BATMAN, INCORPORATED #5

Review by: TheNextChampion

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Avg Rating: 4.4
 
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Story by Grant Morrison
Art by Chris Burnham
Colors by Nathan Fairbairn
Letters by Dave Sharpe
Cover by Chris Burnham, Nathan Fairbairn, & Frazer Irving

Size: 32 pages
Price: 2.99

I don’t think there is an award for ‘Bleakest Comic’ but if there was then Batman Incorporated #5 would definitely win it this year. Good lord, this was a brutal issue! It has been a while since I’ve read ‘Batman #666’ so forgive me if I don’t remember everything about the future of Damian being Batman. I DO remember that future being bleak and a bit dystopian but I don’t recall it being this horrible.

Whenever Grant Morrison decides to make his issue depressing or brutal he does not let up. From the moment we see the future it is kinda uncomfortable to read to be honest. We got Gotham in flames, people turning into Joker zombies (or more like 28 Days Later zombies), people living in Arkham Asylum, and at one point a fucking baby dies. I’m not saying what’s here isn’t good because Morrison diverges into an interesting filler issue. But yet it somehow brings the point home on why Damian can never be Batman. Because that’s what Talia wants and clearly no one wins if this future happens. But man…I kinda wished we got more of silly Batman this go around.

If there is one man that can handle a brutal landscape, Chris Burnham is probably the first choice. Well it would actually be Frank Quitely but at this point Burnham is ‘Quitely-lite’ in his career. Burnham seems to be inking himself to become Quitely because there are quite a few panels where I did a double take thinking Quitely came back to the Batman Universe. That’s how incredible Burnham is now a days. You get such amazing detail into each panel. He’a able to give into his violent tendencies ala ‘Officer Downe’ this go around and it makes the issue a bit more entertaining then it ought to be. It will never get old seeing him draw a big dude kick the shit out of people or seeing a random thug lose his teeth in the process. He manages the carnage pretty well and unlike Quitely, it didn’t take him endless months to finish (only a few months!).

As bleak and depressing this issue is, and as much of a filler in retrospect, this was a great examination on why Damian could never be Batman. Morrison does not let up on the violence and it can be an uncomfortable issue to read at points. The only way this issue doesn’t make me wanna reevaluate my life is the gorgeous pencils by Chris Burnham. No matter how bleak Morrison can be, Burnham can bring some sort of sadistic beauty with his pencils in each issue.

Story: 4 - Very Good
Art: 5 - Excellent

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