Grant Morrison is in a bit of a slump – but it’s not his fault.
You see, Morrison is the type of guy who succeeds when he is the one steering the ship, no matter how big of a vessel he’s commanding. When given a small boat to control, like say, “Doom Patrol” in the late ‘80s, he is able to do some amazing work. Up the size of the ship, like say the main storyline for Batman over the course of 5 years, and again, Morrison impresses.
But right now, Morrison is writing two of the most iconic characters in all of comics, and he can’t do jack shit with them.
Written by Grant Morrison
Illustrated by Chris Burnham– BATMAN, INCORPORATED makes its NEW 52 debut with an all-new first issue!- The series hits the ground running as BATMAN and ROBIN face off against the assassin GOATBOY!- LEVIATHAN’S sinister mission revealed!
Warning: Spoilers are discussed in this article, so proceed with caution.
In “Action Comics,” he is working with the past stories of Superman, telling tales of his formative years. And while, yes, there is a certain amount he can do with that, he can’t do anything too drastic because Superman has to, on some level, be the same guy in “Justice League” and “Superman” that he is in “Action Comics.”
And, in “Batman Incorporated,” he is writing a Batman that is no longer the focal point of the Bat-verse. When “Batman, Incorporated” launched, Morrison was the Bat writer – sure, Judd Winick and Tony Daniel were writing Bat-books, but they deferred to Morrison for the general direction of the line. But now, Scott Snyder’s “Batman” is the flagship book, and the ‘Night of the Owls’ is the big crossover event, running throughout just about every Batman book this month – every Batman book, that is, except for “Batman, Incorporated”
“Batman, Incorporated” is the final chapter in the Grant Morrison Batman saga, perhaps the greatest large-scale story DC has done in the past decade. But it is most definitely a pre-‘Flashpoint’ story. By having this book be an in continuity story is silly for so many reasons, not the least of which is that it places the formidable Morrison sea craft into a typhoon known as the New 52. No longer can Morrison play by his own rules and watch the others follow suit. The aforementioned Judd Winick has spent the better part of the last year taking Batwing from minor Morrison creation to the preeminent African hero in the DCnU (sorry, Vixen!) – just because Morrison says he faked his own death in “Batman, Incorporated” #1 doesn’t mean what it once did – which is that in the “Batwing” book, he has to be presumed dead. And so Morrison is left with two choices – go with the flow or try and sail viciously against the storm.
Do I really have to tell you which way he went?
This story might technically take place within the New 52, but almost nothing about it feels that way. This feels like the upper crust of a world built on 70 years of mythology, not a fresh new start for the Dynamic Duo. The Outsiders are referenced, for Rao’s sake!
And it is the focusing on the aforementioned duo that this issue really shines. My favorite Morrison Batman run was the first 16 issues of “Batman and Robin,” because his Dick and Damian interactions were so rich – it took a genuinely traumatic time in the lives of both of the protagonists, and helped them focus their grief, confusion and anger into forging this new relationship.
The Bruce/Damian dynamic is nowhere near as interesting, but Morrison still manages to make it work, and that is because no one writes Damian like Morrison does. When I was reviewing the Night of the Owls issue of “Batman and Robin,” I complained about Peter Tomasi’s lack of prowess in capturing Damian’s voice. Morrison nails each and every Damian piece here – from using his (contentious) relationship with Dick Grayson to try and make his father jealous and angry, to proclaiming himself a vegetarian and adopting “Bat-Cow,” Damian still has the brutal mentality and the extreme intelligence that others give him, but he also has that small child’s imagination, heart and innocence pop up from time to time. That is what other writers tend to forget.
Continued belowThis issue, like roughly half of the original “Batman Incorporated” run, is drawn by Chris Burnham. Burnham is one of a pack of artists who use Frank Quietly as a jumping off point, and seem to be gaining a high level of praise for his work. I wouldn’t want to derail that train, so I will continue to gush over his work. His attention to detail is formidable, but he never lets that get in the way of doing huge, sprawling scenes. The opening fight in the slaughterhouse is full of blood, flesh, and psychotic smiles, which Burnham uses to create an eerie, funny, disgusting scene.
Burnham works so well for this book because he has no problem drawing straight up crazy shit. Morrison’s Bat run has been built around some of the most esoteric, unusual and goofy villains in his rogue’s gallery, and Burnham doesn’t blink an eye when asked to draw a dinner party involving an invisible man, a mummy, and a couple of Man-Bats for good measure.
This book suffers from, again, being part of the New 52, in its cliffhanger the issue that ends the issue. Major spoilers follow, again, so please click away if you don’t want to read them.
Now, I think it is pretty clear that Damian isn’t really dead (I personally think that Batman got to the goon and is using his to disseminate false information), but if this was published as a pre-‘Flashpoint’ tale, we may actually believe that Damian was shot in the head. Since the deck got reshuffled with ‘Flashpoint,’ why not let Morrison tell the most balls-out, insane Batman epic he could, end it however he sees fit, even if it is with Bruce truly dead, and then let the New 52 be its own thing?
I still have a few questions about the logic behind this series, and worry that it not being solicited as a 12-issue maxi-series, as intended, doesn’t mean that Morrison is going to try and continue his saga, but rather that another writer is going to come in and take the reigns from him. And while I’m sure there are plenty of writers who could do a good job on “Batman Incorporated,” it feels like this should be Morrison’s tale to end as he pleases.
But I can’t rightly criticize any of the work done within these pages; all I can criticize are the editorial decisions bringing this series to life now and in this format. And since those folks didn’t write a stitch of this dialogue or draw a single bloody cow carcass, I don’t have to penalize this book for DC’s blunders.
Plus, any way to get “Goatboy,” the bizarre Jim Breuer SNL sketch, back into my head is a win.
Final Verdict: 9.2 – Buy
