Dini returns to Detective Comics and has a Countdown tie-in story for us with Detective Comics #837. And unfortunately, this Countdown tie-in issue deals with my least favorite plotline: the Holly Robinson plotline. Lucky me. Anyway, let’s go ahead and do this review for Detective Comics #837.
Creative Team
Writer: Paul Dini
Pencils: Don Kramer
Inks: Wayne Faucher
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with Bruce Wayne hiring the Riddler to find a Wayne Enterprises employee who has gone missing along with an experimental drug currently being tested for muscle stamina and cellular regeneration. Bruce thinks that the missing employee, Lisa Newman, may have stolen the drug and is going to try and sell it to someone like Lexcorp.
The Riddler does some good detective work and tracks down Lisa Newman to the Metropolis Athenian Women’s Shelter. We cut to Harley Quinn kicking Riddler out of the Athenian Women’s Shelter. Athena appears and asks Harley what is going on with the violent outburst. Athena says that the Amazon’s mission of peace and tolerance dictates that they follow and obey the local laws. (Err, except when the Amazons are trying to destroy America in a merciless onslaught.)
Athena instructs Harley to cooperate with the Riddler’s requests for information about Lisa Newman. We cut to Harley and Riddler having a cup of coffee at a nearby café. Harley tells Riddler how she left the Joker and then joined the Secret Six for a very short period of time. She then left the Secret Six when she realized that she had nothing in common with them or their goals.
Harley then decided that she needed to clean up her life. Harley was then personally recruited by Athena to join the Athenian Women’s Shelter and to be Athena’s right hand woman. Riddler says that he has also found that giving up a life of crime to be a wise decision.
Riddler shows Harley a picture of Lisa Newman and asks if she recognizes her. Harley says that a new girl just joined the Shelter who looks just like Lisa. She used the name Sally Campbell. Harley says she will go question the girl for Riddler.
We shift to Harley grabbing Holly Robinson for back-up before questioning “Sally.” We see Harley confronting Lisa Newman. Lisa pulls out the briefcase holding vials of the experimental drug. Lisa says she has been contacted by an interesting party who told her to come to the Shelter in Metropolis. Lisa thinks it is Lexcorp. Lisa then clocks Harley and tells her to keep quiet and after the sale for the drug goes down tonight that Lisa will give Harley a small cut of the money.
Harley turns down Lisa’s offer and we suddenly have a cat fight! Lisa injects herself with some of the experimental drug to give her super strength and toughness. Holly joins in on the cat fight. The brawl takes the ladies into the sauna room where Lisa falls into the spa water from Paradise Island. The water bestows healing, strength and stamina. Just like the experimental drug.
The reaction of the water with the drug turns Lisa into some horned lizard woman. Lisa starts kicking ass on Holly and Harley. Suddenly, Riddler appears on the scene and knocks Lisa out with a barbell. Harley gives the Riddler the briefcase with the vials of the drug in it. Riddler thanks Harley for her help and leaves.
We cut to the police arriving at the Shelter and taking Lisa away. Lisa has turned back to normal. Athena touches Lisa and calms her raging spirit. Athena then walks off down an empty hallway. Athena mentions how she should have told Lisa that Athena was the person who was the interested buyer.
Suddenly, Desaad steps out from the shadows and says that his master will be disappointed in Athena’s failure to get the experimental drug. Athena hands Desaad a syringe and says that she took a blood sample from Lisa and it should have enough of the experimental drug in it for Darkseid to use it to help him create his new breed of warriors.
We cut to Batman and Robin watching Riddler move into his new townhouse. Robin tells Batman that he can admit that he is angry Riddler succeeded. Batman denies being angry. Robin counters that Batman is always kind of angry. And now that the Riddler came through that Batman is downright irate.
Batman responds that he knew Lisa Newman stole the drugs and went to Metropolis. That he just set Riddler on this simple task to gauge his deduction methods and see if he would arrive at the same conclusions. Robin adds that more importantly, Batman wanted to see if Riddler would return the serum to Bruce Wayne.
Batman counters that there was little doubt that Riddler would return the vials of the drug since the reward offered by Bruce Wayne was more than what Riddler could have gotten if he had tried to sell the drug. Robin asks Batman if he now trusts Riddler. Batman responds that the more content the rat, the less likely he is to leave his hole.
Comments
The Good: Detective Comics #837 was a solid read. It wasn’t anything incredible, but it was a neat one-shot story that focused on the new and improved Riddler than Dini has given us during his run on Detective Comics. Dini turns in a nicely paced story that has enough action scenes to keep the story moving quickly.
As usual, Dini crafts a well plotted one-shot issue. Dini is the master of the one-shot and is always able to create a one-shot story that is well constructed and gets the most out of each and every panel. Few writers can deliver a properly crafted one-shot that is as deep and rich in detail like a Dini one-shot.
Dini serves up his usual well crafted dialogue. Dini shows off his excellent feel for both the Riddler and Harley Quinn’s characters. Both characters are well developed with their own distinct personalities. I liked watching Dini team-up these reformed villains. It was an intriguing character study of the reformed criminal and the different methods that are used to try and reassemble a normal life outside of the world of crime. And Harley and the Riddler certainly choose two different paths to redemption.
I still find Harley Quinn to be a rather annoying character, but I did like Dini’s handling of her character in this issue. It was interesting to hear Harley lament about the lack of honor among thieves. It made perfect sense that Harley’s tour of duty with the Secret Six wouldn’t last very long. Harley isn’t a mercenary and she isn’t going to help hunt down criminals even if she is now reformed herself.
It was also interesting to see how Dini contrasts how Harley chose the path of new age spiritual enlightenment as her road to rebuilding a life outside of crime with the Riddler’s much different path. Even though Harley is struggling with her temper and violent nature, it is obvious that she is buying into Athena’s philosophy and code of conduct. And it is obvious that Harley truly wants to do all she can to grow and blossom into a much better person.
The Riddler, on the other hand, hasn’t undergone such a change in personality on his road to rebuilding a life outside of crime. The Riddler clearly enjoys the fame and accolades of being a master private detective. The Riddler also enjoys the vast amount of money that he earns as a premier private detective.
At no point has the Riddler undergone a change in his core personality. The Riddler has merely realized that he can get the attention and money he craves in a legal fashion. While it lacks the thrill of being a criminal, the stability of not losing everything you own once you get caught more than makes up for the lack of the adrenaline rush.
Unlike Harley Quinn, the Riddler is not attempting to re-invent himself or to drastically change his personality and outlook on life. The Riddler is the same man with the same desires. He is just trying to go about it legally this time around.
Dini continues to do an impressive job with the Riddler. I have never liked the Riddler before Dini got his hands on him. I always found the Riddler to be a rather dopey villain. This new role that Dini has carved out for Riddler makes him a much more intriguing character than ever before.
Dini drops a real bomb on the reader with the ending to this issue. We learned that Athena is helping Darkseid build his new breed of warrior. Now that is certainly a twist that I didn’t see coming. Darkseid doesn’t seem like the type of individual that Athena would align herself with. Surprisingly enough, Dini has finally done something to get me interested in this Holly Robinson plotline. I’m curious to find out what Athena is up to and just how deep is her connection with Darkseid.
I enjoyed the final page of this issue with Batman and Robin watching Riddler move into his new swanky brownstone. Dini writes an excellent Batman. Dini makes sure his Batman is gruff and untrusting and possesses just enough anger and attitude without him being too over-the-top like Miller’s Batman. Robin needling Batman over the fact that Batman was actually mad that Riddler succeeded in his mission was classic. And the truth is that Robin is right. Batman doesn’t want to give Riddler credit for anything.
And it makes sense that the entire mission that Bruce Wayne hired Riddler for was just a way for Batman to see how Riddler operates. And I like that Batman wasn’t actually trying to test the Riddler to see if he would try and sell the drugs. Instead, Batman was trying to make sure the Riddler stayed content and happy with his new life and the huge fees like what Bruce Wayne paid him for his services. I dig how Dini shows that Batman is not above appealing to the less than honorable side of people like Riddler in order to make sure they stay away from a life of crime.
Kramer and Faucher combine to supply plenty of their usual excellent artwork. These two artists complement each other and make for a great team.
The Bad: Dini unloaded on the reader a pretty important revelation about the connection between Athena and Darkseid. It is unfortunate that Dini chose to perform the only plot development on the Holly Robinson plotline on a Countdown tie-in issue rather than over in the pages of Countdown.
Overall: Detective Comics #837 was an enjoyable read and fans of Countdown will probably enjoy this tie-in issue. Of course, this is a Countdown tie-in issue that even readers who aren’t following Countdown would probably enjoy. And without a doubt, if you are a fan of either the Riddler or Harley Quinn then you should definitely get this issue.
6 thoughts on “Detective Comics #837 Review”
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actually according to Amazons Attacks this probably isn’t the real Athena but probably Granny Goodness.
this is a spoiler for amazons attack. it has been revealed a couple of months ago that that really isnt athena. thats granny goodness
In the case of Amazons Attack, you really don’t want to be keeping track.
She apparently overpowered the entire Greek pantheon and left Athena for dead, stealing all her powers. It was a plot twist of Shyamalan levels of stupidity, the final absurdity in what I think outdoes the Avengers’ “The Crossing” as the worst event ever.
I liked what Dini did with Riddler in his run on Detective, but wasnt a big fan of this issues focus on Harley. I thought this was going to explain her motivations and reasons for being involved with the Amazons but it just seems more like her Countdown apperances and the fact shes there simply because Dini wants her to be with the Amazons for story reasons with no regard for the character. Given that he created Harely for the most part, I find it odd he’s treating her like this.
Also didnt like the Countdown development with Athena / Granny and Dessad appearing in this issue. They have nothing to do with Batman books and if you don’t know anything about Amazons Attack or pay attention to New Gods or Countdown you basically get screwed over with some random plot twist at the end that makes no sense. I know who these people are and I still hated the cop out ending and the whole “shock” appearance by Dessad and Athena’s connection to Darkseid.
Kirk Warren
The Weekly Crisis – Comic Book Review Blog
“Err, except when the Amazons are trying to destroy America in a merciless onslaught.”
Look, I belive in healthy eating and aily fitness, but that doesn’t mean I can’t kick back with a pint of ben and jerry’s now and then.
“I still find Harley Quinn to be a rather annoying character”
In some countries, this is still a captial offence.
I know Dini is doing Countdown and blah blah blah, but is it too much to expect that one book in the DCU is’nt a Tie-in? Or worse, sense this realtes to Amazons attack, it’s a tie in to a tie in.
RE: Amazons Attack
It was a plot twist of Shyamalan levels of stupidity
Bullseye! I suffered through Amazons Attack hoping against hope that something would make sense, only to meet with my utter disgust at the Big Twist Ending. In hindsight, I hate everything this mini tried to do, because it reaches a new low that defies even comic book logic. I feel doubly stupid because now there’s little chance I’ll even be able to pawn those horrid issues off on eBay.
And as I’m reading Detective #837 yesterday, I start losing interest and flipping pages ahead as I realize it’s heading toward a cop out (I totally agree with Kirk Warren) and sure enough–another shocker ending that’s meant to send us scrambling for another stupid tie-in.
I’m shedding DC’s books from my pull list right now like there’s no tomorrow, and while it pains me to say that, at this point I’m just getting pretty leery of the whole push.