text: Having read Detective Comics #471-479 in the 70s done by this same creative team, I picked this up, hoping for more of the same. What a let-down! 
  
  I have to ask - What Happened!?
  
  The art on those erstwhile 70s issues was the finest, most detailed art I'd ever seen in a comic-book. I think that was due mostly to the inking of Terry Austin. When he was working on X-Men, he gave John Bryne's pencils that fine detail as well.
  
  Has Austin done a 'Gil Kane' and given up his nib-and-ink to work with marker-pen? This Dark Detective series shows none of the fine-ness of his previous work. You only have to compare the 'flash-backs' of this series to the original Detective Comics issues to see that something is wrong.
  
  Maybe Austin or Rogers are getting older, but the artwork is very basic, and lacks the sheen they used to produce. The art sometimes actually reminded me of Bob Kane's early work.
  
  The story also is a little unbelievable. It portrays Bruce as a love-sick puppy and just doesn't ring true. 
  
  Also, the lettering is - well, it's been hand-done, by Rogers I surmise, and is quite uneven. It should have been done by computer.
  
  I'm sorry - I SO wanted to like this, but it's nothing like the calibre of work that this creative team produced in their glory days of the 70s. 
  