Detective Comics #1034 Synopsis: DC Future State may be over—but the present looks tense! With the loss of his fortune and manor, the election of Mayor Nakano, and the growing anti-vigilante sentiment in Gotham, Bruce Wayne must rethink how to be Batman…or risk being left behind by his own city. To make matters worse, a catastrophic crime wave has taken hold of the city, culminating in a murder mystery that hits close to home—the suspects mount, the clues multiply, and the trail of bodies hasn’t ended yet! Eisner Award-winning writer Mariko Tamaki and superstar artist Dan Mora begin an exciting, surprising, and death-defying new chapter of Detective Comics.
Plus, in the second and concluding chapter of “Demon or Detective,” Damian Wayne meets a startling new faction from his family’s checkered past…but what is the League of Lazarus?
written by MARIKO TAMAKI
art and cover by DAN MORA
backup story written by JOSHUA WILLIAMSON
backup story art by GLEB MELNIKOV
card stock variant cover by LEE BERMEJO
ON SALE 3/23/21
$4.99 US | 40 PAGES | FC | DC
As Mariko Tamaki takes over her Detective Comics run “officially” after a spring training of sorts with Future State Dark Detective, what path will we be led down? Does anything that happened on Future State matter? Will we be browbeaten with more cult stories as we were in the previous run, or something altogether new? Let’s head to Gotham City and find out!!
While some of Mariko Tamaki’s previous runs with other characters have come under some scrutiny, count me as one who is all about fresh starts and second chances. So, I go into this run trying to not have an opinion either way, until I’ve read the issue at least, then take it for what it’s worth. Count me as pleasantly surprised! Tamaki hits on many aspects of what is now the current state of Gotham. All of this is greatly enhanced by the spectacular artwork by Dan Mora! 
We’re thrown right into the political and social scene of the current Gotham, as well as a sprinkling of what will likely be the foundation being set in building the Magistrate program. I like how there are still stragglers around from the Joker War. It makes it feel like a real, living city with after-effects of past incidents.
We also get a nice look at the status quo of the micro bat caves that Bruce is currently using, as well as a possible romantic possibility.
One thing I look forward to in this run is if Tamaki will bring in other Bat-Family members, or if this will be a solo type book while Tynion handles the Bat-Family stuff.
Robin:
As far as the Robin portion of the book goes, I came away with a sort of a “meh” attitude.
Damian needing to chose between Talia and Batman has certainly been covered before. We also just went through a whole event about a tournament at Marvel, so this idea of a tournament doesn’t particularly excite me. And lastly, we have the “League of Lazuras” printed on page at least seven times in a ten page story! Come on, we get it. A bit much for me. A very cool cliffhanger that’s sure to please many fans wasn’t enough to save this story for me.
Final Thoughts:
A spectacular start to Tamaki’s Detective run is blemished slightly by a lackluster Robin story. Hopefully, the Robin backups will stop once his solo book starts. Still, the strength of the Detective story keeps my score high. I also can’t wait for more Dan Mora art!!