Batman Detective Comics Vol 5: A Lonely Place of Living

Batman Detective Comics Vol 5

Batman Detective Comics Vol 5: A Lonely Place of Living (Rebirth) mines the history of the Robins instead of including a straight-out mystery like the other volumes in this series.

Be prepared for Red Robin (Tim Drake) from two timelines and universes. The older Red Robin has come back to prevent damage done by Batwoman between the two timelines by killing her (shades of The Terminator). Nightwing (Dick the original Robin) also appears. To make matters more confusing, once arriving back in time older Red Robin dons his Batman costume so there are two Batmans with luckily slightly different costumes (check out the belt colors and slight differences in the bat chest emblem). Many DC heroes arrive to fight against older Tim. This arc is 2/3 of the book. The ending was anticlimactic and not a surprise if you have read Zero Hour or some of the websites about the DC multiverse.

The remaining third is set in Monstertown with Clayface, Anarky and Spoiler playing major roles. This volume collects Detective Comics #963-68.

Recommended for hard-core fans but those new to the DC universe or only familiar with the films may be completely lost.  Also having heroes fighting heroes through most of the book might be disturbing for some younger fans. Since I missed the mystery but the art was great, I give this 3.5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher, DC Comics, and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

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