Batman Incorporated #13 Review

As Grant Morrison’s seven year Batman story nears its conclusion, Batman unleashes holly hell on Damian’s murderers in this action packed, fist-pounding  penultimate issue.

Here’s the official description from DC:

Leviathan and the Heretic are on the ropes…could Batman be on the verge of avenging all he’s lost?

I wasn’t crazy about last month’s filler issue, which sort of killed the momentum of the comic at the worst possible time. Luckily, Morrison returns this month as the epic final clash between Batman and Leviathan begins.  In this issue, Bruce takes on Heretic, Talia will have to wait until next issue, which luckily will be released in two short weeks. Most of the comic is an extended fight scene over the streets of Gotham, though there is a truly creepy scene where Heretic’s true face is revealed. Basically, this issue is pure action, which is not a bad thing.

I’ve felt over the duration of the series that Batman Incorporated is one of the best action comics of the last few years. Morrison’s sense of pacing has often been all over the place, especially in Final Crisis, but in Batman Incorporated he manages to keep a rapid-fire pace to his fight scenes, which makes them extremely enjoyable and readable.

Of course, Chris Burnham deserves a lot of the credit for the success of the choreography of the action scenes. Like many fans, it took me a little while to warm up to Burnham, who I initially labeled a faster working poor man’s Frank Quietly, which isn’t fair to Burnham. He’s really come into his own on this series. I wish he would have been working with Morrison from the begging. I think that would have given the series a consistency which it sorely lacks, which is not to say that I don’t love this series. Morrison’s Batman run is one of the best comic runs over the last twenty years, but it’s been uneven at times.

Overall, this issue gives fans everything they want and ends with Talia Al Ghul, the mother of Damien, in the batcave set to do battle to the death with the Caped Crusader. And you thought your family was screwed up. I need to read this now. Two weeks can’t come fast enough.

 4/5