Detective Comics #965 Review

I haven’t read Detective Comics since the second arc of the series after DC Rebirth started. I did not drop it due to lack of interest but more so to make room for a few other non-Batman related comics. Though I haven’t read the recent story arcs there was no way I would miss out on reading the return of Tim Drake. Taking place at the same time as the events of “The Oz Effect” over in Action Comics, this Tim Drake return story could potentially have larger ramifications for the DC Universe, specifically with the upcoming Doomsday Clock. Will we finally see Tim return to the DCU proper? Or is he forever stuck as prisoner in Mr. Oz’s dimensional prison? Let’s find out with Detective Comics #965.

Writer: James Tynion IV

Artist: Eddy Barrows

Inker: Eber Ferreira

Colorist: Adriano Lucas

Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: Years ago a young Tim Drake reveals that he knows Dick Grayson was once Robin and is now Nightwing and that Jason Todd recently died as Robin. Tim tells Dick to be Robin again to help Bruce Wayne be who he used to be.

In the present Mr. Oz asks Tim why he went to Dick all those years ago. Tim goes over how Bruce was being consumed by darkness following Jason’s death and he knew that Bruce needed Dick to be Robin again. Tim’s effort ended up succeeding to an extent, though Dick only went to help Bruce as Nightwing rather than Robin.

During that mission Two-Face ended up almost killing Batman and Nightwing but Tim dressed in Dick’s old Robin costume saved them and had the police arrest Two-Face. This led to Bruce accepting Tim as the new Robin and took him under his wing.

Mr. Oz questions Tim on why he wanted to leave his superhero life behind. Tim says that while everyone thinks Batman as a solo hero he does need people around him to be at his best. He goes on to say that is why he wanted to build a system where Batman always had close allies.

Mr. Oz reveals that during a recent mission Bruce learned that Tim is still alive and has been tirelessly searching for him for five days straight without sleeping.

Mr. Oz then asks Tim again why he wanted to leave his superhero life behind him. Tim reveals that ever since he was a kid he knew there was a better way for him to help the world and his experience as Robin taught him he would never be Batman.

Mr. Oz believes Tim just fears becoming Batman and it is that fear that Tim used to create a infrastructure of allies for Batman. Tim smiles and says he is done being interrogated much to Mr. Oz’s surprise. Tim then reveals he was using the interrogation to gain access to Mr. Oz’s system with the little Kryptonian he knew.

Tim breaks free and attacks Mr. Oz. Mr. Oz quickly knocks Tim back. He then proceeds to take off his cloak to reveal himself as Jor-El, the father of Superman.

Jor-El tells Tim that he understands how he feels about shouldering the weight of the world on his shoulders. Jor-El advises Tim to be selfish by turning back on his decisions before “He” discovers what Tim is doing. Tim is confused about who “He” is but Jor-El does not answer anymore questions and teleports away.

Now alone in Jor-El’s control room, Tim tries to send a message to Batman about Mr. Oz being Jor-El. Someone that is also Jor-El’s prisoner answers Tim’s call and tells him to open the containment cells. Tim does so and runs to the containment cells area.

Tim gets to the containment cells and finds Batman there. Before they can happily reunite Batman pushes Tim aside and shoots a modified gun that killed Thomas and Martha Wayne. Tim is confused that Batman would use a gun. Batman takes off his cowl to reveal himself to be an older version of Tim Drake (possibly the Titans of Tomorrow version of the character).

Before they can talk further Doomsday breaks through the walls, as he was one of the other prisoners that Tim released in his rush earlier. End of issue.  

The Good: The return of Tim Drake to the DC Universe gets off to a hot start with Detective Comics #965. As much as Detective Comics #965 is about setting up who Tim Drake is and what his official origin is, it is also about exploring who he will be in the future. Its that big question that makes this entire return to so exciting to see unfold.

James Tynion IV does not waste any time in exploring who Tim Drake is. That is best seen with how Tynion uses the first seven pages of Detective Comics #965 to bring back Tim’s original origin story. That is an excellent choice to start the story as the new origin Tim received during the New 52 was horrible as it made him look like a weak Robin and character in general. In returning the original origin Tynion is able to re-establish how Tim has been able to stand out on his own as arguably the greatest Robin.

The retelling of Tim’s origin also worked to give us a deeper look into why Jor-El would capture him over many other characters. Jor-El using everything that Tim told him about himself during the interrogation to explain how they are alike was brilliant. In those simple lines of dialogues we got to see how Jor-El was actually trying to stop Tim from making the same mistakes he did in creating the infrastructure that made those in charge overly safe on Krypton.

In creating this tie between Tim and Jor-El Tynion effectively set-up the question as to who Tim will actually be after he makes his full return to the DC Universe. Throughout the interrogation we get to see Tim once again admit that he does not see himself as a superhero for the rest of his life. For Tim taking up the Robin and Red Robin identities was something he felt he needed to do. That is something that Tim admitted to Stephanie Brown at the beginning of Tynion’s run and helped further this sub-plot introduced early on into the series.

That question as to who Tim will be in the future was given a huge wrench in the system with the return of the Tim Drake who became Batman in the Titans of Tomorrow DC Universe. Though it is not stated that he is from the Titans of Tomorrow Universe, it is clear from how the Tim-Batman acted and gun he carried that he comes from a similar universe to that one. The Tim-Batman presence is an interesting way for Tynion to tackle Tim’s character crisis of who he wants to be in the future.

While Tim does not seem himself as becoming Batman he hasn’t said who he wants to be. Maybe with Tim-Batman around for at least another issue we will see Tim discover that while he may not want to be Batman or Robin anymore that he will be something greater in the superhero realm. In that sense Tynion may be setting “A Lonely Place Of Dying” as Tim’s graduation arc from Robin to something else, similar to when Dick graduated from Robin to Nightwing.

The presence of Tim-Batman also brings into question who else is locked up in Jor-El’s special prison. Just from Tim-Batman’s presence alone there are many possibilities as we could see various alternate universe characters pop up. It may even turn out to be characters like Connor Kent, who has been noticeably absent from the post-Rebirth DCU, and may have a connection to Superman that Jor-El may see as dangerous. These possibilities create an exciting potential for where “A Lonely Place Of Living” will go.

It’ll also be interesting to see if the “He” who Jor-El mentioned turns out to be Doctor Manhattan or another Watchmen character. It does seem as though Jor-El is at least aware of a greater force in affecting the DC Universe. This at least adds to what Jor-El is doing and planning over in Action Comics during the ongoing “The Oz Effect” arc.

With Detective Comics #965 going from past and present through the first half Eddy Barrows does an excellent job getting that across. The choice of using different coloring and inking for the flashback scenes by Adriano Lucas and Eber Ferreira help that part of Barrows artwork standout. Barrows also did a great job getting across the personal struggle Tim Drake was going through during the course of this issue. That personal struggle made Tim’s glee and disappointment in finding Batman, but his Batman, a strong hook ending.

The Bad: Though it was something I enjoyed reading play out some may find Tim Drake’s origin being retold as old content. Since there isn’t much new to the origin it could very well be seen as something that could be retold quicker, giving more time to other parts of this story. That isn’t a big deal for me since Tynion did such a great job executing the origin story. But for others who have aren’t interested in may not get that same enjoyment.

Overall: Detective Comics #965 is an excellent start to “A Lonely Place Of Living.” James Tynion’s love for Tim Drake is clear as he returns Tim’s original origin story to the character. The retelling of Tim’s origin story is effectively integrated into the conflict between Tim and Jor-El. The ending provided plenty of intrigue on where this Tim Drake spotlight arc will end up going.