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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
3.5 stars
This was really good--for the most part. There were some great moments and some really big failures (I'm looking at you, last issue).
Further review to follow.
This was really good--for the most part. There were some great moments and some really big failures (I'm looking at you, last issue).
Further review to follow.
I always want to love Grant Morrison's work. He embraces the charming and awkward teenage years of comic books, resurrecting cheesy and embarrassing characters and imbuing them with a surprising amount of depth and humanity. Batman Inc. is a perfect playground for his imagination, because it allows him to use the delightful cast of alternate Batmen from the silver age of DC in a halfway plausible way.
Batman, Inc. is Bruce Wayne's quest to create a chain of Batman franchises all over the world, with a Batman-trained and approved hero protecting the people in every region. This includes Batwing, who later went on to star in his own spin-off, as well as El Gaucho of Argentina, Black Bat of Japan, and Nightrunner of France, among others. The later portion of the arc follows Batman's war against Leviathan, a shadowy organization with global reach.
The problem with having such a large cast is that few of the characters are actually explored in depth. Most of the international heroes are only given a page here and there, and some don't have a single line. This can work as a sort of team-building montage, but within the first few issues it seemed like a strange choice.
One of the few heroes that was given a full storyline in this first graphic novel was Man-of-Bats, the Lakota Batman of South Dakota. And granted, Morrison goes out of his way to make it respectful, and focuses the story partially on actual systemic problems that Native Americans face in modern America. But the whole issue comes out feeling like it's in poor taste.
While the whole premise is a bit dubious, I feel like I have to point out that Morrison is brilliant. I'm not being hyperbolic, either. I've heard enough interviews with the man to feel like he brings an incredible intellect to his work, and hearing him wax lyrical about Batman is surprisingly affecting (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=62tKawA57GU).
In this story, the mind-blowing Morrison moment comes at the end, when the disorienting and non-linear storyline comes into thematic clarity with a reveal about Leviathan's villain. But like the rest of the collection, a great idea felt rushed and poorly executed, which was a great shame.
So that's my love-hate relationship with Morrison's work. It's full of plot holes, confusing, embarrassing, and absolutely brilliant. If you like Batman or Morrison, I'd give it a go.
Batman, Inc. is Bruce Wayne's quest to create a chain of Batman franchises all over the world, with a Batman-trained and approved hero protecting the people in every region. This includes Batwing, who later went on to star in his own spin-off, as well as El Gaucho of Argentina, Black Bat of Japan, and Nightrunner of France, among others. The later portion of the arc follows Batman's war against Leviathan, a shadowy organization with global reach.
The problem with having such a large cast is that few of the characters are actually explored in depth. Most of the international heroes are only given a page here and there, and some don't have a single line. This can work as a sort of team-building montage, but within the first few issues it seemed like a strange choice.
One of the few heroes that was given a full storyline in this first graphic novel was Man-of-Bats, the Lakota Batman of South Dakota. And granted, Morrison goes out of his way to make it respectful, and focuses the story partially on actual systemic problems that Native Americans face in modern America. But the whole issue comes out feeling like it's in poor taste.
While the whole premise is a bit dubious, I feel like I have to point out that Morrison is brilliant. I'm not being hyperbolic, either. I've heard enough interviews with the man to feel like he brings an incredible intellect to his work, and hearing him wax lyrical about Batman is surprisingly affecting (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=62tKawA57GU).
In this story, the mind-blowing Morrison moment comes at the end, when the disorienting and non-linear storyline comes into thematic clarity with a reveal about Leviathan's villain. But like the rest of the collection, a great idea felt rushed and poorly executed, which was a great shame.
So that's my love-hate relationship with Morrison's work. It's full of plot holes, confusing, embarrassing, and absolutely brilliant. If you like Batman or Morrison, I'd give it a go.
pros: an exciting and often interesting read, with a dynamic set of characters and storylines that are intriguing and fun to read; the art style compliments Morrison's writing very well, with detailed expressions and colorful environments.
cons: incredibly confusing and hard to follow at times, with many plot elements rushed and leaves the reader perplexed; very anticlimactic by the end and wasn't very satisfying for me which is a shame because this starts out so well but ends up being a disappointment in the end.
overall: Batman Incorporated starts out as a exciting and engaging read but ultimately slogs through tedious and rushed pacing with incredibly convoluted plot choices, i did however enjoy my time with the book despite it's many flaws and would say it's a decent read by the end of it all.
65/100
cons: incredibly confusing and hard to follow at times, with many plot elements rushed and leaves the reader perplexed; very anticlimactic by the end and wasn't very satisfying for me which is a shame because this starts out so well but ends up being a disappointment in the end.
overall: Batman Incorporated starts out as a exciting and engaging read but ultimately slogs through tedious and rushed pacing with incredibly convoluted plot choices, i did however enjoy my time with the book despite it's many flaws and would say it's a decent read by the end of it all.
65/100
La idea de la red global de vigilantes para hacer frente a una amenaza ante la cual jamás podría derrotar solo, hacen al personaje -dar por fin- pasos adelante en su desarrollo. Si tomamos en cuenta que por años los continuos 'reset' no aseguran que esta historia vaya a quedar permanentemente dentro del mito, al menos brindan un poco de aire fresco -no por ello ligero- a un universo que se ha negado a avanzar por varios años. Por otra parte esa necesidad por releer, para atrapar detalle obviados, nos hablan necesariamente de una buena obra.
I love the concept, and I think this was pretty well done. There were some confusing bits, but I'm not sure if it was because the book itself was confusing or if it was because I haven't read any Batman comics that immediately precede this one, so I didn't have a sense of continuity or backstory.
I simply wasn't impressed with this volume. I have never followed the Batman story, yet, in preparation for this read, I did do some googling so I was up-to-date for the story. I was hoping for something somewhat compelling. I didn't find that at all.
The writing was hard to follow at times. The art was okay for most of it. The Nightmares in Numberland was both hard to look at and hard to follow the story. Issue #3 writing was hard to read and juvenile at times. I was expecting a little more out of DC, to be honest.
What saved this from a one star was that I really wasn't expecting the ending.
The writing was hard to follow at times. The art was okay for most of it. The Nightmares in Numberland was both hard to look at and hard to follow the story. Issue #3 writing was hard to read and juvenile at times. I was expecting a little more out of DC, to be honest.
What saved this from a one star was that I really wasn't expecting the ending.
Fun story based on Batman gaining recruits for his world-wide empire of 'safety.' Cameos from Batwoman and Catwoman.
I thought this was okay, but I think that some of the other Batmen could have been used more. In particular, considering all the contraversy that Nightrunner sparked, he was ultimately just a throwaway character, and I think he could have been used more.
i can't help but love grant morrison and his love for bat-history and the sense that he's making an R rated version of TV batman.
It's hard to believe it took a writer this long to think of the global story arc. It wasn't obvious to me before, but when it happened, it seemed that way. It seems like the most 21st Century move to have an international team of Batman designed to embrace the cultural aesthetic. Rad.