Detective Comics #597 p.16

"Private Viewing"

Batman has just taken down a criminal organization that specializes in violent snuff films.
The Dark Knight Detective has assisted to bring the mastermind and all the patrons into police custody. Batman then takes them all to the hospital room of Arch Gaines, who had been severely beaten the night before during a videotaping (from the previous issue), and forces them to see the real life results of the videos they enjoy watching.

Aside from a Power Record that my parents would have bought for me when I was very little, this issue of Detective Comics would be the first Batman comic I bought with my own money off the Quick Stop Spinner Rack. Definitely the first issue I ever bought of Detective Comics. I typically would get comics while my mom would get her nails and hair done at the beauty salon a few doors down from the Quick Stop. This was kind of an unofficial Invasion tie-in where they don't say it outright, but the Metagene bomb goes off in between the fight (and in between issues #596 and #597) between Batman and the big heavy of the book, Tonka. And Invasion, as I'm fond of saying, really opened me up to the wider DC Universe. It was a little delayed as Batman only had one tie-in a few months before this, but I finally caught up to Gotham City by issue #597.

In hindsight, I think the art from Eduardo Barreto and Steve Mitchell is going for that David Mazzucchelli look from Batman: Year One. A simple but essential line. Detailed, but not the hyper-crazy speed lines you'd get in 90s art. Honoring the vibe of Year One - - at least atmospherically.

Like the Dark Knight Returns, this was one of those crazy bridges for me between Adam West or Olan Soule to a grim and gritty street-tough 'gets his nose bloody' Batman. But it's still this crazy in between time, where Batman is still retaining that 'friend of the policeman' status. He can hang next to a squad car, he isn't getting shot at by Swat Teams that should be shooting the hell out of the Joker. But even though he's still got some recognizable Batman '66 and Silver Age carryover, the subject matter was snuff films. Some heavy $#%^ to read at a pre-teen age. Gotham City started to become a seedy place, filled with grime, drugs and pornography evoking Times Square of the day. Overall, reading something like this or Dark Knight Returns evoked a visceral tone that was quite impressive and left a lasting impression on young me.

For more discussion on Detective Comics #597, listen to me discuss the issue on my podcast here!