It took a while but this series is finally becoming the big book DC hyped it up to be. What perfect timing! The book is only going on hiatus…..in a few months….Okay with that depressing fact aside, this seriously is a fantastic issue once again by Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham. Again why Burnham was never the first choice to begin with for this title astonishes me. I mean look at that cover! Absolutely gorgeous and amazing to see a buffalo run alongside Batman.

Obviously when people read this issue they are immediately going to think Morrison is doing his own take on ‘Scalped’. While the distinction is pretty obvious, I think Morrison is doing a lot more then just doing his own take in this particular setting. It feels like Morrison is doing his take on how, especially recently, random people across the globe are donning as superheroes and taking the law into their own hands. That was more of the story here then just showing how horrible Native American’s live now a days. I really got invested in the life of Man-O-Bats and his sidekick Red Raven even though we get a very limited view of them. But we don’t need a huge origin story for the two; all we have to know is that Man-O-Bats loves his town and will do anything to save his people. That’s all Morrison shows us and it really works with this limited view. The overall plot itself is fun to read and the threat of Leviathan really seems to be growing (especially in the ‘We’re totally not like Cobra’ front) Considering how crazy the next issue looks from the one panel preview, the overall threat of Leviathan is going to get worse.

God damn just how amazing is Chris Burnham? There are so many great panels in this issue it’s really hard to recount them all. There is also so much detail in each panel it’s amazing how Burnham can do an issue on time. I mean you can see individual wrinkles on both people’s clothing and on their skin which is just amazing. Burnham also doesn’t mince on the violence which can get quite brutal at times. The whole fight inside the cop car is really bloody and I’m surprised DC allowed so much blood to grace a page. Plus Nathan Fairbairn, the colorist, should get major props for how bright and colorful the book actually is. Burnham’s pencils are amazing but I don’t think it would look so vibrant if it wasn’t for his colors.

It took a while, but again this book is finally working on all cyclinders. The story has turned from a bizarre headtrip to an action packed, thrills a panel comic and it’s all for the better. This issue shows just how far someone will go to be a vigilante and trust me, this is more then just a ‘Scalped’ rip off. Hell, I found this to be more enjoyable then the entire series of Scalped. Add in some amazing, gorgeous art work by Chris Burnham and you have once again a perfect issue for Batman INC. I so cannot wait for the ‘Internet 3.0’ issue next month.