Some thoughts about DC's Crimes of Passion #1

Everyone deserves a bit of love this season.

There are tales of romance and loss all over the world and include even some of the most famous heroes and villains around.

First of all, that cover is a lie since that doesn't happen at all here and thank God for that since it would be like a son dating his father's ex.

Second, this is a decent enough special.

The issue opens with Steve Orlando handling a story about Batman and, as typical from Orlando, we see the appearance of an old obscure character like Linda Page which allows for an interesting study about Bruce. Greg Smallwood's semi-cartoony style creates beautiful and expressive characters.

Stephanie Phillips follows with a tale about Wildcat and she manages to get a good take on his classic boxer persona while trying to help a rival and his lover. Riley Rossmo's artwork is full of personality and style as usual with a lot of attention to detail.

Sam Johns and James Tynion IV create a story about the Pied Piper visiting an old "friend" while his love David advises him to not doing it, I really like the fact that Hartley and David are still together despite of the changes in continuity and the segment offers a nice resolution. Greg Melkinov's artwork is pretty polished and good looking with a style similar to Greg Capullo's, wouldn't mind seeing more of it.

There's a part about Green Arrow and Black Canary written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson helping a heartbroken young supervillain and is okay at best but mostly forgettable. Paul Fry's pencils are decent overall.

Then Sina Grace arrives with a segment about Plastic Man and an old lover that concentrates more of Eel's redemption from his criminal past and is pretty solid from a character standpoint. Mike Norton's expressive style is also very appropriate.

Batwoman follows with a story involving Maggie Sawyer written by Jordan Clark and is basically a resolution to their abrupt break up during the New 52 series and I'm glad we finally got it despite the amount of years that passed, it even includes Nocturna who was basically the reason behind their problems. Kieran McKeown's art is pretty vibrant with clear storytelling.

Matt Groom arrives with a story featuring Slam Bradley, the first protagonist of Detective Comics, of all people and an old lover/criminal and is both surprising and decently written. Anthony Spay's pencils are also decent.

Nightwing and Batgirl have a segment written by Jay Baruchel and I'm personally tired of the importance given to their relationship but the story is fine enough. Andie Tong's art is pretty solid.

Liz Erickson handles a tale about Catwoman trying to help a couple of criminals trying to solve their romantic problems and it's a pretty good take on toxic relationships and depicts Selina nicely too. Avel's vibrant style is pretty fitting as well.

The Question has the final story written by Ram V about his thoughts about a Valentine's Day which is a nice way to end the special and is solidly handled. John Paul Leon's gritty style is pretty appropriate for the tone of the segment and character.

A fine read overall, nothing too impressive but fine enough.