Batman: Detective Comics: Icarus Review

Finished reading Batman: Detective Comics: Icarus, this begins creative team Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato's run on the series which spins out of the Zero Year tie in story from the creators Flash series which showed police detective Harvey Bollock's first encounter with Icarus. The book opens up with Batman on the trail of a biker gang calling themselves the Kings of the Sun who are helping someone escape after Batman discovers a room full of smuggled children. After capturing part of the gang Bruce Wayne meets with Elena Aguila and her daughter Annie at the local motocross race which Annie is a part of as Elena hopes to share her plans with Bruce to help develop Gotham's east end waterfront. However the night of the announcement Bruce is in the batcave as Elena dies on the manors doorstep after being covered in flames which grabs the attention of police detective Harvey Bullock as Elena was killed by a drug called Icarus that's has been of the streets of Gotham for over six years. This also prompts Batman to start his own investigation to prove Bruce Wayne's innocence as he is suspect number one in Bullock's investigation witch leads to Batman getting caught between two rival gangs who both what the Icarus for themselves. The final story has Batman going after a stolen weapons cash while also helping a boy named Aden deal with his abusive dad while the book concurrently tells a bit more back story of Annie that helps to flesh her character out more. Overall this was a great book as the takes a more personal approach to the Icarus case as Bruce Wayne is suspect number one and Bullock having a personal stake as well as the last time Icarus was on the streets of Gotham his partner was killed. The focus on Bullock is great as the book shows how Harvey try's to solve the case at the GCPD and even shows his home like in a brilliantly excited splash page. While Batman's detective skills are shown brilliantly as a page will point out the key elements to his investigation while in one instance recreates a the whole scene that lead to Elena Aguila's death at Wayne Manor. The inclusion of Julian Day is extremely intriguing as during the fight Batman under the disguise of Matches Malone inadvertently creates the Calendar Man while trying to teach Julian a lesson to be there for his son. 8/10.