I finally read Batman, Incorporated (Bat, Inc) #1 and was impressed by the maturity, for lack of a better word, that Grant Morrison has now given Bruce Wayne. He seems more focused yet less obsessed. He has found (for now) an inner peace. It is still a bit shocking when you realize that Catwoman knows that Bruce is Batman. The familarity, the casualness and the physicality of their relationship takes some getting used to. They were that way Pre-Crisis, too until the Joker brainwashed her and made her evil, while convienently forgetting his secret identity. Hopefully something similar won't happen.
The just-introduced-then-melted Mister Unknown is a Japanese crimefighter, refreshingly non-solared powered like Sunburst, Rising Sun, Doctor Light II and Marvel's Sunfire. In fact, he looks like a cross between the Green Hornet and Kato!
The melter, Lord Death-Man, was inspired by one-shot Silver Age Bat-villain Death-Man from Batman #180 (My'66) who seemingly could drop dead then return. He actually grafted his costume on and resembled Lord Death-Man's henchmen. The new version is far deadlier.
Batman first encounters Catwoman while raiding a not-so-secret lab of Doctor Sivana (heh-heh!). Doesn't he have any mad scientists of his own?
Catwoman's alias, Elva Barr, is from Batman #15 (Ma'43) where she posed as a beautician. Here she's a cosmetics heiress, which anyone with a computer could check on. Lounging with Bruce, it's nice to know that she keeps the dominatrix boots on! This could quite easily become a Vertigo book!
Apparently Mr. Unknown had an apprentice, Jiro Osamu, who, if I know my comics, will succeed him as Dick Grayson did with Bruce.
And I share some of Selina's observations about Japanese manga and anime.
Great, if somewhat complex cliffhanger! Waiting for #2!
As for future Bat-recruits, how about Green Arrow? Hah! I kid the Emerald Archer! Though what about Connor Hawke? He still has his martial arts skill even if he lost his ability to shoot a bow. I would think Batman would be interested in guiding him to another identity that he could call his own!
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So far these are great adventure stories of the more evolved, rounded Bruce Wayne that RIP onwards left us with, focussing on Bruce's interractions with others. I'm loving it. Grant has said again and again that the Brave and the Bold cartoon is a huge influence on his post Return of BW stuff.
I know Death Man did appear in US comics before Lord Death Man appeared in the Japanese Manga, but Morrison insists that it's the Manga version that he wants to really draw attention to. Metatextually, his Batman stories are about how adaptable the character (and the property) are, so a citation of a Japanese Batman story is par for the course.
Interview with Morrison here.
Normally I'd warn against reading Morrison interviews, as he tends to give too much away too early, but this one is safe enough as it only covers the first two issues.
Batman Inc feels like the Brave and the Bold cartoon so far, in that its looking to have quite upbeat, self-contained adventures every issue or two, but I'm wondering what kind of 2-year mega-story it will pan out as. Note that Bruce is putting together an international 'League of Batmen' because of some threat he saw coming while hooked into the computer at the end of time in RoBW#6.
This is a refreshingly adult and human Batman, and I'm tempted to reccomend this series to people who have grown tired and disillusioned of how he's been behaving for the last few decades. (ClarkKent, for instance) But it's still early days yet.
I read #2 today and the quality of this book is impressive. Though Batman has lost the paranoia that has plagued for the last twenty years, he still has the will and intensity that makes him the Dark Knight. He has his no guns rule but it doesn't disqualify Jiro as it would have once.
Apparently this is the same Death-Man from Batman #180. He wasn't Japanese there but he had a mask grafted to his face, so he could have been. His scarred body shows that he has been autopsied a few times.
This Aquazon can't really be a super-heroine, right?
Catwoman! Why can't she help stop a menace and grab a few pretties?
My only misgiving is Batman Japan. I think I prefer Mister Unknown. I also like that there was an elder one doing the crime-solving and a younger one doing the crime-fighting!
Looking forward to next issue and El Gaucho!
Aquazon was one of the Super Young Team introduced in Final Crisis #2 and has connections to Big Science Action, the older generation Japanese Superteam that Morrison has been mentioning since his Doom Patrol run 20 years ago.
She also appeared in the barely intelligible Super Young Team miniseries Final Crisis Aftermath - Dance.
It's great that we've got a nice tight 2-part story set in Japan, but its a pity that Morrison couldn't check in on what his SYT/BSA team members are up to. At least they got a mention.
And Rob, if I might equivocate here, I wasn't talking about Lord Death Man's nationality, (which I hadn't given much thought to) but rather stating that Morrison is more interested in him as a former Manga character. He uses the Manga character's name, rather than the name used in Batman #180 , for one thing.
The only Final Crisis Aftermath mini I got was Escape and only because it featured Nemesis whom I've read since his first appearance in Brave & Bold!
I only mentioned Aquazon because of her uselessness.
Lord Death-Man doesn't have to Japanese, of course, it would make Batman's Silver Age rogues' gallery more ethnically diverse (by 1 minority anyway!)