BATMAN INCORPORATED has been an interesting ride for Bat-fans, that has seemed, to me at least, far less polarizing a piece of work than much of Morrison’s previous time with The Dark Knight. This series has had its share of scheduling problems which can definitely impact the enjoyment of it, but overall I think it’s been an enjoyable ride that showcases what Morrison does best: take the character we know and push his boundaries a bit.
Issues 9 and 10 of this “first season” of BATMAN INCORPORATED were supposed to ship earlier this summer. When each issue kept getting delayed, they were both eventually cancelled when DC announced that the material making up those two issues would be collected together to be sold as a big one-shot subtitled LEVIATHAN STRIKES. Interestingly, this one-shot is, as far as I know, the “last gasp” of the previous DC Universe: Batman appears in his post-RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE costume, Stephanie Brown is still Batgirl, Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne are still the primary Batman and Robin team, and Barbara Gordon is still paralyzed.
The first half of this issue is an awesome story of Stephanie Brown’s last ride as Batgirl in a boarding school infiltrated by Leviathan, indoctrinating its students in the process. While I love having Barbara back as Batgirl, this issue did make me mourn a little bit for losing Stephanie in the role. Her perspective feels fresh, and her ability feels pitch perfect here. There are also some very strong and simply bad ass moments from Batman himself that could only come from Grant Morrison’s deft abilities of misdirection and unexpected delivery.
Cameron Stewart provides the art chores for the first part, and his clean lines and emotionally rich expressions make this first part truly shine. I think the first part alone is worth the price of admission, as its fun, smart, dangerous, and still foreboding for what’s to come from Leviathan.
The second half of this issue is where the events of the last year’s worth of stories, stretching back to the awesome one-shot BATMAN: THE RETURN, begin to coalesce. The machinations of Leviathan are revealed in full, and the veil is lifted off of the main benefactor of the organization. The disturbing origins of Professor Pyg are also brought to light, and for the first time, Leviathan feels like a large threat that even the far reaching Batman Incorporated may not be able to handle. Some of the details, though, suffer from a lack of clarity. Normally I don’t get this impression from Mr. Morrison’s work, but I think this is the main point of contention I have with the shipping schedule. The lateness dampened my overall familiarity with the story, so my enjoyment of the last shot before 2012’s next chapter was softened.
The actual revelation surrounding the identity of Leviathan will also take some time to sink in. I figured that it might be someone we’ve seen before, but in order for it to truly make sense to me I think a re-read of R.I.P. is warranted.
Chris Burnham turns in some truly awesome artwork for the second half of the issue. The best approximation I can make of his work is a slightly harder edged version of Frank Quitely, but his lines are unique enough to be fully separated from Quitely. Although, for my money, that’s not bad company to be in by any stretch.
While I think the first half slightly outdoes the second, it still makes this a necessary stop on this crazy six-year ride we’ve been on the Batman train with Grant Morrison serving as the conductor. While a lack of scheduling problems would’ve been nice for this series, overall I was pretty satisfied with this leg of the story and anxiously await what’s next. If you’ve kept up with Morrison's Batman story, LEVIATHAN STRIKES is a must-read.
We’ll see what’s on deck for 2012 with Batman versus Leviathan in the new DC Universe, and with a team Like Morrison and Burnham, it should be, as always, one hell of a ride
