Batman Incorporated is over - or at least the organisation is. Were 3 issues away from the finale in July but issue #10, Gothams Most Wanted, sees Batman Inc. in ruins with Batman no longer welcome in Gotham and being actively pursued by the GCPD. Meanwhile, Talia prepares for the final showdown with a righteously furious Dark Knight, and Nightwing, Red Robin, Ranger and Knight search for Wingman whos being held captive by unknown forces. And Bruce? Bruce decides to take an all-or-nothing approach in his all-out assault on Leviathan - and it is EPIC. DCs WTF covers have been utterly nonsensical and pointless for the most part but the one Chris Burnham did for this issue actually ties into what happens in the comic - a feat unto itself! The tag is He will become a creature of the night... he shall become a BAT! so its no surprise to see Kurt Langstrom pop up in this issue with Batman taking a certain serum from him. Yeah - Batmans going to literally become a bat, man. He also visits Lucius for a piece of tech that looks amazing and scary and, combined with the manbat serum? Just amazing, visually. The last page of this issue is a stunner. Michael Lane aka Azrael also makes his New 52 debut as Batman continues his journey of collecting all manner of equipment for his showdown with Leviathan. The art in this sequence by Burnham is especially good, with the detail on the walls of Azraels chapel being very impressive. But Burnhams art in this issue is, like its been throughout this series, an utter joy to behold. Theres a page which shows Batman escaping from the GCPD, diving toward the ground from the higher floors of a skyscraper, bullets headed toward the reader, thats an incredible visual effect. It looks 3D even though its not a 3D comic - that's how talented Burnham is. Then the next panel showing Batman silhouetted swinging between buildings at night with spotlights cutting the sky like giant swords - just amazing. Jason Masters and Andrei Bressan also supply art which is very good but Id have loved it more if Burnham had been able to do all of the pages. Grant Morrisons writing is as great as ever. I like that he keeps Talia very much in the picture when itd be easy to have Batman steal focus throughout the issue. She is the villain whom Batman must defeat and Morrison lets us know what shes doing in the meantime, reminding us just how deadly she is while giving us a great scene between her and her dad, the irascible Ras Al-Ghul. And then the last couple of pages...wow.
Morrison and Burnham are two artists at the very top of their game. They are giving Batman what is unquestionably one of the best story arcs he has ever had and, given the characters 70+ year history, thats saying something. Batman Incorporated has been extraordinary in every issue but since Damians death things have felt more urgent, like Morrison and Burnham found another gear and kicked it up to the next level. If youre a Batman fan and not reading this, buy all of the back issues and jump on board immediately - this is the Batman series to be reading right now and one hell of an exit for Morrison after his 7 year run on the title. 3 more issues of insanely genius comics left - I cant wait!
Batman Incorporated #10 by Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham, Jason Masters and Andrei Bressan is out now at your local comics shop and online at Comixology and DC Comics App