Comic Book Review: Detective Comics #1102

In this review of Detective Comics #1102, Batman is in a bit of time crunch (for his life) as he tracks down the mysterious source of the “no fear” virus he has been infected with, so why is Bruce Wayne making an appearance at a luxury gaming facility halfway around the world?

DETECTIVE COMICS #1102
Written by TOM TAYOR
Art and Main Cover: MIKEL JANÍN
Variant Covers: DAVIDE PARATORE, GREG SMALLWOOD, STEPHANIE HANS
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: 10/22/25

This review contains spoilers

Detective Comics #1102 begins with Mister Terrific giving Batman the rundown for what he can expect in the next two days as the symptoms from the “no fear” virus begin to manifest (and he becomes infectious). Batman wastes no time following the clue Oracle found that leads him to an overseas to a gaming establishment in the county of Kasnia, where the owner Louis King welcomes Bruce Wayne (and his friend Princess Caroline) to his establishment.

Bruce and King trade barbs, trying to get a read on each other and there is no better way to do that than while playing a high stakes game of blackjack (foreshadowing?) and Bruce loses big. Bruce comments on King’s amber eyes, which King says are a rare trait. Later, the pair have a quiet chat about their tragic childhoods in Gotham City which is loaded to the gills with subtest. Bruce realizes something important and asks Oracle to do a deeper dive on King. Oracle discovers that King’s life as a Canadian transplant is a sophisticated fabrication.

Meanwhile back in Gotham City, a pair of masked men violently infiltrate Arkham Towers to liberate a mysterious inmate from captivity, (there is a subtle clue as to their possible identity).

Back in Kasnia, Batman tracks King to a remote underground facility in the mountains which turns out to be a manufacturing facility rather than the secret drug lab Batman expected to find. King remotely greets Batman and sets the facility to self-destruct in order to keep it secret. Batman tries to get King’s workers to safety as the ceiling collapses, but he is the only survivor.

As Batman unearths himself, King finally appears in his true guise as “The Lion”, complete with a weird half-mask gimmick. King takes great pleasure in pummeling the injured crime fighter, relishing the fact that Batman will know fear at his hands before the virus finally takes its toll. Batman beats a hasty retreat by remotely signaling his jet and gets pulled to safety.

Detective Comics #1102 ends with the gravely wounded Batman losing consciousness with only 25 hours left before the virus symptoms kick in, and the fate of Gotham City in the balance.

Analysis 

Detective Comics #1102 continues “The Courage That Kills” storyline as both Batman and Bruce Wayne get clobbered by the same bad guy. Batman’s inner monologue and Oracle do most of the expositional heavy lifting in this chapter as the character of Louis King is first introduced, and then is revealed to be an alias (for young Leo from the flashback from last issue.

Detective Comics #1102 plays out like a typical Tom Taylor story (which is usually a good thing), in that the clues are easy to decipher but he makes up for the simplicity with engaging dialogue, action and humor. The Arkham Towers mystery inmate is likely Evelyn Scott, better known as the villain Asema from the recent “The Mercy of the Father” storyline. Are these masked individuals agents of Elixir?

Taylor definitely puts Batman through the wringer with The Lion pummeling him (before dropping an entire rock ceiling on our hero). Taylor also seems to like the remote pilot functions on the new Batplane, since he’s already used it twice. Taylor moves his stories along faster than one might expect, but he immediately sets up the next big thing, so what might seem rushed or without substance will probably land harder when read as a complete story arc and as an entire run.

Mikel Janin provides his typical top notch artwork and color palette on Detective Comics #1102, so its good that he gets to take breaks every few issues to catch up. His cinematic-quality illustrations elevate Taylor’s scripts to another level and as visually stunning as each individual issue is, imagine how amazing the hardcover collected edition will look.

Tom Taylor and DC Comics have recruited some remarkable talent to bring Taylor’s recent DC work to life, and Janin is easily one of the best (of course Bruno Redondo and Lee Garbett are no slouches either).  Janin’s figure work is stunning and his color effects for the Lion/Batman underground fight showcases Janin’s mastery of mood setting with the color changes from red hot to cool blue.

Final Thoughts

Detective Comics #1102 is another outstanding production by the current creative team. The story moves fast and uncovers a pair of mini mysteries while dazzling the reader with gorgeous artwork.

Adam Koppel

Who strikes fear into the darkest of hearts in Gotham City? Not me, I'm too busy reading comics and writing reviews.