Detective Comics #942

Throughout this issue, particularly in the closing pages, Orlando seamlessly wraps up the crossover, clearly delineating its ties to previous events within the Bat-family books, while simultaneously planting the seeds for the upcoming arcs of both Batman and Detective Comics. The end result is a book that skillfully balances hard-hitting action sequences, dynamic character beats, and of course, your quintessential Batman moments. Rounded out by the perfect correlation between the script and MacDonald and Rauch's imagery, this was a solid outing by the entire creative team, and a milestone that marks the successful completion of DC's first post-"Rebirth" event. Read Full Review

Things do wrap up a bit too swiftly, an unfortunate by-product of waiting until last issue to finally bring the main villain into the mix. But Strange's motivation and diagnosis does present an interesting premise, plus it leads to another great Batman/Clayface team-up. Read Full Review

Finally, Clayface. I don't know what it is about this gooey bastard that makes me love him, but love him I do. He was an awesome tortured villain, and seems to make an even better good guy – a true powerhouse that Batman can use in most situations. If he keeps on the way he's going, Batman will just have to let the guy move into the Cave and start inviting him to all the Bat-Family picnics. Read Full Review

Overall, I enjoyed the issue, and the arc as a whole. It was interesting and definitely set itself apart from other Batman stories right from the get go. Read Full Review

Steve Orlando completes the story of Batman and his family vs. the Monster Men with style, even if the entire story feels a bit like filler. Read Full Review

All good things come to an end, sadly. Fortunately, so do all not-so-good things. The Night of the Monster Men unfortunately ceases to be goofy fun with Detective Comics #942. It isn't really a terrible issue, but it isn't original or interesting, either. And, since it is the last installment of the crossover, it means the whole effort ends in disappointment and failed potential. Read Full Review

In the end, this was an interesting departure from the regular Batman stories that was twice as long as necessary. Read Full Review

Hugo Strange finally makes a sizeable appearance in his own story…and it's phenomenal! Unfortunately, it's really the only redeeming feature in this issue, and perhaps the entire arc. While great, it doesn't change the fact that it's tacked onto a bunch of other substandard material. Basically, a case of too little too late. Read Full Review

Detective Comics #942 brings Night of the Monster Men to a close. Despite being released within 4 weeks and having good art from start to finish, this story felt too long. It delivered a lot of action and a heavy-handed reflection on What Batman Means, so on some level it does what you would expect but neither of those things are particularly exciting on their own, especially since they aren't all that well-executed. Read Full Review

Detective Comics #942 was a disappointment to me, as I was looking forward to another Silver Age slugfest with monsters and a definitive battle against a sneering bad guy. Instead we got tedious psychobabble used to set up resolutions that weren't as clear as they needed to be or as dramatic as we wanted them to be. Read Full Review

This finale was just awful.  Steve Orlando forces an ending onto the reader that is rushed, forced, doesn't make sense and is an insult to everyone involved.  It's bad enough that it hijacked three books for a month, but it's also the worst thing that has come out of Rebirth so far.  The only positive is that we can get back to our regular stories now.  At least we have that! Read Full Review

WhistleBlower

Oct 11, 2016

Overall, it's a decent conclusion to an underwhelming crossover that tries to be too many things at once. This issue provides a big bombastic finale but it isn't quite able to find its thematic conclusion. We're better off resuming the storylines of two excellent Batbooks and a decent Detective Comics run.

Kitaru

Oct 20, 2016

While I did enjoy the Monster Men story overall, I do feel that the ending was quick, with little explanation behind the whole incident being given, or explored. I do think the Hugo Strange/Batman interaction was a good idea, but maybe solved too easily.

The Villain

Oct 12, 2016

The Night of the Monster Men story arc was not as good as I had hoped for the first crossover of DC Rebirth. It ran a little too long and was consistently average most of the way through. The confrontation between Huge Strange and Batman was interesting but it took away from the Batman Family trying to defeat the monsters that they had spent the last 6 issues trying to take down. The story was still worth reading but its just not the climax I hoped for.

Gunnarthehuman

Oct 17, 2016

While a decent conclusion to this decent story arc, I find it very hard to believe Batman can talk without breathing. That's not possible. And the Wayne towers doubling as giant weapons is a dead giveaway to who Batman is. I'm all for making the impossible possible in comics, but some things are more impressive if they're realistic.

Monné

Dec 11, 2017

The ending with Strange's take on Batman's psyché was the best part of this saga. But everything else felt too much like Power Rangers for me, and I don't buy Batman comics to get Power Rangers stories. Besides, this was not the best way to perform this idea. It felt forced upon the readers, with Nightwing having to draw the conclusions for us, because the writter couldn't provide them to us the readers within the narrative itself.

ockedman

Oct 12, 2016

Sadly poor! I feel like the entire arc was useless and that there will be no consequence. But the worst part of the issue was the dialogue of Hugo Strange and Batman, which was grotesque.

Haand

Oct 12, 2016

A disappointing conclusion to a disappointing arc. This arc was longer than it needed to be (could've lost two issues worth of fighting monsters and been fine). None of the stories (caves, monsters, Strange) wrapped up in a satisfying way - far too simple and straightforward.

Gizmo

Oct 23, 2016

I'm just happy that this Monster Men crossover is over, I didn't like it at all. The whole "reveal" that these monsters are supposed to represent Batman's psychological deficiencies did not land at all. I don't understand how Nightwing came to his conclusion, nor why jumping inside the giant monster fixed it. Did he kill a child hidden within the digestive tract or something? The showdown at the end with Hugo Strange almost works, but ends up being anti-climactic. I'm not totally sure what would have improved this story arc, but it certainly feels rushed and thrown together to meet with DC's unbearable new schedule.

EDiakota

Oct 12, 2016

I hate the monster arc