YMMV / Detective Comics (Rebirth)

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Is Colonel Jacob Kane a supportive parent who genuinely wants what he thinks is best for his child, and is simply going about it the wrong way or letting his personal biases cloud his judgement? Or is he a malevolent, borderline Chessmaster/Manipulative Bastard who has spent years guiding things according to his own vision, with no care for the wants of others? Or is it some mix of the two?
  • Was the First Victim someone who was greatly damaged by Batman's war on crime? Or just a fraud manipulating other victims to serve their own personal vendetta?
• Awesome Art: Both rotating art teams bring their A-game to make this series one of the best-looking in all of Rebirth, whether the softer look of Barrows and Ferreira or the crisper, slicker style of Martínez and Fernández.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Batwoman became divisive before the series even started, with a lot of people wondering why characters like Red Robin, Spoiler, and Cassandra Cain needed training at all, let alone from her; Tim Drake fans were particularly upset, given his history of being trained by the likes of Lady Shiva, or being able to face Ra's al Ghul himself. Others pointed out that in the current continuity, all the previous history of those characters didn't quite happen; Steph and Cass never served as Batgirl (though Cass is still meant to be an extremely well-trained fighter), Tim never met Shiva at all, and so forth, while nearly all of Batwoman's prior history was untouched by the New 52 reboot — Batwoman might be the youngest character on the whole team in terms of publication history, but overall is experienced. The controversy continued through the first two issues: most readers enjoyed Batwoman and her new role (especially those who were already fans), but many Tim Drake fans were still upset at her superior position over him in the new team, while Bruce Wayne fans were annoyed that she was able to figure out his identity with an apparent Hand Wave that arguably doesn't make sense with her publication history. However, by issue #937 this had died down a lot, since Kate and Tim had been slowly been building up a healthy commander-lieutenant rapport with each other, though the Bruce thing lingered on through the run.
  • Dr. Victoria October, a trans character introduced in #948, was mostly well-received due to her charming personality and implied history with Batman, but some trans readers took issue with October casually mentioning she was trans when it wasn't a relevant part of the conversation, especially with a stranger (Batwoman) present. October's use of the term "deadname" (a term referring to a transgender person's birth name) also didn't help matters, with readers accusing the writers of trying to be trendy in their use of the word even when it realistically wouldn't have been used in context.
  • Lady Shiva is yet another. Some like her Character Rerailment in light of how nerfed she was in the New 52, but others feel she's pushing Invincible Villain territory, by virtue of her taking down Bruce with little effort and her past losses to him retconned as being on purpose for a higher cause. Others see nothing wrong with her ability, but think she's too much of a Card-Carrying Villain without the Blue-and-Orange Morality of her pre-Flashpoint self.
  • Steph became one after "The Victim Syndicate". Some say she's a whiny, annoying hypocrite, while others say that those traits are precisely the point due to Tim's "death", and that her being hypocritical is just part if her current character arc. Others feel that Stephanie shouldn't have been the one to go the route she is, mostly because there are others who would have fit the bill a lot more. Many feel that her character lacks agency, and that her character revolves entirely around being Tim's girlfriend.
• Broken Base:
  • The reveal that Colonel Kane is the leader of the Colony has not gone over well with some readers, who don't appreciate this character making what seems to be a full Face–Heel Turn and apparently cotradicting established canon. Others love the reveal and think it fits perfectly well into prior canon, and point out that even though the person in question is an antagonist, the series isn't portraying them as a full-on villain, but as more of a Well-Intentioned Extremist.
  • Kate's new buzzed hair is a lighter example. Readers are split almost evenly between loving it and missing her bobbed haircut.
  • The ending to #940 has been very polarizing. Either it's a poorly-set-up Deus ex Machina that plays with readers' emotions and doesn't seem to make much sense, or it's a fantastic way to tie the story into the wider Rebirth narrative, including the mystery of why Oz chose Tim specifically.
  • The second arc also has a polarizing ending. Either Spoiler's Face–Heel Turn (even if downplayed) and abandonment of the team is an out-of-character move that comes out of nowhere, or makes sense given Steph's emotional vulnerability in the wake of Tim's "death".
  • The exclusion of Damian is this for some since the book is billed as a Batfamily team up, and as the current Robin there's little reason he shouldn't be included, this got worse after Issue #950 where it's said that Bruce suggested to him to find friends his own age which to some seems like an excuse to keep him out.
  • The portrayal of Stephanie has also lead to a lot of contention, with many unhappy that her role seems to revolve entirely around her relationship with Tim, a relationship that happened without any buildup. Others think that her actions are in-character given the circumstances, and that she'll continue to have an important role to play.
  • Some fans take major issue with how Batman is portrayed, such as getting beaten up to establish the credibility of the series' villains or seeming to be incompetent in other situations, interpreting this to mean that the writer dislikes Batman and is trying to prop up other characters (heroes and villains) at his expense. Others point out that The Worf Effect is a common trope in comics, and that the other team members have gone through similar things in the series. This noticeably is not how Tynion writes Bruce in his Batman run.
  • The "Batman of Tomorrow" has been particularly divisive, fueling the Fandom Rivalry between fans of different Batfamily characters. Damian Wayne fans hate that Tynion, who's a self-professed Tim fan, wrote future Damian as being a terrible Batman who ended up being killed by Tim. Dick Grayson fans aren't happy, either, at the implication that Dick just walked away and allowed the Damian events to happen. Jason Todd fans are furious at the notion of Jason being crippled and having his spirit broken. Even Tim fans are divided between accepting this as a Bad Future scenario, or thinking all of these incidents just feel contrived.
  • Kate executing Clayface. Not only do you have a Base-Breaking Character killing off an Ensemble Dark Horse, but many feel that Kate is being painted as a villain just so that she can be opposed by Tim, who is seen as a Creator's Pet of Tynion. Others say what she did was perfectly justified given the circumstances, and true to her character.
• Character Rerailment:
  • Shiva is re-introduced as an absolutely ruthless assassin who can curbstomp the best fighters in the Batfamily. And without the "Shivasaurus" costume. Additionally, her previous appearances in which she was used to prop up a Creator's Pet has been Hand Waved away as her just pretending to be weak.
  • Barbara, in #975, is written more closely to her pre-Flashpoint characterization, displaying a high level of analytical thinking and concern for the neglected younger female crimefighters. Many fans prefer this over her personality in her current titles, and consider it a significant improvement to how Tynion wrote her in Batman Eternal.
• Creator's Pet: Tim Drake, without a doubt, is one for Tynion, something he even partially admitted to. Between being the most beloved of the Batfamily, hacking his way into Kryptonian technology (which has repeatedly been stated to be lightyears ahead of Earth technology) with only limited assistance, and basically being the fulcrum of everything that happens in the comic in one way or another. His Titans of Tomorrow counterpart is arguably even worse, having multiple ways of temporarily putting down Doomsday in his utility belt and flooring Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin all at once, only to do it again while also taking on Batman. He was only "stopped" after present Tim Drake managed to stall for time long enough for future Tim to be sent back to his own time.
• Creepy Awesome: The General is very unsettling, but incredibly effective.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: It's natural in a team-based book that readers will prefer different characters over others, but everyone seems to love Clayface even if he's not their favorite.
  • Taken further, the entire comic is about a team of Ensemble Dark Horse characters being lead by the two most famous Bat-Characters to fight crime like never before.
• Ho Yay:
  • The Batman of Tomorrow's reminiscences on Conner Kent, the Post-Crisis Superboy, and request to tell his Rebirth self to apologize to him have reignited the long-lost Tim/Kon ship due to the lines coming off as unusually emotional and sentimental when compared to the Batman's otherwise pragmatic and ruthless mindset.
  • As always, there is some between Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown, such as the two embracing as Steph deactivates Brother Eye.
  • There’s a sizable amount between Cassandra Cain and Harper Row throughout the series. Ranging from Harper embracing Cassandra while complimenting her dress, to the narrator describing how Cassandra can “feel the love behind Harper’s words”.
  • Also with Cass, she agrees with Kate (a lesbian) when the latter says she wants to marry Zatanna.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Many people took to reading "A Lonely Place For Living" just to see the set-up for the return of Conner Kent.
• Narm:
  • Batwoman getting her mask knocked off by a dinky little Batarang in #938 (for reference, in her solo series Batwoman got punched in the face by Bane and her mask didn't fall off). The fact that her mask is apparently an actual mask (as opposed to a full-head cowl) is also rather unintentionally amusing.
  • Renee Dual Wielding a pair of futuristic pistols in #944 is a bit silly, both from the way she's posed and from the fact that as a cop, she should know better than that.
  • How does the League of Shadows frame Batman for Mayor Hady's murder? With Bat-shaped swords. And it actually works.
  • The number of weapons that can be detonated or disabled through mere wristwatch hacking is almost reaching Memetic Mutation.
• Strangled by the Red String: Tim and Steph barely spoke to one another in Batman & Robin Eternal besides Tim berating her and them blushing at each other afterwards. Despite only a few weeks passing between that point and the beginning of Rebirth it looks like they're being portrayed as a solid couple. Despite that they show signs of The Masochism Tango, All Take and No Give (as well as its subtrope My Beloved Smother) or Living Emotional Crutch. In part because they're based off the Pre New 52 relationship which actually had reasons for the unhealthiness (Tim was the first person to give a damn about Steph).
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Luke ends up not getting a character arc or much to do, leaving him as little more than being Those Two Guys with Jean-Paul.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The Victim Syndicate introduces an interesting premise of being civilians who banded together as supervillains after becoming scarred by various acts in Gotham. While there is a reasonably compelling story in them desiring revenge on Batman in specific for being responsible due to having enabled the supervillains that maimed them, a lot of fans felt cheated out of how the conflict isn't as morally complicated as it should be — at no point do we get an explicit explanation for why they feel Batman is more responsible for their troubles than the actual supervillains that hurt them, and The First Victim — the diametric opponent to Batman in the group — doesn't get much development, with the audience never finding out why exactly he dislikes of Batman ideologically to the point of becoming a supervillain, making him a lot less sympathetic than he should be, and consequently making Steph leaving the Batfamily due to agreeing with the Victims feeling unearned. In addition, aside from Mudface and Clayface's interactions, we don't get to see them trying their revenge on the villains who wronged them, which would have potentially made for an interesting Evil vs. Evil Mirror Character conflict that still could have involved Bats as a moral epicenter.
• Win Back the Crowd: The penultimate issue of the League of Shadows arc was seen by many as a return to form for Cassandra Cain.
• WTH, Costuming Department?:
  • More than a few people have voiced dissatisfaction with Kate's buzz cut.
  • Tim Drake's Red Robin suit, while acknowledged as a good callback to his original Robin suit and better than his last two Red Robin suits, gets some flak for having green in it, because of his name. It doesn't help that he actually did have a Robin suit that didn't have any green in it.
  • Cassandra Cain's new Orphan uniform has gotten a lot of flak from fans for how bare it looks. Her old Batgirl mask not having ears anymore is a frequent complaint.