Batman Incorporated #13

by Wombatapult on August 04, 2013

Grant Morrison has taken us on a wild ride for the last seven years. His run on the Batman character, through various titles and miniseries, has been mythological in scope and scale, turning Bruce Wayne from man into an elemental force and ripping him from Gotham City into the cosmic void and back again. His Batman has faced death, numerous lifetimes of pain, and the end of time itself—but he has endured with fists clenched and teeth bared. With a salute to the writers and artists of years past, Morrison makes Batman's timeline an eldritch meta-fiction “explaining” how every Batman story ever told formed the foundation of the canon of today.
 


And it was trippy stuff.

 

This is supposed to be a review of Batman Incorporated #13—and it will be. But it's also a retrospective of the last seven years, recapping the legacy of the World's Weirdest Scotsman on Gotham's Caped Crusader.


Grant Morrison had written Batman decades before, both in his Legends of the Dark Knight story “Gothic” and his acclaimed novel “Arkham Asylum: a Serious House on Serious Earth.” But it really got started with JLA. Back in 1997, Morrison introduced us to Batman as a sort of god who had an answer and a plan for everything. Never unprepared, never caught off guard. It was the only way Batman could hold his own among heavy hitters like Superman, Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter. This run lasted three years, and for the whole of it Batman was primary among the pantheon—brooding, scowling, and exuding a quiet arrogance it was impossible not to fall in love with.

 

Fast forward to 2006. Morrison began on Batman. Immediately, Damian Wayne was dropped in our laps. The spawn of Batman and Talia Al Ghul, the infamous Ra's Al Ghul's daughter, Damian was ten years old and already a merciless killer. He was genetically perfect, impeccably trained, and as arrogant as both his parents... combined. Son of the Dark Knight. Grandson of the Demon. Heir to the throne of Gotham, or maybe the world. Talia offered their son to Batman as a token of union, to lure Batman into the clan of Al Ghul and conquer the world as an unstoppable and deadly family. Batman would have none of it, but he still took the boy.

 

The introduction of Damian Wayne disrupted things greatly in the Bat-family, but the cocky little ass soon became a much-beloved character. He figured centrally in Morrison's stint on Detective Comics, in which Talia Al Ghul attempted to resurrect her father Ra's. At the conclusion of this arc, Talia reclaimed Damian and not much was seen of him for some time.

 

At this point, Batman began undergoing a shift in focus, from the streets of Gotham to the workings of a clandestine and global society of evil known as the Black Glove. The Machiavellian and twisted Doctor Hurt, who claimed to be the fallen father of Batman, broke Batman down to the foundation. He destroyed his reputation, attacked his memories, removed his resources, and left him with nothing but a broken mind and an exhausted body. Doctor Hurt nearly replaced a destroyed Batman with an evil counterpart. But of course, the Batman never stays down. The true identity of Doctor Hurt remains a mystery. But he himself claimed, “I am the hole in things... the enemy, the piece that can never fit, there since the beginning...” Perhaps the Devil himself fought Batman and lost?


At this point in DC Universe history, Final Crisis occurred. Once and for all, Darkseid of Apokalips took over the world. But not even Darkseid could be enough to dominate the human spirit as long as Batman exists. After months of torture, Batman escaped and faced the dark god brandishing the very gun with which Darkseid fired the opening shot of the war to enslave Earth. Darkseid, however, had the Omega Sanction—“the death that is life”—which he fired from his eyes. Knowing it would cost his life, Batman put the tyrant down. His last words before Darkseid's dying eyes blast him from existence?

 

“Hh. Gotcha.” And the Batman was dead.

 

This ushered in a new era. Bruce Wayne was dead, but the Batman can never die. Dick Grayson, the first Robin and reluctant primary heir of Batman's legacy, took the cape and cowl. Tim Drake, the third Robin, struck out on his own and assumed his own heroic persona Red Robin, while “second son” Jason Todd tormented his former allies as the Red Hood. And Damian returned to join the Bat-family once again, becoming the new Robin.

 

The reversal of roles worked astoundingly well, with a grim and violent Wayne in the colorful mantle of Robin, while the wisecracking and lighthearted Grayson wore the dark shroud of the Bat. Readers loved this pairing and Morrison used this interval to introduce or develop new villains including Professor Pyg, one of the most appalling and horribly wonderful creeps to be added to Batman's rogues gallery in recent years.

 

Morrison brought Bruce Wayne back from the grave, using the explanation that the Omega Sanction subjected the victim to lifetimes of reincarnated suffering throughout the time-stream, and that Bruce Wayne—the true Batman—found a way to break the cycle. Returning to Gotham City reborn and re-dedicated to his quest for justice, Bruce Wayne became Batman once more.

 

Batman Incorporated was the new face of the Batman's war on crime. Combining his private obsession with his public assets as Bruce Wayne, he outed his alter ego as Batman's financial benefactor and established a coordinated global network of agents dedicated to a like cause. Talia Al Ghul didn't hesitate to declare war in her own fashion—an army was raised, and the insidious Leviathan organization was launched to destroy Batman Inc.

 

In the ensuing power struggle, many agents of Batman Incorporated were killed... including Bruce Wayne's son, Damian. In a rage, the Batman defied the army set against him and avenged his son, leading up to this final, conclusive issue.


Whew. That of course was a vast oversimplification of the synopsis. That's just what Morrison did TO Batman. Here's what Morrison did FOR Batman.


He made the Joker make sense. Not in character, of course. But in a literary sense. He explained how the Joker, in his own psyche, has achieved a sort of situationally adaptive super-sanity that reinvents his identity and becomes a different person on a daily basis. This makes it possible for subsequent writers to tackle the character however they see fit—because he's multi-purpose. For one story he can be a less-than-sinister “Clown Prince of Crime”, and in another he can be Morrison's terrifying “Thin White Duke of Death.”
 


Morrison created several new villains and heroes and redefined old ones for subsequent writers to use. Understanding comics as a time-transcending medium, he left the legends open and fresh for those who come after to redefine the status quo. Ra's Al Ghul, Batman and the Joker all underwent a form of resurrection and redefinition. Dick Grayson finally took the throne and proved himself as Batman's successor. Red Robin was finally given the independence the character deserved. Batman Incorporated lies burned to the ground, its agents scattered—to be rebuilt or left to rest by whichever writer comes after.


Morrison's Batman stories had a richness of symbolism, structure and themes not often experienced in comics. With a more literary structure than episodic, Morrison's plots, while convoluted at times, were intricate and fascinating. In everything he did, there was a respectful homage to the comics of past decades, but also an evolutionary anticipation of the future of both the fictional universe and the medium itself. A pioneer in comics writing, Morrison was not infallible. Some of his plots were too confusing, some of his twists a little flat. But ultimately, as a whole, his run on Batman gave a sense of vitality and excitement to the character that had long been missing.


This long stint on Batman also created controversy. This is not a bad thing. With the introduction of Damian Wayne, the death of the same, making the Batman a corporate franchise, the “death” of Batman, and the re-imagining of a new Batman and Robin, Morrison sparked debate from those who didn't LIKE it. I sympathize with people who didn't like it even though I unashamedly did—I understand how hard it is to see your favorite titles and characters done in a way you dislike. But the GOOD part is this: controversy prompts discussion. Discussion prompts deeper thought. More than ever before, people were really digging into the comics they read and examining the structures and themes that made it what it was, picking apart what they did and didn't like, and defining their own parameters for what was good and what was crap. It inspired thought and demanded examination.

 

But that brings me to now. Issue #13 of Batman Incorporated. What can I say, people? It's been a wild trot through the minefield.


In this denouement, we see the final clash between Talia and Batman. One is a born terrorist. One is a self-made crusader. Both of them are heads of powerful forces. And both of them have lost their only son. Talia has (in a way) had her revenge by beheading the Heretic, her elite soldier who killed Damian. Leviathan is crippled. Batman Incorporated is demolished. It's just the two of them in a fight to the death.

 

I will be honest. I love Morrison's writing but this issue, especially as a final issue of a seven-year buildup, fell a little flat. Which is not to say I didn't approve of Chris Burnham's artwork. I'm not a fan of his style, but I cannot deny the man has immense talent and skill. Morrison has done as well as any one man can at drawing all threads of the story together, but it's still not perfect. There's a feel of deus ex machina, and a mite of exhaustion, as Talia's deadly struggle with Bruce ends by the bullets of a third party's gun. The wrap-up feels appropriate, but not excellent, and the plot still leaves questions unanswered. Perhaps, we can hope, that was intentional.


Morrison's Batman Epic comes crashing down at the end with Bruce Wayne abandoned and lost, battered to the utmost point and heartbroken. His son is dead. His adopted sons have gone their ways; one has betrayed him. He is left to face the fact that there are forces too great, too inscrutable and too widespread for him to face alone. His shining Camelot of Batman Inc. has been defeated and destroyed. And his friendship with Gotham PD, as it seems, has come to an end. He is back where he started. He is angry, he is alone, he is outgunned.
 


But none of this matters of course. Because he's Batman.

Our Score:

7/10

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