Detective Comics is a comic book series published by DC Comics as part of the New 52 branding initiative. The series was launched in 2011 with Tony S. Daniel as writer and Ryan Winn as artist.
When the New 52 started, the series was relaunched with super-star writer and illustrator Tony S. Daniel following his run on Batman with Scott Snyder similarly jumping from Pre-Flashpoint Detective Comics onto Batman (2011).
Following Tony S. Daniel was Peter Tomasi who wrote James Gordon taking on the title of Batman. With the relaunch of all DC titles, the run was handed off to James Tynion IV, who had previous written Batman Eternal and Batman and Robin Eternal, to helm the title for the majority of DC Rebirth.
The books introduced the Court of Owls, an Ancient Conspiracy that has run Gotham for generations and has ties to Wayne's and Grayson's pasts. Later on, it was revealed that Tim Drake had never been Robin, only Red Robin, and that his parents were still alive and in witness protection.
After issue #52 the comic was relaunched for the DC Rebirth initiative. See Detective Comics (2016) for more info.
Storylines in this run that have their own pages:
- Detective Comics (Vol. 2) #9: Night of the Owls
- Detective Comics (Vol. 2) #15-16: Death of the Family
- Detective Comics (Vol. 2) #25: Zero Year
- Detective Comics (Vol. 2) #27-29: Gothtopia
- Detective Comics (Vol. 2) #27-29: Robin War
Detective Comics (2011) provides examples of:
- Battleaxe Nurse: Dollhouse dresses like a nurse.
- Bludgeoned to Death: Dollhouse kills her victims with a sledgehammer.
- Body Horror:
- Mr. Mosaic is a disfigured man with many pink growths on face and hands and a lazy eye.
- The Dollmaker twists his victims' corpses into his own playthings.
- Captured on Purpose: The Joker allows himself to be captured so he can meet up with Dollmaker and cut off his face.
- Casting a Shadow: Penumbra is trained in a mystic discipline from India that allows her to manipulate the shadows around her into constructs.
- Daddy's Little Villain: Dollhouse is the Dollmakers oldest and favorite daughter, who he taught how to be as sick and twisted as he is.
- Eyepatch of Power: Chase is missing an eye, which she covers with an eyepatch.
- Facial Horror:
- Dollhouse had a doll face grafted on top of her own face.
- The Dollmaker wears human skin as a mask.
- The Joker has the Dollmaker cut his face off at the end of issue #1.
- Family Theme Naming: Both Dollmaker and Dollhouse share names based on dolls.
- Genuine Human Hide: The Dollmaker wears a mask made from his father's skin.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Batman, even more than usual, as people think that he skinned the Joker alive.
- Intrepid Reporter: Charlotte Rivers is a dedicated news reporter and anchor.
- Master Swordsman: Penumbra has a great amount of weapons training involving blades, as seen by her ability to cut a bat-rope into pieces in mid-air
- Mind over Matter: Chase can move things with her mind, which she uses to help her steal thing, even opening six large safes at once just by raising her hand.
- Multiarmed And Dangerous: Penumbra's shadow constructs can include multiple arms, which she uses to fight her opponents.
- Murder, Inc.: Penumbra is a member of the League of Assassins.
- New Old Flame: Mio was once considered to be only an assistant of a local blacksmith in the Himalayas. Bruce Wayne, while he was traveling the world to prepare himself for his future role, came across Mio while he was training with a famous, and considered mythical, martial-artist known as Shihan Matsuda. The two became close during Bruce's trips to the blacksmith and began to fall in love.
- Organ Theft: The Dollmaker runs a criminal enterprise harvesting organs from unwilling victims. He's actually turned it into a Family Business, as his children help him run it.
- Professionals Do It on Desks: When Bruce was having a business meeting, Charlotte sneaked into his office under the pretense of wanting an interview with him. After making love in his office, Charlotte suggested Bruce to take her on a real date.
- Separated at Birth: Charlotte has a twin sister named Jill, and the two are daughters of Sebastian Hardy, who would become mayor of Gotham. Although they were separated at birth, they were aware of each other's existence and their relationship as sisters.
- Serial Killer: The Dollmaker creates "dolls" out of the skin and limbs of his victims.
- The Family That Slays Together: The Dollmaker learned how to be a serial killer from his own father, and passed down his own twisted ideals to his own children.
- Villainous Friendship: The Dollmaker seems to have one with the Joker, which is more than can be said for almost any other villain.
- Shapeshifting: Snakeskin can mold his face to look like anyone else.
