What the fuck did I just read?
Seriously, with this internet 3.0 shit again?
The only other issue of Morrison’s ginormous Batman run thus far that I’ve felt this way about was Vol.1 #8, which also felt the need to try and make “internet 3.0” a cool thing. Well, this story is better than the last… but how much and does it really matter if it is just a polished turd? Read on and find out in the full Batman Incorporated #11 review!
(UPDATE: I feel like an idiot – but just now, on my second read-through, I realized Grant Morrison didn’t write this issue! I cannot believe I didn’t realize this before writing the review here. Everything I said still stands as far as the quality of the issue goes, but good god, Burnham – what the fuck is going on at DC?)
This will not take long.
Morrison sure has some balls. We left the last issues with a man-bat infused Batman speeding towards the final confrontation with Talia and… well we don’t see any of that at all this issue. We’re instead presented with an “interlude”.
Why? I have no earthly idea, hopefully Morrison has a clever way to tie all this internet 3.0 wackiness into the plot in some meaningful way, but coming this late in the run I’m not really hopeful.
Quit trying to make Internet 3.0 happen. Please. Just stop.
This is a wacky story about Batman of Japan fighting deformed super soldiers and a woman with robot tiger heads for hands trying to win back Leviathan’s affections. Yep, it is as ridiculous as it sounds.
While I’m all for ridiculousness it just feels kind of pointless here. It’s all wacky silver age stuff, shrink rays and laser tiger heads, etc. but to break the flow of the main story line’s hurtling plot at this point is a damn dirty trick. Everything that we’ve been wrapped up in comes to a screeching halt and instead we get a one and done that feels really unfulfilling, pointless and hokey. It comes off as something that Morrison never got around to publishing as a Future Shock when he was in his twenties or something.
Perhaps I’m missing something here but the usual Morrison joy ride of bombast left me feeling annoyed and nothing more. I don’t care about these cyber ninja chicks or ‘Lady Tiger Fist’ in the slightest.
Yes, her name really is Lady Tiger Fist… goddamn you, Morrison. Goddamn you.
The story is quick and moves at a punchy clip, yet I still feel burdened with having to slough my way through all the pages. The spark is not there and without it I finally understand what people must usually feel like when they complain about these little quirks in Morrison’s work. For the first time it didn’t work for me.
Yeah, that last panel? THAT is what I want to see more of.
Perhaps it is due to the intensity that has been ratcheted up throughout the run, but to be unceremoniously pulled away from the main plot is quite possibly coloring my entire opinion on this issue in a most negative light. To bring all the boiling momentum to such an abrupt dead stop as this juncture is tantamount to a ‘writing cardinal sin’ for me… .. but once it’s all over and I re-read the entirety of the Morrison run again, we’ll see if I feel any different. For now though, this is a disappointment, and deserves a finish such as this:
Final Score Two out of Five
Ugh… I wish I hadn’t had to.
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Matches–
I have a theory on why this abomination happened..
I bet you were ecstatic like me when it was announced that Morrison was going to end Batman Inc. at issue 13 rather than 12. I thought.. oh boy, he’ll need all the room he can get and oh boy, we’ll get a giant sized finale!
Firstly, now we have been cheated out of an issue it seems. Or at the very least we were given false hope.
Second, me and my LCS guy friend speculated that this was a sales probe by DC. They probably said… hey, in the words of Dan Didio, let’s see if “we can milk this thing for all its worth”. So essentialy, I think they released this issue to see if it would have the same numbers as Batman Incs prev. sales count. To see if they could keep this series going for purely financial reasons. It was a probe plain and simple, a ploy. And they jokes on them because of course the sales won’t be dramatically different, no one knew that we were gonna get corporate style fucked this month.
Finally, I feel bad for Grant. They have fucked him over. The new 52 rippled his story and pushed him into the corner. Scott Snyder was given the crown and DC couldn’t have cared less about morrison. about the story. about the batman. Now, they are just gonna have morrison wrap up a 7 year arc in 2 issues. no double size or anything. i can’t see morrison wrapping this winding epic with the attention and *love* it deserves.
And then, they follow his departure with a one shot, again another probe to see if they can just make money. Feautring a Dan DiDio story about Bat -Cow. These assholes. Morrison deserved better from a company he helped build into a strong and interesting place before they decided, ‘hey fuck it, lets do a semi-erect reboot and try fucking with everyone’ (and as we all know… ya cant do the job unless you’re 100% there)
I took one look at the cover, saw no mention of Grant Morrison, and closed the file. Sorry, I loves me some Batman, but this wasn’t Batman and it was Morrison. And the art was not good (imo.) 3 strikes and you’re out.
I’ve been enjoying Morrison’s run thru Batman, Batman & Robin, and Batman Incorporated. I’m so glad I read this and other reviews before purchasing it. It sounds like something that was cannibalized from the planned Batman Incorporated special to make a fill-in issue just so DC didn’t have a late title. I wouldn’t have minded waiting on the conclusion of Morrison’s story if that was what’s needed to give it the finish it deserves.
Yeah, I’m right there with you… And it’s a damn shame too because Burnham is a really genuinely cool guy and I like the idea of supporting his career… This issue is just so mediocre and poorly placed within the larger context of the series, so he’s playing a losing game here.
It’s confusing because the DC website lists Morrision as the writer.
Yeah, it’s really odd. I don’t remember hearing about Burnham writing an issue at all, I just took it for granted that it was a Morrison story, completely glossed over the credits and just read the issue without a second glance. It’s funny to look back over the review now though, knowing that it wasn’t Morrison; it showcases how it is a unique style that only he seems to be able to pull off. When people try to write like Morrison it just comes off as hokey crap. Weird.
It really seemed like they shoe-horned that story in right before the epic climax years in the making. That totally pissed me off. Which is a shame because I like Jiro and the Young Super-team; I just don’t want to be hoodwinked into reading about them. Also, I am kind of worried about the ending. Morrison always had problems closing a story.
I regret spending the money for it…
It looks like Chris Burnham wrote the thing. Maybe Morrision lost a bet or something…
Ha!
EDIT:
Holy shit, I just realized what you were saying. Burnham literally did write this issue – I just noticed as I was re-reading… sorry for the confusion!