How does one follow up the debut of the Arkham Knight? Why, with a journey into the supernatural with The Spectre! This is a story that is quite unexpected and is solid. I am an absolute fan of super long-form storytelling. For example, James Tynion IV’s recent run on Detective Comics is fantastic in that it is one giant story. That said, story variety is what allows characters to endure and helps new readers jump on. Tomasi gives us this in this two issue arc. The Spectre enlists Batman’s help to find out what happened to his human host, Jim Corrigan, who may have been kidnapped!

Here is what I really like about what Tomasi is doing with Detective Comics so far: not all the stories are set in six issue arcs. I super appreciate that his run as been quite varied. His first arc was five issues, the second four issues, and now this story is done in two. It is refreshing to see variety in story length. He is able to prove that he is a master storyteller by utilizing the exact amount of space he needs. Tomasi isn’t telegraphing much about what is coming next, and that makes me more excited about this run. Thus, I put this title on the top of my stacks to read.

I am a bit torn on the art here by Hotz. At times the art is pretty good and evokes a bit of Kelly Jones—which is 100% appropriate for this supernatural story. Hotz knows how to draw a fairly good Batman when he is in full cowl and cape. Where there is a bit of a problem is how Batman is drawn otherwise. His face is very rough and Batman is made to be massively muscle bound, out of human proportion. That said, on the whole, Hotz turns in some great panels. My particular favorites are the building-sized Spectre and the classic Batcave dinosaur that is possessed by the Spirit of Vengeance.