Batman Incorporated: Gotham's Most Wanted
Grant Morrison ends his controversial run on Batman. (Or does he really?) Batman takes on Talia face to face while we get yet another tragedy in the life of Bruce Wayne.
D.C. did a bad job of revealing the fate of Damian, even if it was clearly coming. Even the cover gives it away, but I guess they had to sell comics. His death may have been a big deal, but it didn't have to be so brutal for a character that had become so loved.
The scale of all this doesn't quite seem big enough. The conclusion seems quite compressed or rushed. It does work better when read immediately after Demon Star though. The fact that Batman vowed revenge for Damian and promised to take Talia head on in a fight to the death was clearly one he would lose as he won't kill, which seems a writer's block resolution moment. Not to mention that Talia keeps wearing her Leviathan skull mask for no reason. In the end we're left with how little nostalgia and resolution we're given to deal with the end of all this. So much has happened and as a reader we're given so little reward.
It feels like the Joker needed one last say, and Bruce Wayne should have experienced something or reminisced about how screwed up everything has been since Batman & Son. The hole in things is explained as nothing. Damian's evil clone is portrayed as if he needs sympathy because he was built only as a selfish killing machine, but this tragic figure just doesn't have enough character for us to care about. The subtle build of the mysterious Spyral organisation turns out to be subtly uninteresting and the idea of Kathy Kane, the original Batwoman, to have the spotlight on the defeat of Talia was uninspiring and abrupt. Even the choice to reintroduce Jason Todd back into teh bat family seems like page filler. Even for all the good it has, I think it's saying something that you'll probably only read it because you know it will end, and even then we're left with a cliffhanger that's most likely only there for the awesomeness of it and will most likely never be resolved because of the stupidity of it. Though we should have seen it coming.
Bat fans deserved more from this after so much devotion to something that pushed aside Tim Drake and gave a chance for something to triumph without it's major villains at the centre of it all. In the end, it was all about Damian Wayne and his choice to fight crime with his father out of love instead of loyalty to become the next in line to the Al Ghul empire. His death needed more impact, which should have especially been felt by Dick Grayson, who became closest to Damian. There relationship is summed up in a touching moment spoken by Damian to Grayson: "You've been my favourite partner. We were the best, no matter what anyone says." The most powerful moments is when Damian expresses himself without the hardness, in his own special way. We'll miss you Damian, as it seems like bringing you back from the dead will just be D.C. exploiting a character beyond their peak.
The rest of the trade is 2 more issues exploring the members of Batman Incorporated continuing Batman's war on crime. Including Bat-Cow. Silly but short and cool. Sadly, in the end, I believe what hasn't been said yet of any criticsm of Grant Morrison's work, it feels more like an overconfident writer trying put his legacy on the greatest comic of all time, rather than trying to make the fans happy.
RATING:
Batman Story - 8/10
Continuity - 10/10
Art - 8/10
Epicness - 7/10
OVERALL - 8.2/10
D.C. did a bad job of revealing the fate of Damian, even if it was clearly coming. Even the cover gives it away, but I guess they had to sell comics. His death may have been a big deal, but it didn't have to be so brutal for a character that had become so loved.
The scale of all this doesn't quite seem big enough. The conclusion seems quite compressed or rushed. It does work better when read immediately after Demon Star though. The fact that Batman vowed revenge for Damian and promised to take Talia head on in a fight to the death was clearly one he would lose as he won't kill, which seems a writer's block resolution moment. Not to mention that Talia keeps wearing her Leviathan skull mask for no reason. In the end we're left with how little nostalgia and resolution we're given to deal with the end of all this. So much has happened and as a reader we're given so little reward.
It feels like the Joker needed one last say, and Bruce Wayne should have experienced something or reminisced about how screwed up everything has been since Batman & Son. The hole in things is explained as nothing. Damian's evil clone is portrayed as if he needs sympathy because he was built only as a selfish killing machine, but this tragic figure just doesn't have enough character for us to care about. The subtle build of the mysterious Spyral organisation turns out to be subtly uninteresting and the idea of Kathy Kane, the original Batwoman, to have the spotlight on the defeat of Talia was uninspiring and abrupt. Even the choice to reintroduce Jason Todd back into teh bat family seems like page filler. Even for all the good it has, I think it's saying something that you'll probably only read it because you know it will end, and even then we're left with a cliffhanger that's most likely only there for the awesomeness of it and will most likely never be resolved because of the stupidity of it. Though we should have seen it coming.
Bat fans deserved more from this after so much devotion to something that pushed aside Tim Drake and gave a chance for something to triumph without it's major villains at the centre of it all. In the end, it was all about Damian Wayne and his choice to fight crime with his father out of love instead of loyalty to become the next in line to the Al Ghul empire. His death needed more impact, which should have especially been felt by Dick Grayson, who became closest to Damian. There relationship is summed up in a touching moment spoken by Damian to Grayson: "You've been my favourite partner. We were the best, no matter what anyone says." The most powerful moments is when Damian expresses himself without the hardness, in his own special way. We'll miss you Damian, as it seems like bringing you back from the dead will just be D.C. exploiting a character beyond their peak.
The rest of the trade is 2 more issues exploring the members of Batman Incorporated continuing Batman's war on crime. Including Bat-Cow. Silly but short and cool. Sadly, in the end, I believe what hasn't been said yet of any criticsm of Grant Morrison's work, it feels more like an overconfident writer trying put his legacy on the greatest comic of all time, rather than trying to make the fans happy.
RATING:
Batman Story - 8/10
Continuity - 10/10
Art - 8/10
Epicness - 7/10
OVERALL - 8.2/10