Reviews 

Review: Batman Incorporated #3

By | August 25th, 2012
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Finally, the New 52 debut of everyones favorite Bat-Alterego. In order to stop Leviathan, Batman must go undercover as Matches Malone. Like the oil on Matches’ hair, Grant Morrison’s Batman Epic creeps slowly towards a conclusion. This book has had a hard time of it since the New 52 began. Delayed yet again three issues in after the tragic events surrounding ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ in July, does the extra wait give this book an extra-marinated goodness?

Written by Grant Morrison
Illustrated by Chris Burnham

The DC COMIC — THE NEW 52 debut of…MATCHES MALONE??
BATMAN is hot on the trail of whoever is trying to kill DAMIAN — and he’s not going to like what he finds!

Honestly, there is barely a connection to the theater shooting in Colorado other than this book bearing ‘Batman’ on the cover and there is a gun in the first page. That said, the first few pages do pack a punch, starting with a school teacher brandishing a gun at school kids, telling them what to think. If there is one thing guaranteed to make people angry, it is messing with their children. Whether the offense is real or imagined, parents can go ballistic at the slightest hint of ill will towards their kids. This translates into fiction as well, where even fictional violence towards children is not tolerated. Comic books can feature an intense amount of physical and mental abuse aimed at grown men and women, but train the gun-sight on children and a mainstream book will get pulled at the first sneeze of outrage. We all remember the Warren Ellis “Hellblazer” story ‘Shoot,’ right? Actually, you might not because it was set to go to print just as the Columbine shootings happened. The story was about a trend of earlier American school shootings, but it was pulled because editors thought it would be in poor taste. Which is a damn shame, because that issue had far more to say about why those shootings happened than the mainstream media, with their insightful fingers pointed at video games and “satanic” music. Oh, right, this is supposed to be about “Batman Incorporated.” My apologies.

Though this issue starts off with a bang, it moves a bit slower and has less reveals than previous issues. There is a distinct sense that Morrison is intentionally letting the plot-knife slip in subtly, before he twists it later on down the road. Morrison is pulling from his former conspiratorial work ” Invisibles” as the infiltration of the school system implies that Leviathan can be anywhere: your teacher, the judge, your children, even the man selling hot dogs down the street. Morrison must be paying attention to American politics, because as of late there have been a lot of stories about the suitability of America’s teachers and school system. Words like ‘brainwashing’ and ‘indoctrination’ get thrown around, no matter the person’s political leaning. It’s all one big conspiracy, and it makes this issue seem very topical and pertinent with elections just over the horizon. It is a constant irony how much more knowledgeable the rest of the world is about America than we are about the world.

The stage set by intrigue and paranoia, Morrison has Batman engage in a little extra-curricular cloak and dagger, with the re-introduction of Matches Malone. The reveal has as much flash and flair as one would expect from both Morrison and Matches Malone, and this issue is more of a gumshoe story than over-the-top super heroics. I won’t give away the ending, but all of that ‘Goatboy’ weirdness from the first issue does end up being important. This being a Morrison Batbook, the dialogue is good, though not quite as good as could be. The captioning carries through with that sense of wrongness, and everyone has a distinct voice, but Morrison uses so many cliches that actual exchanges between characters are read like they are phoned in -except for Daimian, who gets all of the excellent lines.

Morrison doesn’t shy away from the fact that this is an ongoing story kicked into a new continuity. Nightwing is in his New 52 uniform, and a favorite moment is when the characters review Talia’s Web. There are references to pretty much each major storyline Morrison has written for Batman since ‘Batman and Son’. Nightwing speaks most likely as a fan, asks Bruce to tell him the last few years all make sense. Way to go meta on us, Morrison. While ‘the Web’ doesn’t help readers make any sense of this title’s place in the New 52, it’s nice to know that years of reading have not been completely nullified by the relaunch.

Continued below

On art, Chris Burnham would not have been my first choice for finishing off this epic. Former artists like Kubert and J.H. Williams are understandably busy, but the end of this multi-year story line deserves someone a little more high profile. The layouts are much more standard comic book than the multifaceted compositions of Williams, or the widescreen look Kubert and Quitley brought to the page. The line work looks rushed and messy. Previous issues contained a cleanliness to the lines that is lacking this month. Most of the faces look contorted or otherwise odd. This is a little harsh on Burnham, but readers of Morrison Bat-books have just grown accustomed to a much higher level of art quality. Then again, perhaps this artist just is not my cup of tea.

To wrap it up, this issue is pretty decent, but not the quality a fan has come to expect. It won’t blow you away, though hopefully that mindblow will come sometime in the next couple of months. If you are not a committed fan, New 52 “Batman Incorporated” might be something you wait to finish entirely and pick up in trade.

Final Verdict: 7.0-­ Buy it if you’ve come this far.


Matthew Boren

Lover. Poet. Former educator. Now that he is here, he cannot be stopped. Matt's love affair with comics started with the Batman and X-Men animated series in the 90's and shows no sign of stopping. When not writing for Multiversity Comics, he enjoys Warhammer 40K, roleplaying games, reading just about anything, and cooking. Matt lives in San Antonio with his girlfriend and cat.

EMAIL | ARTICLES