BATMAN, INCORPORATED #13

Review by: theWAC1

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Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Chris Burnham
Cover by Chris Burnham

Size: 0 pages
Price: 2.99

This was excellent and I have no idea how anyone could be let down by this. Forget the last couple uber-violent riot issues and listen to Morrison sign his name at the end of his Batman Opus. In this issue we get the Oroboro ending I hoped was coming. We once again return to the ideas of Identity that characterized much of his earlier run. The antithesis that is Leviathan is shown on the table like 4 kings only to be trumped. This was awesome.

I enjoyed every moment of uneasy dialogue between Bruce and Jim and the insights into the last 7 years of Batman’s life and told through the lens of Bruce Wayne. Full circle. Rebirth. Brilliant. The hole inside subject put the entire run in perspective (especially Dr. Hurt) and was a great showing of the inner battle that Bruce has fought since those shots were fired. This second volume if Batman Inc is Bruce’s worst nightmare come true, a nightmare he feels he prevents by being Batman. The compare and contrast and use of children all of a sudden becomes clear.
This drove home the motifs of this run unlike anything Ive seen maybe ever.

The rest of the book was great too (maybe a touch rushed in the cave) but it all worked great. Even the ending was perfect in that it drove home the themes and still left the door open.

The visual storytelling in this issue wss exquisite. Panel and page layouts were well thought-out. The comparisons were great. I really liked how Bruce looked and the acting was spot on. I cant remember the last time Chris Burnham looked this good (issue 2 maybe?). Fairburn killed it on colors! Great work all around.

This issue feels like cornerstone of the run (Oroboro style) and was executed masterfully. I cannot wait to reread this run with the insights that were given. There will always be a Batman. A great ending to a great run.

Story: 5 - Excellent
Art: 5 - Excellent
 

Comments

  1. Avatar photo markavo says:
    August 5, 2013 at 4:37 am

    First of all, great review.

    Now, onto my gripes. I got all of what you point out was in Morrison’s story. I got the visual themes. I got the literary ones. I did enjoy the dialogue between Jim and Bruce. I still don’t think that, just because they nailed the themes, it makes a great story. The pureness of story and dialogue gets lost in the need to push through metaphors and leaves a convoluted mess. I may have enjoyed it if it was another 10 pages in length, but as is I think it’s just too messy to be great.

    Like I said in my review, I get the brilliance, I just don’t care. Shouldn’t the story have made me want to?

    • Avatar photo theWAC1 says:
      August 7, 2013 at 1:34 am

      I enjoyed your review too. I’m also sorry that you didnt care about the story here. I too have been let down by endings (if much shorter stories have you) and it is a sucky feeling. I happened to love the story here and thought all the themes were handled very well within the context of the larger story and this issue in particular. Another 10 pages would have been great, but as it was I smiled the entire time. The story in this issue was the story of Bruce Wayne/ Batman/ Gotham it was just being told through the lens of the Talia flashback. A flashback that started a few issues back with Bruce in the rain.

      I saw you gave the story a 4 but it sounds like you didnt like it and Im not sure what you mean by the dialog suffers. This was one of the most “wow, what a great exploration into the psyche and story of Batman” issues I have ever read and the whole thing felt like an epiphany. This was the most Ive cared about Bruce in a long time and was thrilled about the “awakening” this journey brought him to. The kiss thing was great (no matter what the struggle does to him he will always love it) it was a good fight with high stakes, and then it does get rushed a little with a touch of wtf, but it still was very satisfying in that it went back to the first volume. The Jim and Bruce conversation alone made this issue a 5 for me. This was actually one of the easiest to read issues of the series. At least we both agree it was brilliant 🙂

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