This issue might be Morrison’s best Inc. so far. He doesn’t try anything special, just tells a good story about a Batman and Robin pair on an American Indian reservation. When Batman shows up, he admires how the Batman–or Man-of-Bats–has done it low budget. The Man-of-Bats is a doctor too (and his identity’s public knowledge). It’s the most realistic Morrison’s been on the series and it’s to the comic’s benefit.

All of the global conspiracies and shadow organizations have made Inc. distinctive but, combined with Morrison’s literary influences, they’ve also made it distant. This issue features real people with actual problems. Morrison usually deals in icons. It’s nice to see him expand.

Morrison’s pacing is particularly effective. He introduces a cast, a ground situation and has time to refocus the narrative on Man-of-Bats’s sidekick, his son.

It’s a fantastic comic all around.

CREDITS

Medicine Soldiers; writer, Grant Morrison; artist, Chris Burnham; colorist, Nathan Fairbairn; letterer, Pat Brosseau; editors, Katie Kubert, Janelle Siegel and Mike Marts; publisher, DC Comics.

Had I just slammed my head against a wall three times, I would have produced about as much confusion as this issue of Batman, Inc. Admittedly, I would have missed out on some funny dialogue and nice art from Chris Burnham. Not a fan of Burnham’s Bruce Wayne however. He draws him like a big, dumb oaf.

This issue is worldwide setup. Setup for what? Something mysterious and bad. It’s like Morrison wrote a bunch of single-page “countdown to Crisis on Infinite Earths” he’d usually put in regular monthlies and threw them all together.

The only time this comic has any actual personality is when Damian makes wisecracks or Jim Gordon pops up. Otherwise, it’s a mess.

It’s a funny, beautifully drawn mess, but a mess.

Morrison’s rattling the sabers–announcing how cool Inc. will eventually get to be. So what? It’s not there yet; he’s burning through goodwill.

CREDITS

Nyktomorph; writer, Grant Morrison; artist, Chris Burnham; colorist, Nathan Fairbairn; letterer, Pat Brosseau; editors, Katie Kubert, Janelle Siegel and Mike Marts; publisher, DC Comics.

Morrison should have titled the story, “Pay Attention.”

He juxtaposes Batman and El Gaucho dueling against Batwoman, but not just one Batwoman. He also goes into the history of the first Batwoman–the first Kathy Kane–and her relationship with Batman. Seeing Morrison try to marry the Golden Age Batman to the modern one is always a lot of fun and this issue is no different. But it remains to be seen if he’s going to pull off a deft narrative or just provide some amusement.

It helps he’s got Chris Burnham on the art. Burnham does a fantastic job with the modern Batwoman and also the flashback stuff. His Batman pages are questionable, but only because they’re barely present in the issue. He doesn’t have time to define himself.

Batman, Inc. remains a lot of fun and rather well-written, but it’s hard to say if it’s truly successful.

CREDITS

The Kane Affair; writer, Grant Morrison; artist, Chris Burnham; colorist, Nathan Fairbairn; letterer, Pat Brosseau; editor, Janelle Siegel and Mike Marts; publisher, DC Comics.