaos Without Batman As The Inmates Run The Asylum Quite Literally Now?!

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DC Comics and Detective Comics #1055 Spoilers and Review follows.

Gotham City Descends Into Chaos…

…Without Batman As…

…The Inmates Run The Asylum Quite Literally Now?!

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

DETECTIVE COMICS #1055
Written by MARIKO TAMAKI
Art by AMANCAY NAHUELPAN
Backup written by MATTHEW ROSENBERG
Backup art by FERNANDO BLANCO
Cover by IRVIN RODRIGUEZ
Variant cover by LEE BERMEJO
1:25 variant cover by JORGE FORNÉS
$4.99 US | 40 pages
Variant $5.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 3/1/22

The Tower under siege! With their grand scheme crumbling around them, Dr. Wear and the mysterious Dr. Ocean have lost control of Arkham Tower to the patients it houses…who just so happen to be some of the most violent, murderous villains Gotham City has ever seen. The Bat-Family on the inside are in shambles: Huntress is wounded, Nightwing is carrying 175 pounds of smarmy jerk on his shoulder, and Dr. Meridian is incapacitated. Who’s left to save the civilian hostages from this nightmare? Hmm…wasn’t there a patient who thought she was Harley Quinn?

Then, in “House of Gotham” part 9, the boy is growing up…and growing into the man that Gotham City has made him. Through the trauma of his time with the Penguin to the terror wrought by Azrael, a new mission springs to mind for this lost son of Gotham…murder.

The first four pages of the issue summarize what’s happened over the last few issues including:

At the same time, Nightwing has Psycho-Pirate…

…as Mister Freeze battles Huntress when…

…those two subplots converge with Psycho-Pirate escaping as Nightwing is thrown off kilter and slides on ice into a deep, dark spot in Arkham Tower.

Mayor Nakno’s wife is then subdued by the Psycho-Pirate…

…who seems to be grappling with believing he can do good, mourning Dr. Wear, with what’s next for him and her eerily unknown.

The book ends with the return of the Scarecrow who was waiting in that dark place for Nightwing, but their both now in the light and business just picked up.

The back up showcase that child’s journey through life now in the Wayne-Kord Rehabilitation Center in Gotham City; a covert Batman and Blue Beetle team-up for healthcare.

This now appears to be a time in DC history when Azrael is Batman, Gotham City is a No Man’s Land and Superman is MIA, but this boy needs to make his way through the chaos and he does; even intimidating Killer Croc and getting him as an ally or at least “loyal” muscle.

The book ends with the boy and his kid allies confronting the bully they met before with a “meeting” between him and Killer Croc teased for readers.

The Pulse:

The main story continues to be compelling even without Batman, but he’s back in Gotham City now and should show up soon. That cliffhanger was intriguing with the art on the main story servicing the story well. The back-up’s have been hit and miss for me. I don’t find this kid’s journey interesting, but I do find the world around him, the various point’s in DC lore, cool to see. The art was ok, but not wholly to my taste. 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!