Detective Comics Strikes Again
Detective Comics: This is probably one of my favorite issues of the week….. yea it’s been a bit of a slow week lol but that shouldn’t take away from the character exposition that was this issue. Since the death of Alfred in Tom Kings recent run on Batman (issue 79 to be precise) we have all wondered one thing, How will Bruce cope with the fact that the father figure he’s known since he was 8 years old is now dead? The thing we haven’t really given much thought to is the fact that Alfred had a life of his own, apart from being Bruce Wayne’s Butler, Alfred Pennyworth was an agent of the infamous MI6 and her Majesty’s Secret Intelligence Service and this my friends is where the story kicks off!
Non-Spoiler Review:
Usually, with Detective Comics annuals you get out of continuity stories or sometimes you might get a “what if” type of story, well…… This issue has it all, flashbacks, intrigue, betrayal, love and heartache. We get some more info on Alfred’s MI6 past, we meet a few of his old colleagues along with getting some fun memories that Alfred and Bruce shared. We learn that before Alfred left MI6 he uncovered that one of his closest friends was actually a traitor, unfortunately, Alfred was never able to bring him to Justice. Alfred despite being the right hand of Batman still had unfinished business, and this was Bruce’s chance to do something for his beloved surrogate father, this time Batman could help close one of Alfred’s cases. This issue was a homage to the type of person that Alfred was and how he changed through the years from MI6 operative to surrogate father of one Earth’s greatest detectives and heroes to ever live.
Lets get into some specifics…. Spoilers Ahead for Detective Comics:
in Detective Comics Annual #3, Bruce Wayne gets a visit from an old friend of Alfred’s, Agent Marigold Sinclair, claiming that in the act of an emergency she was to find Alfred unfortunately he has passed on. From here the story takes off… literally…. our heroes end up in the Ukraine taking down Alfred’s “loose end” but in a twist Pierce, the Villain” has himself a demon. Demon is what Pierce calls the mindless decommissioned experiment left over when the Soviet NKVD program went sour. Long story short they get taken down hard and its a big win for the heroes. The crux to the heart of this story is what we see after the mission is accomplished and that is Bruce Wayne doing all the things that Alfred usually does. As Bruce is straightening the house he reminisces on Alfred and what he would say if he were alive to see this. The only word to describe this issue…. Heart Warming. ❤️
All in all Detective Comics Annual #3 was extremely well written and the artwork was an absolute treat. If I had one complaint it would be that I wish there would’ve been more of the Alfred MI6 story and also more of how Bruce and the Bat-Family are dealing with the pain of losing Alfred, but those are minor complaints about a story this good.