Detective Comics #1104 Review

 

Writer: Tom Taylor

Artist & Colorist: Mikel Janín

Inker: Wayne Faucher

Letterer: Wes Abbott

Cover Artists: Mikel Janín, Greg Smallwood & Kris Anka

Editors: Jessica Berbey, Ben Meares & Rob Levin

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $4.99/$5.99

Release Date: December 24, 2025

 

A good detective shouldn't be emotionally involved with his investigation. But Batman can't help it. The Lion infected Batman with the deadly Fear Virus. As he races against time to find a cure, Batman wonders if every decision he makes is suspect due to an increasing resistance to the fear that tempers his actions.

 

Bruce Wayne may be irritable. He may be taking more risks than usual. But he knows the score. Gotham is on a knife-edge. If the Lion infects his city with the Fear Virus, it will tear itself apart. But can Batman cage the Lion? And can he find a cure for the Fear Virus before he must lock himself away in quarantine? Let's grab our gasmasks, leap into Detective Comics #1104, and see!

 

Story

When he teamed with Lois Lane in Metropolis, Batman apprehended Daniel Toomey. But not before the agoraphobic researcher leapt out of the window high above the ground. Batman's instinctive reaction to risk death and save Toomey rattles him. So, with four hours until he must enter quarantine, Batman double-checks his every move while apprehending Adrian Bates.

 

Tom Taylor lets us into Batman’s new world of fear in Detective Comics #1104. We regard the world through his eyes as Batman realizes he can no longer trust his decisions. Even if he’s sure he’s being cautious, his absence of fear turns confidence into a disability. The more certain he is of his abilities, the more Batman becomes a danger to himself and others.

 

When Batman reaches for respite, he doesn’t get a chance to relax. The demands on his time are too frightening to ignore. Superman’s investigation of the Kasnian facility confirms Batman's suspicion that the Lion intends to infect everyone in Gotham. Yet while Mr Terrific works on a cure for everyone, the Lion’s attacks are also targeted.

 

While the Lion claims that Gotham hurt him, he also has beefs with Scarecrow and Batman. No matter how many people die like the other people working on Project Courage, and the boat filled with refugees in Gotham Harbor, the Lion looks forward to confronting him. Batman worries about losing his fear in Detective Comics #1104. But STAR Labs fine-tuned the virus to help the Lion conquer his fears.

 

Art

Mikel Janín and Wayne Faucher show Batman frowning while undergoing familiar practices. A series of nine panels intersperses Adrian Bates' actions with Batman's pursuit. Batman bares his teeth when he realizes he can't hurt Adrian as much as he'd like. But he smiles when he talks with Selena Kyle. Without his mask, Bruce's features and build suggest a similarity between him and Superman. But with his fear fading, Bruce worries about thinking that he can be Superman in Detective Comics #1104.

 

Mikel Janín colors Adrian's actions green as Batman pursues him in blue and gray. Selena's darker gray cat and lingerie suggest similarity as creatures of the night. But while Bruce ignores laws that Lois Lane observes, Selena crosses lines Bruce fears to step over. While blue links him with Superman, his Kryptonian friend shouts his presence in red. The red in Damian's suit reminds us that, like Superman, he fears for his father. Like Batman and Lois's journey through Metropolis in his Batmobile, orange, yellow, and red accompany Batman's journey into danger in Detective Comics #1104.

 

Wes Abbott fills white balloons with black uppercase dialogue and shares Batman’s thoughts as white uppercase letters in gray narrative boxes. Large, white letters tick off the hours until Batman’s lack of fear infects those around him. The sound of breaking bones suggests a desire for payback, while screaming likens fearless warriors to a crazed mob. Thanks to DC Comics for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

When Adrian Bates broke into Arkham Towers to abduct Scarecrow, he didn't wear a mask as he shot John Grieg. Likewise, the Lion watched via security cameras as refugees died on a boat. Detective Comics #1104 asks if people become villains when they no longer fear being punished for hurting others. 

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

To look inside see my preview of Detective Comics #1104. 

Nils: Tree of Life Preview

 

 

Oni Press and Magnetic Press are making January a super month for French graphic novels. Here's a new edition of a book from the artist of White Shadows HC, which I previewed earlier today. Remember, if you like what you see, ask your local comic shop to order a copy by January 5, 2026.

Here's all the info:

 

NILS: TREE OF LIFE

WRITTEN BY JEROME HAMON

ART BY ANTOINE CARRION

COVER BY ANTOINE CARRION

ON SALE JANUARY 20th, 2026 | $24.99 | 192 PGS. | PB

FOC: 1/5/2026

 

In partnership with Oni Press, Magnetic Press – the Eisner Award-winning publisher celebrating prestige graphic novels from around the globe since 2013 – is publishing a stunning new edition of NILS: TREE OF LIFE by writer Jérôme Hamon (Dreams Factory) and artist Antoine Carrion’s (White Shadows). The new edition of this beautiful fantasy graphic novel includes a new cover, as well as all-new bonus material, including additional artwork and concept design. The poignant and powerful graphic novel NILS: TREE OF LIFE will be published on January 20th, 2026.  

“This ecological future fantasy features a supernatural conspiracy, a high-tech kingdom, the pursuit of eternal life, and the return of long-forgotten (and jealous) gods,” says Magnetic Press founder Mike Kennedy. “It is an epic father-son story for the ages: bold, surreal, and worthy of Wagner.”  

NILS: TREE OF LIFE introduces a dystopic Nordic fantasy world, where spirits of light are the key to life, but seemingly have abandoned the world. Young Nils and his father set out to discover why the ground has grown infertile. They head north, where the drought seems worse, desperately hoping to survive.

NILS: TREE OF LIFE combines high fantasy adventure, science-fiction, and pseudo-spiritual magic to create a potent tonic and an unforgettable battle between man and nature. Humanity’s desire to play God plays out like never before in the new softcover edition of NILS: TREE OF LIFE, available in bookstores on January 20th and in comic shops on January 21st, 2026, from Magnetic Press. 

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

For more updates on Magnetic Press, visit them on X, Facebook, and Instagram. 

 

Thanks to Oni Press, Magnetic Press, and Superfan Promotions for sharing this preview with us.

 

 

About the Creators

Jérôme Hamon was born in 1977. A graduate of the Rouen Business School and a university in the United States, he began his professional life in New York as a financial analyst. Two years later, convinced that his future was elsewhere, he left the world of finance and traveled around the world for a year. It was during these reflective travels that his imagination ran wild, giving birth to many stories that would haunt him for years. Returning to France, he worked in cinema and video games for a bit before finding himself working at France Télévisions. He took this opportunity to develop some of his ideas into several short film and comic book projects. In 2008, he presented his first comic book scripts in Angoulême and met the cartoonist Marc Van Straceele, with whom he would sign his first project a year later -- Yokozuna, a graphic novel about the sumo world in Japan. Following that publication, he began working on NILS with artist Antoine Carrion. Since then, he has written several popular books including Dreams Factory and Green Glass.

Launching his career under the pseudonym Tentacle Eye, Antoine Carrion entered comics in 2012 with the release of No Parasan (They Shall Not Pass), which immediately led to a nonstop string of projects lasting to this day. He has collaborated with Antoine Ozanam on numerous books, including Song of the Sabers and To Love (as Tentacle Eye), followed by The White Shadow and Temudjin (under his real name). He has since illustrated the dystopic fantasy Nils: The Tree of Life, written by Jerome Hamon, and is currently writing and illustrating a graphic novel adaptation of the classic Henrik Ibsen play Peer Gynt (which itself inspired the classical score by Edvard Grieg).

About Magnetic Press

MAGNETIC PRESS is a subsidiary of Polarity that publishes graphic novels, art books, and periodicals curated with a focus on internationally recognized content and talent, presented with premium quality design and production value. The Magnetic brand was founded by writer and video game veteran Mike Kennedy in 2013 as the independent publishing company Magnetic Press, Inc, featuring creators both new and established from around the world, sharing their stories with an English-language audience often for the first time. Their award-winning library includes such celebrated titles as the Love series of wordless wildlife graphic novels, as well as Eisner-nominated books Mister Invincible, The Monkey King, Aster of Pan, Pistouvi, Irena, Stay, A Sea of Love, Watersnakes, Herakles, Doomboy, A Glance Backward, Little Tails, The Ghost of Gaudi, and Dave Dorman’s Wasted Lands Omnibus. Magnetic has earned a total of 31 Eisner Award nominations in their first ten years of eligibility, winning its first trophy in 2024 for Best Production Design of Dracula/Frankenstein Boxed Set. Magnetic also won the Gold Medal of Excellence in the graphic novel category of the 2015 Independent Publisher Awards for Love: The Fox.

In 2021, Magnetic launched Magnetic Press Play, an imprint dedicated to gaming and new media endeavors. Their releases to date include CARBON GREY, based on the Image Comics series by Hoang Nguyen, and THE OFFICIAL PLANET OF THE APES RPG developed in cooperation with Disney and 20th Century Studios. Other as-yet-announced licenses and projects are forthcoming.

 

 

Spirit of the Shadows #1 Preview

 

COVER A BY NICK CAGNETTI

 

So many great comics hit stores in December that it was hard to keep up with everything. So apologies to Oni Press for not sharing this awesome preview sooner! Check out this upcoming book hitting new stores next month. It looks like a lot of fun! And if you're interested, be sure to ask your local comic shop to order it by January 5th, 2026!

Here's all the info from Oni Press:

 

SPIRIT OF THE SHADOWS #1 (of 5)

WRITTEN BY NICK CAGNETTI & DANIEL ZIEGLER

ART BY NICK CAGNETTI

COVER A BY NICK CAGNETTI

COVER B BY DAVID LAFUENTE

COVER C BY KARL KERSCHL

COVER D BY MATT LESNIEWSKI

FULL ART VARIANT (1:10) BY NICK CAGNETTI

B&W VARIANT (1:20) BY MATT LESNIEWSKI

FULL ART VARIANT (1:50) BY KARL KERSCHL

ON SALE JANUARY 28, 2026 | $4.99 | 32 PGS | FC

IOD: 11/29/25

FOC: 1/5/26

 

 

OUTRAGEOUSLY OTHERWORLDLY AND BACK FROM THE GRAVE WITH A SCORE TO SETTLE! Oni Press, the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels since 1997, invites readers into a spectacularly terrifying new vision of the underworld in this extended excerpt from SPIRIT OF THE SHADOWS #1, the arresting new limited series from the phantasmagorical minds of breakout cartoonist Nick Cagnetti (Pink Lemonade, XINO) and Daniel Ziegler (Elodie). Arriving in comic shops on January 28th, SPIRIT OF THE SHADOWS #1 features the first full-length artwork by Nick Cagnetti since his extraordinary debut with 2022’s PINK LEMONADE. 

“I guarantee you're not going to find another comic on the stands right now quite like this one—from the story to the art, my friend Daniel and I really tried to create something cohesive and evocative in the way that only this medium can provide,” said co-writer and cartoonist Nick Cagnetti. “To achieve that, I put a lot of care into differentiating styles and techniques for each of the settings the story goes to make them each feel distinct. You're swept up in this dreamlike haze alongside the main character, and you go through all the emotions and revelations alongside him. The end result should really make for a rewarding experience you can reread and look at completely differently the next time, but I'm envious for readers to experience that ride for the first time here soon!”

Once, Erik Leroux was a mortal musician, selflessly devoted to his music and his true love, Katrina . . . until his sudden death plunged his soul into the carnival-like torments of the Spirit World beyond our own. Now, reborn as a phantom with fleeting memories of his life among the living, and forever cursed to bear the arcane costume his corpse wore to the grave, Erik will claw his way back from the infernal planes to uncover the mysteries of his own life . . . and avenge the dark sins that transformed him into the SPIRIT OF THE SHADOWS!

“Introducing an entirely new world can be one of the most daunting tasks as a writer, so what better way to immerse the reader than to immediately place them in the shoes of the protagonist?” said co-writer Daniel Ziegler. “As Erik pieces together the forgotten fragments of his life, readers will also embark on that same journey of discovery and revelation, and may find themselves facing more than one moral quandary in the process. This extended preview gives you a taste of the various worlds and varying styles that Nick and I use throughout the series to tell this wholly unique parallel narrative of love, loss, and revenge that we couldn’t be more proud of.”

The artistically dazzling and emotionally gut-wrenching new addition to the canon of creator-owned superheroes rises into comic shops everywhere on January 28th, 2026, featuring covers by Nick Cagnetti (Pink Lemonade), David Lafuente (Ultimate Spider-Man), Karl Kerschl (Gotham Academy), and Matt Lesniewski (Faceless & The Family). Don’t miss this day-glo hybrid of Jack Kirby’s THE DEMON, Mike Allred’s MADMAN, and Todd McFarlane’s SPAWN — with an eye-catching style and gripping narrative hook that’ll keep you searching the endless underworld for the next page of the story…

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are more cover options:

 

 

COVER B BY DAVID LAFUENTE

 

COVER C BY KARL KERSCHL

 

COVER D BY MATT LESNIEWSKI

 

 

FULL ART VARIANT (1:10) BY NICK CAGNETTI

B&W VARIANT (1:20) BY MATT LESNIEWSKI

FULL ART VARIANT (1:50) BY KARL KERSCHL

For more updates on Oni Press, visit them on X, Facebook, and Instagram.

 

Thanks to Oni Press and Superfan Promotions for sharing this preview with us. 

 

White Shadows HC Preview

 

 

Oni Press are producing some excellent translations of French graphic novels right now. Thanks to their partnership with Magnetic Press, American fans can enjoy exciting adventures like Ogrest and The Dragons of Paris. Here's another great-looking book coming your way from the homeland of Captain Jean-Luc Picard! If you like what you see, ask your local comic shop to order a copy by January 5, 2026.

Here's all the info from Oni Press:

 

WHITE SHADOWS HC

WRITTEN BY ANTOINE OZANAM

ART BY ANTOINE CARRION

COVER BY ANTOINE CARRION

ON SALE JANUARY 20, 2026 | $24.99 | 104 PGS. | HC

FOC: 1/5/2026

 

Magnetic Press – the Eisner Award-winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels from around the world since 2013 – is publishing the first-ever English-language edition of WHITE SHADOWS by the acclaimed writer/ artist duo of writer Antoine Ozanam and artist Antoine Carrion. Having already introduced these French comic superstars to North American audiences with the release of Temudjin, Magnetic Press is following up by unleashing the duo’s epic medieval graphic novel. Originally published in French by Soleil Productions as L'Ombre blanche, the lush, thrilling tale of political intrigue and supernatural distress will have readers on the edge of their seats when it makes its English-Language debut on January 20th, 2026.

A kidnapped prince may be the key to a kingdom in conflict. But the beast who took the boy may pose more threat than the hushed fairy tales suggest. WHITE SHADOWS is a medieval tale of political intrigue and ambition among crafty players vying for power. 

“One of Antoine Carrion's first published works, White Shadows is medieval intrigue in the fine tradition of George R.R. Martin, full of hidden political agendas woven between a wide cast of players who are individually deadset on occupying the throne,” says Magnetic Press Founder and Publisher Mike Kennedy. With hints of the supernatural underlying everyone's fears, this tale by writer Antoine Ozanam will have you imagining what else might be at work. And given Antoine Carrion's beautiful scenery, your imagination will be well fed.”

Since releasing his first book, Hôtel Noir, in 1999, writer Antoine Ozanam has created countless celebrated comics ranging from vital historical fiction like The Diary of Anne Frank and Princess Caraboo to action-packed fantasies like he and artist Joel Jurion’s long-running series KLAW. Ozanam’s longtime collaborator Antoine Carrion’s career has been equally prolific and wide-ranging. In 2024, Magnetic Press launched a crowd-funding campaign, celebrating The Fantastic Realms of Antoine Carrion, featuring three of the artist’s most visually stunning surreal graphic novels: WHITE SHADOWS, Nils: Tree of Life, and Temudjin. 

Coming to bookstores and comic shops on January 20th, 2026, WHITE SHADOWS features both creators at the top of their game, delivering 100 pages of action and intrigue perfect for fans of Game of Thrones. 

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

For more updates on Magnetic Press, visit them on X, Facebook, and Instagram. 

 

Thanks to Oni Press, Magnetic Press, and Superfan Promotions for sharing this preview with us.