Batman Inc #8

Writer: Grant Morrison

Artists: Chris Burnham and Jason Masters

Trying to stop his mother from spreading chaos throughout Gotham and the world, the Boy Wonder makes his last stand against the forces of Leviathan. Of the many members in the Bat-family, Morrison chooses Nightwing to be the one who gets to have a final interaction with Robin before the end, and it is pure gold. Damian is finally at peace with himself, and the convoluted emotions inside him have receded, which allows him the opportunity to make his last actions those of a true hero.

     

Covers by Chris Burnham and Nathan Fairbairn

Strangely enough, Batman is mostly absent from the story, which in hindsight is the right move as not to take the attention away from the real star of the issue. Chris Burnham does not hold back, and makes Robin's sacrifice as cruel and mean as possible; it is graphic indeed. Jason Masters provides a brief collaboration for Red Robin's sequence, which is superbly choreographed  Whether this is a true change in the status quo remains to be seen; I tend to believe it is not a permanent situation, and before a year's time, we'll see Damian again. Great tale, though.

Batman by Chris Burnham and Nathan Fairbairn

Batman Inc #4

Writer: Grant Morrison

Artist: Chris Burnham

After focusing on Damian, Talia, and Matches Malone, the fourth issue of Batman Inc. lives up to its premise by deploying a large platoon of the heroic organization against the might of the League of Assassins. Crusader and Gaucho's ongoing feud using the Falkland Islands conflict of the 80's as an excuse is hilarious, but at the same time, makes me wonder how many of the things I don't understand in the writing -which are a lot- would be clear if I had a Ph.D. in something or other. As impressive as Batman's army is, Leviathan's takeover of Gotham, and the many minions she has all over, makes her a formidable enemy; a bit too similar to the Court of Owls, actually. That, and several other themes in the title either make it redundant (we already have Batman and Robin) or place it outside continuity; this latter argument gains more weight with the developments involving Wingman and Redbird.

By the way, congrats to writer Grant Morrison for his recent induction into the British Empire for his services to film and literature.

Batman Inc #3

Writer: Grant Morrison

Artist: Chris Burnham

In order to obtain clues that could lead him to Leviathan, Batman brings Matches Malone back to Gotham. Morrison spends most of the issue recreating the gangster's personality and it pays off. This Malone is a quirky, almost comical character, a far cry from the dark and broody cape crusader, which ultimately makes him a formidable master of disguise. Another who also creates an alternate persona is Damian. After last chapter's cliffhanger, the Boy Wonder is presumed dead (by the way, that climatic ending is trivialized and almost ignored in this issue) so he comes up with a new alias for himself; an interesting move, let's see where that goes. This installment also upholds events that took place in the title prior to the New 52 relaunch; among the most notorious is the existence of the original Batwoman, Kathy Kane. Will the rest of the New 52 affirm all of them? Time will tell.