Saturday, July 2, 2011

Batman Incorporated #7 & Detective Comics #878

It looks like I'll be taking care of my DC comics this weekend, starting with Batman Inc and Detective Comics. Batman Inc will probably be uber-confusing, as is most of Grant Morrison's work, but hopefully it'll be uber-confusing in a good way! If that makes any sense... As for Detective, I've been really enjoying Scott Snyder's run, and with only a few more Dick Grayson-as-Batman comics left before he gets the shaft in September, I might as well enjoy Dick's remaining time in the spotlight while I can.

Batman Incorporated #7:

Summary: This issue basically focuses on the Native American Batman, Man-of-Bats and his sidekick/son, Little Raven. Basically Raven is sick and tired of serving as his old man's sidekick, thinking Man-of-Bats was delusional, while Man-of-Bats was sure the gangs on his reservation were becoming more organized. After watching his dad beat up some chump who was kicking a dog, Raven quits, and heads back to his place to pack up and leave. As for Man-of-Bats, he takes a ride with the cops to bring the idiot criminal to the police station. Before Raven can leave, he's met by Batman(Bruce Wayne), who tells him that the Leviathan had set it's sights on anybody wearing a Bat costume, which included Man-of-Bats... Now realizing his father wasn't a crazy crackpot, Raven and Bats hop on some horses(yes, really), and go racing after Man-of-Bats. As for Man-of-Bats, he learns that one of the cops who picked him up worked for the Leviathan, and was taking him out to the desert to kill him with the help of some other Leviathan followers. Man-of-Bats fights off most of the attackers, but winds up getting stabbed in the gut. Before the gang can finish him off, Raven and Bats come riding to the rescue like something out of an old western movie... Okay then... Once the gang members are dealt with and Man-of-Bats is taken to the hospital, Bats offers the financial support of the Batman Inc. organization to Raven before heading off to the next problem.

Thoughts: Meh. For a change, I understood practically every page of this one, but the story never really caught on for me. I mean it was okay, but I don't know, I expect better than okay from Grant Morrison. I expect epic... And by epic, I mean epically good, OR epically bad! This was just meh. Oh well. Maybe next month's offering will be better, although with a title like “Nightmares in Numberland”, I'm not holding my breath...

Score: 6 out of 10.Hi-ho Batman! Away!!!


Detective Comics #878:

Summary: Batman(Dick Grayson) has been captured by a bunch of pirates, led by the enigmatic Tiger Shark, and brought to the pirate's yacht. The pirates taunt Bats for a while, so Bats head-butts Tiger Shark(HA!), which leads to the pirates throwing Bats into a tank with a giant killer whale. Bats manages to break out of the tank with one of his bat-gadgets, and goes chasing after Tiger Shark, but is unable to stop Tiger Shark from getting away via a mini-submarine. Tiger Shark blows up the yacht hoping to kill Batman, but needless to say, it takes more than an exploding yacht to kill Batman off. From there, Dick Grayson goes to speak with James Gordon(Commissioner Gordon's son), since Commissioner Gordon was hoping Dick would get a good feel for how James was holding up mentally. While the two are talking, Dick has an epiphany about the killer whale case, and leaves James, heading to the penthouse of Tony Zucco's daughter(whose name escapes me right now... now if DC had an introduction page, that wouldn't happen!). Bats reveals that Zucco's daughter had been playing both Batman and the cops to deal with her enemies, Roadrunner and Tiger Shark. Zucco's daughter naturally denies any wrongdoing, so Bats leaves her, but let's her know she was now on his radar. This issue ends with James Gordon mutilating a man who bullied him as a child.

Thoughts: Eh. No problems here. This was the embodiment of a perfectly acceptable comic book, nothing more, nothing less. We had a fight scene, the real villain of the piece was revealed and managed to outsmarted the hero, and we set up the next storyline, the culmination of the James Gordon stuff. So while this issue didn't blow me away or anything, it was alright, and that's all I really ask for...

Score: 7 out of 10.What can I say? Watching people get randomly head-butted makes me smile...

2 comments:

  1. Yuupi!! Dc reviews at last.. =)

    Sorry but until the schism stuff come out i´m not interesting about anything from Marvel

    and yeah i feel the same for that Inc i think the problem is that before the worldwide stuff in the number 6 it is like nothing, I feel like the order of these issues are a bit skewed


    And for Detective I don´t understand why the bad guys always manage to escape from dick

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  2. That's actually a really good point, Alien... You'd think Bats would have contacted Man-of-Bats and Raven way sooner than this issue, definitely before he traveled overseas. The order of Bruce's visits has been kind of weird.

    HA! Yeah, poor Dick... No wonder Bruce is taking the Batman costume away from him! :D

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