Ram V and Rafael Albuquerque on Detective Comics

[JBatmanFan05]

I'm not sure if I agree with what Ram said there about Selina and Talia, but I guess we will see how he actually develops it in the story.

I can somewhat understand what he's saying or appearing to say. Which I interpreted as sorta boiling down to: Talia is drawn to Bruce because he's as inflexible and relentlessly determined as her father Ra's is (just in different directions).

If that's in the ballpark of what he meant, that I think that's a very fair way of interpreting Talia. (Not to mention one that I'm pretty sure other stories have used, with Talia saying or thinking exactly along those lines)

[Isaac Lawrence]

Detective Comics #1062 Preview
Writer: Ram V
Artist: Rafael Albuquerque
Backup Writer: Si Spurrier
Backup Artist: Dani

Perfetto.

And they had me at "gothic opera"...

I am going to absolutely love this.

[Hypo]

https://www.thepopverse.com/dc-gotha...iego-comic-con

4:01 PM

"There is a Batman story I've wanted to do for a number of years," Ram says, referencing the 1990s animated series that he watched when he was a kid. He wanted to bring the "gothic, melodramatic" feeling of the series to the comic, but he's also wanting to show an influence of the Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale Batman comics, as well.

4:03 PM

"There are literal demons on the streets of Gotham," Ram teases, but as Batman gets involved, he'll uncover someone who's doing what he's been doing all these years, but doing it better - leading him to question his place in Gotham. The run will ask if Gotham can ever change, and if Batman can, as well.

4:04 PM

Barbatos, from the Grant Morrison run, will be part of the Ram V storyline as well. Calls out Rafael Albuquerque's art for praise, saying that he's the ideal artist for the story. "I have about 20, or 30 issues planned." Two-Face, Solomon Grundy, and more will appear, he says.

[Frontier]

Very...theatrical.

[Hypo]

Uncolored Art from #1063

[Frontier]

Uncolored Art from #1063

Is that supposed to be Two-Face with a mask covering his scarred half?

That chanteuse looks lovely.

[HsssH]

Barbatos mention is interesting, but I hope that it has nothing to do with Snyder's version.

[JBatmanFan05]

Barbatos mention is interesting, but I hope that it has nothing to do with Snyder's version.

Eh, I'm fine if his Barbatos isn't overtly contradicting of Snyder's (considering continuity and respect and all), but yeah, I do hope he goes in his own distinct direction with Barbatos, i.e. do something sorta new with him, freshen him up, gothic him up.

[JBatmanFan05]

Not having read Ram before, I was very curious about this question regarding him and just now saw this very recent article addressed it:

You’re launching a Detective Comics run in July. What are your Batman touchstones, whether they be creators, texts, or movies?

I’m gonna leave out the obvious ones in that, y’know, Year One is great, probably one of the best comics ever made, period. But Batman: The Animated Series is a big touchstone, although it is outside comics. I think within comics, a lot of the Tim Sale Batman work with [Jeph] Loeb. Certainly, it’s a big influence for me in the stories that I’ve enjoyed. And then there have been bits and pieces of runs that I’ve really enjoyed. The [Grant] Morrison run certainly is a big influence. There are definitely beats and characters taken straight out of it that I’m using in the current run. There are bits and pieces of [Scott] Snyder’s Court Of Owls that were certainly things that I enjoyed. And then there are also things that aren’t considered mainline Batman books. Gotham Central is an influence. Black Mirror by Snyder/Jock is a big influence, bits and pieces of the [Tom] King run, so I’m taking bits and pieces from everywhere.

https://www.denofgeek.com/comics/ram...arr-interview/

(I greatly suspect Ram has read Morrison's old LOTDK Gothic story (which arguably isn't part of Morrison's run, which I think most would interpret as referring to the long continuous one started in 2006), but I really wish someone would ask about that specifically, considering its italian opera & other elements)

[millernumber1]

Happy to see Ram V namechecking the Tom King run. I appreciated it when Tynion referenced that run as well, but Williamson didn't seem to have time to reference it. I'm also hoping that Zdarsky will bring some pieces of it back.

[Isaac Lawrence]

I had forgotten about this...

DC Releases Secret Trailer For Ram V And Albuquerque's Batman Run

The latest ad for Detective Comics #1062 contains a QR code linking to a secret trailer revealing the gothic nature of Ram V and Rafael Albuquerque's upcoming epic.

That "secret trailer" is kind of neat. That was nice.

I really liked the issue too. It's exactly what I wanted. It's as advertised.

It's funny, BATMAN I've rarely ever read. DETECTIVE COMICS though I've always liked. I like what they do there with Batman moreso than in BATMAN.

Oh, and the back-up story I thought was good too.

Quality all around... And a run of 20 or 30 issues? Great. I'm there.

[HsssH]

Was surprised that Barbatos and Talia made an appearance in the very first issue. Anyway, many runs had started strong and then flopped at the end so who knows how this will turn out, but I really liked this issue. Probably one of my favourite ones from DC this year.

[JBatmanFan05]

Interesting interview with Ram from SDCC, mentions some of the main rogues he will work with (Two-Face, Freeze, Grundy, Talia, Catwoman, he cannot comment on Joker so probably him too)

https://www.cbr.com/dc-detective-com...022-interview/

[Vishop]

I am not sure when will the writers stop bringing Barbatos over and over again. It annoys me a bit that writers still haven't moved on from Morrison.
I haven't read much of the continuity since New 52 but Talia's voice was kinda off putting. Other than that i thought this issue was fine for what it's worth.

[JBatmanFan05]

I am not sure when will the writers stop bringing Barbatos over and over again. It annoys me a bit that writers still haven't moved on from Morrison.

To be a little more fair, one can very much argue Barbatos isn't a Morrison character really, as in Morrison wasn't the first to use him (his name at least) in Batman comics. Peter Milligan was. So I hope readers don't forget that Barbatos is actually a (now) rather old Batman character from 1990, Morrison didn't just make him up outta thin air.

(and the Morrison vs Snyder versions of Barbatos are very extremely different, can even very much argue that Morrison's Hyper Adapter wasn't at all Barbatos as Scott Snyder used him, Scott essentially writing the "real" universe Barbatos when Morrison never made it clear whether he thought Barbatos was a real entity or not, Morrison left it open whether Barbatos was just pure religious superstition in the minds of 18th century religious zealots like Dr Hurt)

https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2018/0...arbatos-begins