Detective Comics #981

This final issue, divided between the conclusion of the showdown with the OMACs and a powerful epilogue that wraps up the character arcs of the entire team, is probably the best issue of the series. It's a celebration of the Bats, of Gotham, and of the best in everything Batman represents. Read Full Review

It has something for every fan who's followed the Gotham Knights on their crazy journey, and we're so glad we had the chance to enjoy it. Read Full Review

Tynion will surely be missed, but Detective Comics has a great foundation to build on. I am ready to read Bryan Hill's arc starting in Detective Comics #983. Read Full Review

This arc is sentimental without being too much, so definitely check out this issue! Read Full Review

James Tynion IV may be departing the book now but he has left behind a legacy that he can be proud of. He has also left some very big shoes to fill and I hope the next writer is up to the challenge. The series has been a consistent highlight in DCs comic book line and a masterclass on how to write a team book, and this issue is a fitting end to the current story and a heartfelt farewell from the talented creative team that made it a reality. Read Full Review

Next month sees the return of Deacon Blackfire in a tale by acclaimed writer Michael Moreci. While I'm sad to see James Tynion leave this book, I know that the next six issues, at least, are in safe hands. I look forward to Mr. Moreci's tale, and the five issue arc by Bryan Hill, featuring Black Lightning! Read Full Review

Thanks to advance solicitations we know the next step for some characters, but others have a more wide open path. I'm looking forward to seeing what Bryan Hill does when he starts his run on the book. Tynion and Barrows definitely end their stint on a high note that is a must read for fans. Read Full Review

A strong conclusion that's more about new beginnings. Read Full Review

Not every DC book weathered Rebirth well in fact, its safe to say it was a rough time for most of the imprints books. However, Detective Comics remained solid and exciting from the get go and writer James Tynion IV deserves most of the credit. Read Full Review

The Bat-Family is a collection of special men and women, but this run of Detective Comics and the characters it assembled will always hold a special place in the heart of this era of the DCU. Read Full Review

James Tynion concludes his run on Detective Comics with smiling, hugs, and the simple refrain that maybe one should take things one day at a time instead of coming up with complex algorithms and plans for the future. Read Full Review

This run is going to be a seminal run in the history of Detective Comics. Im so sad to see it end, but I cant wait for whats next. Read Full Review

Skip this one if you're a little behind " I can't emphasize enough how thorough Tynion is in tying things up " but know that once you dive in, the journey and the destination will be equally satisfying. Read Full Review

James Tynion did an excellent job wrapping up his run on this series with Detective Comics #981. Tynion did a lot of great character work throughout this issue as every major character involved in "Batman Eternal" got their time to in the spotlight. How Tynion leaves Batman, Red Robin, Batwoman, Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain gives future writers a lot of room to make them even stronger characters. If you haven't checked out Tynion's Detective Comics run and are a Batman fan than I highly recommend checking out all the trade collections of his work on this series. Read Full Review

Conclusions and goodbyes are difficult but the whole creative team made it look effortless, despite a few artistic stylizations that dont quite work. Read Full Review

James Tynion's Detective Comics run comes to an end with a grand finale and a bunch of solidly enjoyable goodbyes for all his characters. Quality comics. Read Full Review

Detective Comics #981 brings a touching, satisfying, and visually stunning end to James Tynions saga of the Gotham Knights and the Belfry. Each character gets a conclusion, and its far more uplifting than one may expect from a Batman-centric title. This one earns a recommendation for sure. Give it a read. Read Full Review

I have overall negative feelings about this run but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the final few pages of this story. I’m ready for this book to move on to better things. The art is mostly nice too. Read Full Review

Tynion started off Rebirth with a unique book that was one of the standout titles, but as I read this finale, it felt like he had grown tired of it all and so have I. I can't wait to see what he will do over on his Justice League Dark book, but I also can't wait to get excited about reading Detective again. Read Full Review

Detective Comics #981 does its job, yet it is difficult to praise much else. It feels lacking in terms of story, and the art is jarring at times. It still serves as a solid a conclusion to Tynion IV's run. Read Full Review

The finale to Tynion's run on Detective Comics isn't anywhere near being a home run. It skips far too much stuff in order to fit it all in, has far too many conveniences, and rushes or straight up ignores some of the character resolutions. Given all that, when you do hit the good parts, and there are a few, it's pretty great. This one does end up being a real mixed bag, filled with greatness right alongside severely lacking moments. Unfortunately, those lacking moments do edge out the good stuff a little too much to call this a worthwhile conclusion. It's passable, but hardly ideal. Read Full Review

KFuqua

May 23, 2018

Sad to see Tynion's run end. He has produced the best Bat-book going for quite some time and now I fear that Detective will suffer and be as boring as Batman.

axdn

May 23, 2018

I really great farewell to a great run , I'm really gonna miss Tynion's Detective Comics run

SloboSOY

May 24, 2018

It's the end ... And what beautiful ending ... I knowed that Clayface was alive (Even if we only see a glimpse of him). I like the Tynion IV run & this is a perfect ending. A pull away the toy and let other free to use them. But he also give Cassy, Tim & Steph a new road, that I hope will be used. One hell of a run finish here, and I have to thanks Tynion IV for showing that a Batman book can be a book after those he have close to him (Well He is present most of the time, but Cassie, Tim, Azrael, Kate & Batwing have a very good spot in there). Cover - I take the variant ... Beautiful, with the presence of Batman under gotham. And we see some of that in this story. 2/2 Writing - Just very very good. Not perfect because the goodbye are t o short for some (Batwing even't draw, Azrael & Clayface letting us with questions). 3/3 Arts - Damn we have been so lucky to read a run with wonderful artist on it. Damn good book. The next creative team will have a hard time showing them in the same work. 3/3 Feeling - Sad to let Tynion IV leave. But he was a very good time. Thanks to Tynion IV. 2/2 more

Fearless0610

May 26, 2018

Best Batman run ever. That's all I have to say

cincyfan

Sep 03, 2020

Tremendous issue

Superheroes for Hire

Jun 30, 2018

This issue brought a fun, satisfying, and dare I say charming end to the Gotham Knights plot line which began 2 years ago in Detective Comics. It also was a satisfying conclusion to the Batmen Eternal story, with some great character growth and launching points for all the characters going forward. The art was a little inconsistent at times, but I still love Eddy Barrows and Eber Ferreira most out of all the current run's art teams. Vibrant colors from Adriano Lucas make the complete package. The concluding vignettes were a little cheesy and overly sentimental, but like I mentioned before, they brought some charm and closure to this run's many Rebirth era plot lines. Now let's see where this series goes next!

daspidaboy

Mar 21, 2024

As a whole, I can understand why people prefer James Tynion IV's Detective Comics run compared to his Batman run. This run aimed really high and tried to be ground-breaking, and for the most part it succeeded. I did have fun reading this, and how Tim Drake wants Batman to be more eternal and last forever. I like the Bat family dynamic, and this is in my opinion the Definitive Detective Comics run. I was one of hte few people who enjoyed James Tynion IV's Batman, but after comparing the two. This is the better Batman run. Most of the things wrapped up nicely, and while the story is kind of repetitive of an evil shadow organization having ties to the Bat family happening every arc, I had a blast.

Nihilist

May 23, 2018

Tynion's Detective Comics run has got its ups and downs, but contrary to many other series, it had a beginning and a proper end - everything led to this point, to finally conclude and go forward. I don't feel sad, nor I already miss Tynion's writing - the way this issue is designed makes me more interested in what's to come, looking in the future with a smile. It's an end of a chapter, and honestly, I can't wait to see what's ahead of us.

Bloodraven

May 25, 2018

Tynion’s run on the series had many high and low points but overall I enjoyed his run on Detective. His final issue was a bit of a let down though. It’s was very predictable but still fairly entertaining.

Dispatchdcu

May 23, 2018

Welcome to the Oblivion Bar where the first round is on me and the pretzels are free! Be warned: like the pickled eggs at the bar, this issue is going to get SPOILED rotten. Well, that’s a wrap. I don’t read solicits because I don’t like to be spoiled. But if there was a time for Tynion to leave, and I heard he is at some point, it’s now. The issue ends like a movie would end with everyone going their separate ways and splitting off to find themselves. Do you want me to summarize? That’s easy! Stephanie shows Tim what really happened in the future and it helps Tim break free, break from the chaaaaiiiiiinnnnnn. He just had to Hold on for one more day.... In the future, Bruce was dying from radiation and Kate put him down be cause he asked. Yup. Brother Eye deleted that info and lied to Future Tim setting up Bat-Drake. And somehow, Stephanie was able to decipher all of this in a quick upload unto the future Tech of Brother Eye. Makes sense right? She is better than Batwing, Tim, Babs, and Cyborg combined! Yup... That’s it! 10 pages in we wrap the story and spend the rest getting a happy ending sundae from Friendlys. Tim goes off with Stephanie on a road trip, maybe even a Cannonball Run... Orphan goes to help out Lee at the free clinic with her new teacher Babs, Clayface is alive and with Dr. October (cause everyone stays dead now), Batwoman is working with her Daddy, Azrael is talking with CYBORG?!?!?!?... which was just thrown in there.... oh yeah, and we are Back to The Batman, Alfred, and HOPEFULLY JIMBO!!!! If I was to grade the entire run of Tynion, I would say it had its ups and downs but it wasn’t too bad as a whole. As a wrap up goes, his story was pretty bad. The worst part is the potential this story had and it just..... ends. I was very disappointed. I felt like the ending was quick and easy and something you have been building for months, possibly years, shouldn’t just end in a quick 10 pages. Tynion’s run was unique and took Detective in a different direction then it’s ever really been before. We got a squad of people fighting crime, which was like a Bat Justice League in a way. And, I feel like his entire run had a theme attached to it that seemed thought out, direct, and driven. In my opinion, from issue 1 to now, the main idea of his run was to create a better future for Gotham. I know you could argue it’s always been that way but Detective was always about mystery, and fighting one crime at a time. Tynion’s run became about ending crime in Gotham, creating a legacy of the Batman, and sort of making a Bat Police Force in a way. Even from day one, creating the team, the belfry, the organization, the Bat Squad was trying to stop Colony but the irony is they too were heading in that direction all along as well. As much as the story painted Colonel Kane as a villain in the beginning, Tim ultimately went down the same path with his ideas as well. Heck at the end, Batman makes the joke at the end of the issue (which seemed kind of real) about creating a vigilante school for kids to train. If anyone in DC is listening, that better be a joke because that sounds awful for a direction that Detective Comics could go in. Throughout Tynion’s run, we saw Tim die (not really) and come back only to truly find out that it was pointless. That was SO disappointing. Everyone expected so much more from Mr. Oz and Tim but we got nothing. We saw the First Victim to which we still don’t know who he/she is, fights with Colony, Future Tim from an alternate timeline ( my favorite arc of the run), Orphans Mommy, and then a wrap up with the Brother Eye and OMAC. The highlights make the run sound pretty great. Honestly, they were.... the highlights. But taking a trip down memory lane made me see that his run was really good at great single issues here and there but overall story arcs appeared to fade along the way. He would hit a home run on an issue to draw you in and then it would fade. As for this issue, we got the same. How does Stephanie stop the OMAC’s? Heck, she was around during Infinite Crisis right? She could have ended all of that easy peasy then (sarcasm). What happened to Ulysess? Where is a big end fight scene? Stephanie just shows Tim the truth and he breaks control of Brother Eye with his mind... really? We had OMAC’s everywhere. Did they just disappear off of everyone like that? No one cares? The Justice League should have been involved once an OMAC showed up from the beginning. And the lead OMAC had a huge Bat Symbol on his chest. No repercussions for Batman I guess. Or Tim for that matter. What I’m realizing in ALL Batman comics is that Batman can literally do anything or be apart of anything and he won’t be punished. In Batman with TK, poison Ivy took over the world, but no worries. He can go into other countries and take out people if he wants... but who cares? In Metal with Snyder, he can basically destroy the universe by breaking a hole in the source wall, but no big deal. He can search for a metal that literally opens the gates of Hell (dark multiverse) and everyone just says, “no big deal Bats.” And Tynion can have him running around Gotham with OMAC’s that have Bats attached to their suits, criminals working with him, city destroying explosions with Batmen wearing future versions of himself and everyone says, “it’s cool man. No big deal.” My point: a change in Bat books in general needs to happen. He literally gets a way with murder and everyone gives him a pass. You mean to tell me that Batman during Metal, Ivy, Santa Prisca, Jokes and Riddles, Colony, OMAC’s, and I could go on... during all that... no one died because of Batman? And how does Tim get a free pass on this one? Everyone was so upset because Batwoman killed Clayface and WE DON’T KILL... but every time a huge Batastrophe happens, Bruce is never at fault. We need a change in our thinking here Bat writers. We need to take this down a notch. I think we need to go back to basics in all Bat books. It is really getting out of control around the board. Seriously.. If you like what you heard, love talking all types of comics, and are interested in joining a comic chat group, hit me up at dispatchdcu@gmail.com or @dispatchdcu on twitter. Catch you all later! Peace more