Batman Incorporated #2

I thought that I’d review another one of my comics that isn’t Superman related. Batman Inc caused a great stir at the time when it was revealed as many fans didn’t warm to the idea of there being more than 1 Batman. However, looking past Bruce’s mediocre return, Batman Inc pulled off a highly fun, wacky, enjoyable issue. Now will issue 2 be as good?

Synopsis

Batman and Catwoman attempt to stop Lord Death Man from wiping out the Japanese superhero population and Jiro tries to prove to Batman he’s worthy of a place in Batman Incorporated.

SPOILERS!!!!

The Good

·         First off it’s really nice to see Morrison writing for Bruce once again. Not only does he portray Batman in such a brilliant way, I can hear Kevin Conroy in my head for the first time in a long while. Brilliant. Anyway this series is chock a block with dark and wacky villains but there is a much lighter tone with this comic book. This tone is also reflected in Bruce’s new costume as it is not only paying homage to the Tim Burton suit but it perhaps reflects Bruce’s newfound optimism which is nice.

·         An example of Morrison’s craziness involves almost an entire apartment building filled with water and a giant squid. Now a rational person would say “How could they fill the building with water let alone transport a giant squid in there” but only is this the world of fiction Grant Morrison is writing this, so really the best thing is to go with it and enjoy the madness as it comes. And the squid thing is pretty funny and awesome tbh.

·         The pairing of Batman and Catwoman again is great as not only is it answering the prayers of fans who want to see Selina more actively involved in the Bat-verse and with Bruce again, Morrison plays them against each other very well. With witty banter, Batman deducing that Selina would steal the jewels and hints of a Ross-Rachel relationship between the 2, Morrison does an excellent job on these 2 characters and their complex relationship.

·         I really liked Lord Death Man. I was particularly excited about him after seeing the Batman Brave and the Bold issue with him in it and it’s a pleasant surprise to see that Morrison has not only kept him true to the comic book roots e.g the meditation technique that allows him to mimic death but also expands on him. Morrison portrays Lord Death Man as a sadistic, messed up psychopath that just loves speaking in sentances that don’t make full grammatical sense and killing people. That scene with the disabled bus of kids will make anyone think Lord Death Man is unhinged. Lord Death Man makes a great addition to Morrison’s category of rogues like Dr Hurt, Professor Pyg and Flamingo and I hope that he brings LDM back from space. Also I kinda hope that Bruce will face Professor Pyg at some point but that’s irrelevant for now.

·         Jiro’s spunk and attitude combined with his desire to become someone new and better than he already was makes for a better characterisation on his part as opposed to just another Batman copy the readers can overlook.

·         The art is fantastic. Paquette and Lacombe’s art literally jumps off the page. This artwork is comparatively better than that in Return of Bruce Wayne as the art team has more freedom to draw and ink a wider range of characters and objects.

The Bad

·         How in hell did Lord Death Man recover from being shot in the head so quickly? His meditation technique wouldn’t save him from bullets. When Batman states that Lord Death Man has an “upgrade” he doesn’t clarify what it is! Is it an advanced healing factor or immortality? I wish Morrison had cleaned that up!

·         Also why is Jiro wearing the same Batman costume as Bruce? It’d get quite confusing tbh. I was hoping that the characters would wear some kind of logo on their original costumes or unique Batman costumes for each member.

·         Finally that cover sucks. It’s disjointed, confusing as hell and the colours aren’t right at all. I expected better tbh from such a renowned artist like JH Williams.

So regardless of the average cover, the interior of this book is highly interesting and makes for a brilliant book. Buy this unless you already have since this was out in December. I’m just doing this review for informative purposes and to put my own views about what I thought of this issue and because I like writing reviews.

Final Score

Story: 10/10

Art: 10/10

Cover: 5/10

Overall: 8/10