With the launch of the New 52 in September 2011, DC Comics was changed forever. Even the company’s longest running titles, Action Comics and Detective Comics, both came to an end as DC launched and relaunched the titles from the first issue in a new multiverse. All the writers were effectively forced to follow an editorial to reinforce the New 52’s introduction. It ended up becoming confusing since some pre-New 52 tales did occur, but others did not. Grant Morrison was one of those writers who basically told the editors of DC Comics to shove the New 52 where the sun doesn’t shine. Batman Incorporated (vol 2) is, without any doubt, just a continuation of the story-arch that began in the first run. In essence, just forget that this is anything to do with the New 52, alright? It will just make things easier. Regardless, this is where Morrison’s run comes to a head as the Leviathan drama takes a far more epic route and concludes in this penultimate story and the follow-up. Warning, there will be blood. And a cow too…
Batman Incorporated (vol 2) 1-5, including 0, was published from July 2012 to February 2013. The stories were written by Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham, with
the latter providing much of the art, along with Frazer Irving. I’ve read these issues in the Batman: Demon Star hardcover edition.
PRELUDE – Brand Building
Like every other title that launched during the New 52’s rather short lifespan, Batman Incorporated’s second run was gifted with a zero issue. Essentially, it only existed to sell more books and to extend the New 52’s life by an extra month. In keeping with the trend, I suppose, Morrison opts for a prelude that sets the scene. In essence, Batman Incorporated (vol 2) 0 retells the story of how Batman Incorporated was set up. With references to Batman: The Black Glove storyline which re-debuted the Club of Heroes after decades of living in the ether, Morrison and Chris Burnham show how that story was crucial in changing Batman’s perception of his work and his new belief that he needs to go international. Throughout, he recruits heroes such as El Gaucho, Dark Ranger, and the Batman of Japan. Aside from that, there really isn’t much else to say. It does feel very much like an obligation rather than a story. You can tell that DC somewhat forced this upon Morrison and while he doesn’t produce anything terrible or at all bad, Batman Incorporated (vol 2) 0 is a very subsidiary insert in Morrison’s lengthy run on the Batman titles. You could probably give it a miss.
With that pointless prelude out of the way, we can proceed to the meat of the run, literally! After Morrison introduces us to his final story on his lengthy Batman run by displaying an event from the near-future (Bruce Wayne under arrest), we’re back in the present as Batman and Robin enter a bloody slaughterhouse as some goat-masked crooks butcher contaminated cows. These villains are the Mutants, that group of nasty and deformed villains from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. It’s a pretty eye-opening starter as the scene is just caked in blood and guts. However, the Bat-family is given a new and excellent member: Bat-Cow! Yep, it’s literally a cow with a demon star scarred into its side. However, this is all a plan so Leviathan can assassinate Robin. This, of course, fails as Goatboy the assassin isn’t up to the task. No, I’m not making this up. And it also turns out that Leviathan are using the meat to poison the gangsters of Gotham, taking their territories in the city with the help of their Man-Bat army. Back with Batman and Robin, they head after the Lone Star Brand truck which features the same symbol as the star found on the cow. All goes well as the two heroes take out the drivers, before they’re shocked as a Man-Bat drops a body from the sky. Just another normal day in Gotham. This pacing of the introductory story is incredible; it feels like it never stops. This can be good, but the problem I’ve found when reading this is that it almost feels like too much happens at once. The story can have an impressive start, but I feel it would have been better for Morrison to introduce things slowly. Either way, things end up going wrong for the Dynamic Duo as while the members of Batman Incorporated hang around aimlessly in the secret base, Batman is shot by Goatboy just seconds before the villain shoots and seemingly murders Robin. It’s a brilliant cliff-hanger ending, and one which readers would have to wait months for a conclusion to.
INTERLUDE – Eye of the Gorgon
Batman Incorporated (vol 2) 2, named the Eye of the Gorgon, is a flashback. A young Ra’s Al Ghul meets a woman at a rock festival (not the ground you’d expect Al Ghul to situate himself) and the two fall in love. The woman gives birth to Talia. From there, much of the story touches upon the already-well chronicled relationship she has with her father and how she grew up spoilt but ended up wanting more. We all know the story that follows, with Batman, the birth of Damian, and how she is cloning her son behind the scenes. This is the only scene which really matters, since it plays into the whole conclusion of the Leviathan story. As for the present, she has taken over the Al Ghul legacy and as she holds her father hostage, she heads out with the Gorgon’s mask to take out Batman. This brief intermission is, like issue 0, a sidebar. However. I think
it’s good in the sense that it covers a very important story for Morrison’s run. Although many of the facts are already known, it serves more of a purpose than issue 0. This really should have been issue 0. It sets up the Leviathan story, something which really should have happened earlier, but better late than never.
With Batman Incorporated (vol 2) 3, Leviathan begins its plan to take over the world as operatives of the cause enter cities and towns to brainwash the people. Meanwhile, in downtown Gotham with its gang-filled clubs, Matches Malone attempts to get into contact with Leviathan. It’s great that Morrison brings back that alter-ego character of Batman’s from long ago and what makes it even better is when Batman turns up. While Matches Malone is Bruce Wayne, Batman is actually Dick in disguise. It’s a nice touch that reminds me of when Batman and Dick both dressed as Batman to trick Hugo Strange. It adds some much-needed humour back into the Dark Knight’s stories. Anyway, with Matches Malone getting himself involved in the underworld, he heads back to the cave as Bruce. It turns out that Damian is alive and well, having to fake his own death to get Leviathan off his back. Makes sense. However, Robin is grounded, with Alfred looking after him while he washes Bat-Cow. Annoyed, Damian can only wait around while Matches mingles with singer Lumina Lux in an attempt to get closer to Leviathan. Matches’s hunch proves correct, but Lux tricks him into following her and he is captured by the villains and Goatboy. Now, this is where the real hero of the story materialises. Cunningly, Damian knocks out Alfred and dons a new alter ego, Redbird. It’s basically just a darker more mysterious version of Robin, but it makes for a great cover for Batman Incorporated (vol 2) 4, a re-creation of that famous pin-up of Batman and Robin on the rooftops by Carmine Infantino in the 1960s. While the Leviathan, the strange leader of the cult he’s named after, boasts the growing success of his plan, Matches is nearly suffocated to death by Goatboy. However, Batman craftily causes a fire using, ironically, a matchstick. The house catches alight and as members of Batman Incorporated storm the manor, it gives Matches time to escape and prepare to take on thirty-Leviathan trained assassins, such as Merlyn who last appeared in Morrison’s run during the Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul story. To accompany that, thanks to Batwing’s help, the heroes take out Talia’s army of Man-Bats using sound technology. And oh yeah, Jason Todd turns up. It’s not really focused on the way that it should have been, but Jason Todd disguises himself as Wingman throughout the story. Why, instead of Red Hood? Well, because Batman didn’t want Damian knowing that Jason was present because the whole team have come to the conclusion that Talia’s plan about the Armageddon revolves around Damian and therefore, he must return to his mother. This is a good twist and all, but it still doesn’t make sense why Red Hood pretends to be another hero when Damian wasn’t meant to turn up anyway. And besides, when was Batman going to tell him anyway? Was he just going to wait? It’s just an inconsistency which doesn’t make sense, which is a shame since the story finally feels like it’s going somewhere. After the sluggish first run, the second run is going somewhere and that’s brilliant. But now, remember Batman 666? It certainly stuck out in the first phase of Morrison’s run, particularly as it featured a Dark Knight obsessed with brutality and vengeance. It was so good an Elseworlds idea that Batman 700 re-used the idea, and now with Batman Incorporated (vol 2) 5, we’re here again. While Damian, in the present, mopes over his destiny, that future is shown to us as his Batman is met with a burning post-apocalyptic Gotham.
You see, in this future, a Joker virus has poisoned the city and Batman is left transporting the only immune baby left in Gotham. However, this is where the premise of the story’s drama comes from. It appears that Arkham Asylum is the last safe area in the city, but that proves not to be the case as the baby is actually a carrier. Much of the story focuses on the backstory for Damian’s Batman and how he sold his soul to the devil, Simon Hurt, after the death of his father. The selling of his soul was designed to keep Gotham safe, but it did anything but as the virus has now fully entrapped the city, a poisoned Barbara Gordon has killed the child, and the US government ultimately decides to nuke Gotham to the ground. So, a happy story all around? The big revelation is that this is in fact not Damian’s vision of the future, but Bruce’s dream. He fears that Talia’s manipulations will transform Damian into a killer Batman. It’s a twist for the story which I didn’t see coming and it creates a strange warm feeling for the story. It shows Bruce to be a far softer character than previously seen, the same with Damian as well. It does feel like a break in the main story, but it’s a very good and important one with few flaws. It makes for a nice ending to the first half, with Batman Incorporated (vol 2) 6 continues the story darkly as things prepare for the end. Unlike the first run, Batman Incorporated (vol 2) has much better pacing. Often, it can be a problem as Morrison does overwhelm the story with characters and information, but that’s far better than a slow and dreary one. The whole drama with Damian enters new territory here and it’s about time. Both he and Batman didn’t seem to get on at all in the early stories, especially for a father and son. However, Morrison’s far more personal writing does wonders for the relationship, and it feels incredibly powerful. Also, for a story which is very dark even for Morrison’s standards, there is some great humour here which helps lighten the mood and overall, it makes the run more balanced and overall enjoyable.
As for the art, Burnham and Irving both work surprisingly well despite their two very different styles of art. Annoyingly, Frazer Irving’s minimalistic yet oddly attractive art makes issue 0 stand out when it really shouldn’t. As Irving’s method of art isn’t conventional for comic books, it stands out like a sore thumb and, in previous cases, gives a story a particular image. It happens with most stories we draw as its very colour based. As for Burnham, his style is far more in-keeping with comics, but it doesn’t appear boring. It reminds me quite a bit of Frank Quitely with the thin appearance he gives to characters throughout. Other than that, they both tell Morrison’s stories well with their own styles and there’s nothing else really to add.
VERDICT
Overall, Batman: Demon Star is a strong first-half for Morrison’s Batman Incorporated (vol 2) run. The pacing is far better with the second run and while the zero issue may have been thrust upon Morrison and there’s not much going for it, the rest of the stories are great. The interlude with Talia provides some good background while the main story contains promise for an interesting conclusion. We can only hope that the final issues can, and will, deliver...,
Stories: 7.5/10
Art: 7.5/10
Next Week: Batman: Gotham’s Most Wanted (Batman Incorporated (vol 2) 6-13, Special 1). Written by Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham with art by Chris Burnham, Andrew Guinaldo, Javier Bergatino, Jason Masters, Andrei Bressan, and Jorge Lucas.
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