Mister Freeze is kidnapping ladies who look like his beloved frozen Nora in a new attempt to resurrect her - and he does! But she’s not as he remembered…
Peter Tomasi continues his no-hitter streak with the dismal fourth volume of this Detective Comics run, Cold Vengeance. This is the storyline he teased sporadically in the last book and it’s an underwhelming and completely forgettable one. Freeze and Nora go on a crime spree until Batman stops them - it’s like an overlong kid’s cartoon and I was never entertained once.
Batman’s new Firebat suit is kinda cool though - I’ll say this about Tomasi: he gives Batman some interesting new Batsuits in his stories. Remember the Hellbat suit from his Batman & Robin run when Batman went on a jolly to Apokolips? Also, apparently Lex Luthor is doing something because he sends up this giant neon green light over the Gotham skyline but it’s unclear what it is. I guess we have to read one of the Superman titles to find out but I feel like if you’re not going to explain it, don’t put it in.
The one respite of not-crapness in the book is Tom Taylor/Fernando Blanco’s Detective Comics #1017. Orphans are going missing in one of Wayne’s orphanages so Batman and Robin investigate. It’s a more thoughtful, less cartoony and vastly more human story than Tomasi’s rubbish, that reminds Batman that Bruce Wayne is equally as important as his superhero alter ego. If only Taylor/Blanco had their own run of Detective Comics instead of Tomasi and Doug Mahnke stinking it up for book after book…
And then we’re back in the dregs for the worst story to close out this book: some pagan viking wants to do some ritual at Christmas. Two issues - two! - for something that should barely feature as anything more than a subplot. That’s how little Tomasi’s got to offer. Drivel.
Maybe pick this one up for the Taylor/Blanco issue if you’re a fan of either creator (or just get that standalone issue and ignore this book entirely), but otherwise Detective Comics, Volume 4: Cold Vengeance is another godawful addition to Tomasi’s unceasingly woeful run on this title.
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