Detective Comics #867 - DC

I'm not really sure what this book is all about . . we come into this story like we should know what's going on, but . . I really don't. Basically, there's a group of kids terrorizing the town and they call themselves the Jokerz. They don't really cause any harm, other than chaos and disorder, but they go around town doing these things called 'Mad Mobs'. They take some kind of juiced down version of Joker Venom that causes the laughter and facial spasms, and generally lowers their inhibitions, but it isn't fatal like the real stuff. Well, except that it's highly addictive. One juice and you're hooked. And since the drug can be gotten on line, they also post their 'Mad Mobs', the number of Jokerz seems to grow with every outing. Now that they're a force to be reckoned with, it appears that the real Joker is intent on making an appearance at the mischievous outings. He seems to like the chaos, but he's a little bored with the outcome. That, or he just has an overall bigger plan that we just don't know about yet. Anyways, with his involvement things get ramped up pretty quickly. Some of the Jokerz get hurt, or killed, as well as a few police officers. So now it's not just a fraternity prank anymore. What gets the public in an up-rage is that one of the Jokerz victims is a respected businessman who's never even had a jay-walking ticket before. It all comes to a head with a very public display of frustration over acceptable police behavior. Which again escalates into chaos, and more than a few fatalities. It looks like Batman is going to bring in the Question on this one also. She shows up at the end of the issue. But what really bothers Batman is an internet video calling the public into action. The video is of an obviously fake Batman, but it's the words that scare them. 'The police can't do this alone. Now is the time for every able-bodied citizen to show support for law and order by following in Batman's example and the other vigilante heroes of this great country. Arm yourselves citizens of Gotham! It's time to take back the streets!' This can't end well. I'm just wondering what the Joker's real plan is here. David Hine seems to have taken on the writing of this book. Which I think is outstanding. His style and theme should fit quite well with the characters here. I'm also a big fan of Scott McDaniel's work. Some may say it's to 'cartoonish', but . . I think his style is the perfect antithesis of the dark nature of this story. It's kind of an ironic contradiction. For some reason this book has never been quite as strong as the regular Batman title. Hopefully . . that'll change. I think David and Scott are off to a good start. Oh yeah, and that stunning cover is by Peter Nguyen.