There are a lot of comics out there, but some comic book series stand out head and shoulders above the pack. With “Don’t Miss This,” we want to spotlight those series we think need to be on your pull list. This week, we’re spotlighting “Batman Incorporated.” “Batman Incorporated” is devoted to fleshing out the next generation of Batman heroes in the DC Universe. In recent issues of “Batman Incorporated” we have seen the team fight mentors, supervillains and themselves. Today we are going to dive deep into DC’s ancillary Batman title fostering the next wave of Bat-heroes to explain why you can’t Miss this intriguing core DC comic book on the heels of a massive Joker-themed story!
Who’s this by?
“Batman Incorporated” is written by Ed Brisson. Brisson has been working extensively on several Batman comic books over the last couple of years at DC. Brisson has also worked at Marvel for years. Marvel.com cites Brisson’s first work as “Secret Wars: Battleworld” #1 with writer Joshua Williamson and artists Mike Henderson and Scott Hepburn. Brisson headed to seedier side of Marvel with “Iron Fist” with Mike Perkins following that title. Brisson continued to work with writer Joshua Williamson at DC on Batman comics during the ‘Shadow War’ crossover which directly led to “Batman Incorporated.”
Artist John Timms has worked extensively at DC comics. John Timms contributed interior art on the “Harley Quinn” ongoing series written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor. Following “Harley Quinn” John Timms worked with Brian Michael Bendis on a few issues of “Young Justice.” Timms then worked on fleshing out a younger Superman alongside writer Tom Taylor with the “Superman: Son of Kal-El” comic at DC. Now Timms is working on fleshing out the new heroes of “Batman Incorporated” alongside writer Ed Brisson.
What’s it all about?
“Batman Incorporated” is focused on the upcoming Bat-Heroes rising up across the DC Universe. Recent characters like Ghost-Maker and Clownhunter now have an ongoing series to call home in “Batman Incorporated.” In addition, several heroes from the previous iteration of “Batman Incorporated” are also back including El Gaucho and Nightrunner. Ghost-Maker is the leader of this new era for “Batman Incorporated” but will his harsh methods alienate the team or inspire confidence?
What makes it so great?
One of the main aspects that makes “Batman Incorporated” such an enjoyable title are the nimble plots threaded from Ed Brisson. The way the first arc of the series called ‘No More Teachers’ introduced lots of fascinating ties between the members of “Batman Incorporated” and their mentors. Brisson did a wonderful job building the animosity between Ghost-Maker and his former sidekick, Phantom-One to a crescendo before paying off the status quo really well with the end of his first story. Brisson is great at managing a huge cast with an international scope for “Batman Incorporated.”
Artist John Timms makes for a fascinating companion to Brisson’s writing. While I’m used to seeing Timms art in a more comedic context in “Harley Quinn,” the art looks shockingly appropriate for a dark story centered around younger heroes in the DC Universe. Timms uses a nimble line and really exaggerates the characters which suits the younger heroes of DC really well. Timms always depicts characters with lots of motion. In the debut issue of”Batman Incorporated,” Jiro swats some of the greenery in the Nature Reserve away in order to move through his environment. Timms utilizes great tricks like panel bleeds and complicated page layouts to really capture the full range of emotion of this massive cast.
In the first issue of the new “Batman Incorporated” readers are treated to destinations like Russia, Canada and Brazil. The international focus was also a key component to the last run on “Batman Incorporated.” However, one aspect that the new volume of “Batman Incorporated” is able to surpass the old one is just how carefully Brisson manages the large cast of this series. In the older series, Batman was the focal character but in the new “Batman Incorporated” Brisson is letting the newer faces of Gotham run the show. There has been a moment where this generally younger team has met the current Batman supporting cast. The new run of “Batman Incorporated” feels like it is preparing the next generation of the Bat-Family for combat.
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Brisson did a really impressive job switching between stories from “Batman Incorporated” #5 to #6. Brisson did a great job building up animosity within the internal politics of the team during ‘No More Teachers.’ Even Clownhunter was willing to turn against Ghost-Maker in one particular moment in the tale. Also, Brisson continues to explore the shaken morale of the team by having Ghost-Maker interact and try to build up the other members of “Batman Incorporated.” Brisson also carefully navigates the backstory of several characters, introducing the tragic origins of heroes like Phantom-One over in the series. DC’s editorial have carefully kept the origins of characters intact with the shifting identity of Knight over in this brand new “Batman Incorporated” run as well.
The new story for “Batman Incorporated” called ‘Joker Incorporated’ has been building for the past couple months before kicking off in issue #8. The way the storyline converged with the young hero known as Raven Red was both tragic and fascinating. As the title of ‘Joker Incorporated’ suggests, this story moves on from the first couple villains and pits “Batman Incorporated” against a Joker-esque characters in DC. The ‘Joker Incorporated’ story does a wonderful job keeping the dark tone of the comic book intact even with a wacky idea. The Joker’s henchmen are using guns and taking hostages in the issue. Timms is great at depicting a Joker with a wide and deadly smile that calls upon work of great Joker artists in the past. When characters investigate in locations in France, Timms does a wonderful job keeping the tension in some of these moments by adding shadows to character faces.
How can you read it?
You can purchase “Batman Incorporated” monthly from DC Comics wherever finer issues are sold. The first collection of the series, titled “Batman Incorporated Vol. 1: No More Teachers” is on-sale September 12. Don’t miss the next generation of Gotham rise up in the newest volume of “Batman Incorporated.”
