Batman Incorporated was always a weird comic series for me. It’s clear Grant Morrison has a maxi-story in mind. The series began a bit before DC Comics’ shake-up and after a break returned. The series continued the story, from what I remember, and to me never quite fit in DC’s New 52. Was it part of continuity? Was it not in continuity? I never knew, and as a whole, I’m not a huge Morrison fan, so I stopped reading the series after a few issues.

The first volume has Batman and Robin facing off against and assassin calling himself Goatboy while in the background Leviathan develops their mission. There’s a hit out on Damian too, hence that whole Goatboy thing.

While the story is interesting, but the tone is a bit comedic to me. It never quite clicks. that has nothing to with Morrion’s ability, it’s more my tastes. There’s some great moments, but I feel like you need to enjoy a certain type of Batman story to dig it. Add on top of that the later tragic events, and the comedic tone is an odd choice to me.

We also get glimpses at the concept of Batman Incorporated with some of the volume dedicated to setting up its worldwide franchises. That though is a bit short in the story. If the focus is the idea of a global network of Batmen, the focus should be on that network, it’s still mostly on Batman and Robin here.

The story does put Talia Al-Ghul in the spotlight though. Fleshing her out in a way that makes her really feel like a threat and worthy successor  to her father’s empire.

The art isn’t bad but, the style isn’t my personal taste and that is where I am with this first volume. It’s a lot of set up and a lot I like, but at the same time, it doesn’t quite click for me.

This collects Batman, Incorporated #0-6.

Story: Grant Morrison Art: Chris Burnham and Frazer Irving
Story: 6.75 Art: 7 Overall: 6.75 Recommendation: Read

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review