Grant Morrison’s tenure on “Batman Incorporated” may be over, having put away the toys he had been playing with for seven years, but that doesn’t mean that those characters are going away. Enter the “Batman Inc. Special”, which aims to bring the band back together for one last hurrah before this series disappears into the ether. Does it work? Well, let’s find out.
Written by Declan Shalvey, Chris Burnham, Joe Keatinge, Nathan Fairbarin, Mike Racht & Dan DiDio
Illustrated by Declan Shalvey, Chris Burnham, Emanuel Simeoni, John Paul Leon, John Stanisci & Ethan Van Sciver
An all-star special featuring the various members of Batman Incorporated—Man-of-Bats, Red Raven, El Gaucho, Dark Ranger, Knight, Batman himself and more! In the wake of their epic struggle with Talia al Ghul, the Heretic and Leviathan see what’s next for the members of Batman’s army. Featuring stories written and drawn by a collection of industry greats! Plus: Bat-Cow makes her solo debut in a tale by writer Dan DiDio and artist Ethan Van Sciver!
To say Grant Morrison revolutionised Batman with “Batman Incorporated” is a bit of an understatement. Suddenly, anyone from anywhere in the world could be Batman, a character who, until recently, had been defined by his identity as a rich, white man. But with Incorporated, we saw a Batman of Africa, of Japan, of Argentina. We even saw a Native American representation of Batman and Robin. Anyone, anywhere could now be Batman. This is an idea that is firmly present in this anthology as we see a focus on the members of Batman Inc. that aren’t Gotham-based which is, ultimately, what makes it worth it. One of the arguments against this issue was that it seemed unnecessary in face of Grant Morrison finishing his story on the title. However, now that it’s here, it’s saving grace is a focus on the diversity of the members of Batman Incorporated that never really got as much of the spotlight in the series actual as perhaps they should have.
Aside from bookends that open and close the issue from Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire, the issue opens with a story written and drawn by Chris Burnham. The issue follows up on the characters Burnham wrote in issue 11 of the actual series, Batman Japan and Lolita Canary, and really shows that what that series was missing was his touch on the art. His writing harkens back to the by-gone era of Batman were stories could be ludicrous, but, most importantly, fun and his art only emphasises that. While this story isn’t the cream of the crop from this anthology, as an opener it sets a fun, light tone for the book which sets itself apart from almost anything else Batman-related these days. It’s a short, fun story with a ludicrous villain, humorous dialogue that calls back to the writing styles of golden age comics and features ever amazing and detailed art from Burnham. A very good opener.
That story is followed up by one from Joe Keatinge and Emanuel Simeoni which follows Squire’s time in England dealing with Knight’s death. This story is in an odd place as it doesn’t have the fun or charm of the previous story or as much as heart as the following story, which we’ll get to, and seems almost drab in comparison. However, taken on it’s own merits, Keatinge manages to fit seven days of mourning in as many pages to show Squire coming to terms with the death of Knight and assuming the mantle as her own. It’s a nice little story focusing a character I personally wanted to see more of in the series. What really makes this story stand out, though, is the art by Simeoni. Simeoni keeps a distinct level of realism to his art that keeps characters feeling grounded and human while also indulging in the fun eccentricities of superheroing, as shown in the last page. While this one is a good story sandwiched between two rather great ones and seems lesser by comparison, it can definitely stand on its own merit.
This is the story that makes the issue worth buying. Nathan Fairbairn and John Paul Leon tell the story of Raven Red, the Robin to Man-Of-Bats, Batman Inc.’s Native American Batman. The story cuts between Raven Red chasing a criminal linked to Leviathan up the side of a construction site and a flashback sequence of Raven Red trying to talk down a Native American steelworker from the edge of a rooftop. Fairbarin injects this story with a lot of heart with some great dialogue between Raven Red and the steelworker that all comes together in a sweeping last page that is sure to leave some in tears. While Fairbairn is largely known for his color work, which is on display here, it’s clear that the heart of a writer is in there too. The art, too, is simply spectacular as John Paul Leon accurately captures the thrill of the construction site chase the likes of which hasn’t been since Casino Royale and conveys the heart of Fairbairn’s dialogue in the flashback. This is worth price of admission alone and at $4.99, that is saying something.
Continued belowIt’s from here that things almost start to go down hill. The penultimate story, Mike Raicht and John Stanisci, teams up El Gaucho, Dark Ranger and Nightrunner for a good old fashioned team-up. The letdown with this is that each of those characters could very easily hold their own story. While they definitely all have moments to shine within this story, it’s a pity that there couldn’t be more focus on them individually. The writing from Mike Raicht evokes the same feeling of simple and fun adventuring as Chris Burnham’s story, but is let down by the art. While it mostly comes down to personal taste, the scratchiness of Stanisci’s lines leads to some rather grotesque looking faces which really brought down the mood of the story. It was always going to be hard following Fairbain and Leon, this story simply fails to impress and is rather forgettable, unfortunately.
And now we come to the elephant in the room. Or, rather, the cow. Yes, Dan Didio and Ethan Van Sciver’s Bat-Cow story. Six silent pages leading up to one, rather unfunny joke. While there’s a lot that could be said about the fact that Bat-Cow a, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense on her own and b, loses her charm without Damian, the fact of the matter is that this story simply falls flat. While other stories capture the simple joy of being Batman or the dangers of the line of work or even what it takes to be brave enough to climb up the side of a building, this story is an extended punchline. There’s not a whole lot technically wrong with it and, thanks to the lack of dialogue, Van Sciver’s storytelling gets to shine through in his art, it just… isn’t funny. Even if it was, it’s still five and a half pages of build-up for one punchline of a panel. It seems a shame to waste space on this while you had three characters who could all hold their own in a story crammed into a team-up last story.
Unfortunately, while it ends with a whimper instead of a bang, this issue works more than it doesn’t. It gave much welcome focus to characters that had unfortunately been sidelined for some time and allowed the creators show off their talent in a compressed space. If this was DC’s last hurrah for “Batman Incorporated”, it could have been much worse and it’s thankful that it wasn’t. Even though that $4.99 price tag seems steep for three out of five stories, Faribairn and Leon’s Raven Red story is worth it alone. Fare thee well, Incorporated, you did well.
Final Verdict: – 8.1 – It works more than it doesn’t, but three out of five still brings it down a notch.
