Review: Batman Incorporated #6
The latest issue of Grant Morrison's highly enjoyable Batman Incorporated is out and everyone I know who's reading this comic has said of it, simply, "Finally, I feel like I know where this story is going!"
My reaction to that, having read the book yesterday, is... really? You do? I definitely picked up a sense of momentum having begun to build but I still don't know exactly what's going on.
That isn't stopping me from enjoying it, though!
I'll be the first to say that I would be just fine with this book being nothing more than Batman Of The Month, with no metaplot. A book that simply depicts a new, original iteration of heroism with a cameo by Bruce Wayne would rule me. Thus, I haven't been waiting for this book to find its overall narrative legs in any special way and I didn't really expect anyone else to be waiting for a story to form, either, but apparently I am completely alone in that. Everyone's reaction to issue #6 has been nothing short of visible relief and I've found that highly surprising. Were people not enjoying this book without a metaplot? If not, I think that might be the best evidence yet for the maturation of comic books as a storytelling form: that comics fans expect strong narrative instead of episodic adventures bound to one another only lightly at very best.
So what did I think of this issue? There are a lot of things for me to like here. Seeing Bruce Wayne do his thing in the suit and out of it is a special treat. This issue had funny, creepy and biff-thwack-bam adventuring. It had Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson and on top of all that it had two fantastic new crime syndicates? I don't know if Grant Morrison is trying to one-up Scott Snyder for Best Batbook or what but this was probably the strongest issue of Batman Incorporated that I've read so far.
A few particulars:
- That smile Bruce Wayne gives the reporter before the Emoticon Men (<3!!!) arrive is probably the creepiest thing in the entire book. It is creepier than a squad of creepy-grin Leviathan kids having just murdered a truckload of slavers. It is the creepiest thing I've seen in a book in years.
- Bruce Wayne trolling himself on the Internet to spread disinformation is basically nerd catnip. I loved it so much.
- Blackbat's splendiferous weave!
- That magnificent two-page spread of many different Bats in many different fights, melding together to form one long, overlapped image. I will never get enough of that. If DC doesn't turn that into a poster and sell it for $10 a pop then they are morons.
All that said, there were things I didn't like. To be honest, I don't much care about this whole Leviathan storyline. I'm a sucker for creepy kids, don't get me wrong, but I just don't... I dunno, he doesn't make me feel anything in that reflexive, gut-punch way. Either I don't know enough about the background of the DCU or I haven't seen the right hook to be interested in this super-spy guy, I'm not sure, but he doesn't engage me the way other Batman villains do. Batman's best rogues are driven by personal stories of tremendous potential that has been wasted or warped by hubris and tragedy. They're colorful and lively and active. They balance his brooding stillness with their own panache and elaborate stagecraft.
This guy, the one in the big hat? Booooriiiing. Couldn't care less if it paid a blowjob bonus. I actually like that it's about a big criminal operation that wants to end the world. There's a strong tradition, especially in the last few years, of Batman-centered stories (even when they starred Batwoman or other members of Team Bat) being about large, elaborate syndicates bent on a vision of apocalypse most favorable to themselves. Batwoman's Church of Crime is a perfect example and I love that theme of the individual taking on a huge, villainous machine. It's a natural evolution of the story of Batman as a fighter of organized crime and it's part of why I loved The Dark Knight, because it was about taking a mafia story and blowing it up to comic book proportions. That part of the Leviathan story I'm into, yes, but the guy himself is just as dull to me as dishwater. I don't even think of him as mysterious; I barely think of him at all.
But so what? He's on, what, two pages out of the whole book? That's partly my problem with him but it's also a pretty decent solution to that problem. The story of Joe Average and the Average Joes is exactly the opposite of Leviathan Guy - a presence so minor that I literally cannot remember his name right now - and is exactly the kind of villain that feels right in a Batman book.
Yes, I know, the head of a shadowy cabal, manipulating all from the shadows, must by definition be extremely low-profile. Yes, I get that he doesn't have to be on the page to be affecting the story and that it wouldn't make any sense for him to be out in front if he likes to operate out of sight, beyond anyone's reach. That does make him fall outside of what I think of when I consider Batman's most notable enemies, though - even the ones with hordes of henchmen - and that means he just doesn't work for me.
Still, what a fantastic issue. Watching Grant Morrison do this storytelling striptease in which he slowly peels back the garments that shroud the obscure corners of Batman's world is both fascinating and fun. My favorite member of the staff at my local comic book shop seemed enormously relieved to see the story find a larger direction but, for my part, I was already enjoying the show.
Klarion
Posted to Comics, Review on 20 May 2011
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