Batmen all over the world

[arbre_rieur]

Batman, Inc. gets some new faces...







Wait, what's this about a maser cannon? Well...



Later, El Gaucho and Batman arrive on the scene as well, and it turns into one of those exciting costume parties.

Comments

[blackruzsa]

Why so interesting? My wallet disapproves. ):

[darkknightjrk]

Well, the scans here don't really show a lot of the intrigue that's been shown for the past few issues. From the sounds of it, the big-picture purpose of Bruce creating Batman Incorporated is to have a global defense squad against a group called Leviathan--a super-secret cult that is embedded in all major governments with the ability to mind control people, with access to machines to create metahumans that serve them (it's been heavily implied that Lord Death Man of the first two issues got that treatment), as well as a powerful energy device that creates, as El Sombrero put it, "a death trap the size of a planet."

Oh, and the last pages reveal a completely new character that looks like he could be cool, and the next issue, as the artist for it, Chris Burnham, has teased, is basically a massive "it all comes together" issue spanning five continents and featuring pretty much every major Batman character.

So yeah, this is totally in my top five of the most interesting and entertaining book that DC's publishing, IMO.

[jlbarnett]

like Batman wouldn't expect infiltrators.

Also his costume looks to much like Azrael's current one, or is it the Crusader?

[shadowpsykie]

batwoman has the BEST take down in this issue :D

[big_daddy_d]

The Hood? Thought it was Azrael.

[thatnickguy]

Ah, so it wasn't just me.

[thatnickguy]

The Hood?

Marvel's gonna be PISSED.

[darkknightjrk]

Nah, The Hood's been around since at least the 90s. Created around Knightquest, if I remember right.

[jarodrussell]

Thanks for posting these scans. Seeing Azrael and Batwoman show up were just the push I needed to drop this book.

[ninjapeps]

that's not Azrael. it says so right there on the scans.

[zyriex]

Huh? Out of curiosity why does Batwoman make you want to drop the book?

[espanolbot]

Heh, the Hood's boss is called Matron.

Double reference! One to Mother, the male head of the Ministry aka the organisation that John Steed and Emma Peel belonged to in the Avengers TV show.

These guys,


Not these guys,


The other reference is the semi-catchphrase from the Carry On movies, a long series of British comedy films that dealt heavily in double entredre and the like. That guy Javis Poker from over in the Knight and Squire comics is also a reference to their style of comedy.

Also, it seems that the Hood is driving a modified Red Arrow, an airplane famous for being used in aerial display shows a little while back.

[adze]

No, he's flying a Harrier jump jet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrier_Jump_Jet

The Red Arrows (the RAF display team, renowned to be the best in the world) fly Hawk trainers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAE_Hawk

[icon_uk]

The notion of Hattie Jacques as Matron, head of a British Intelligence arm, actually works rather well! :)

[misterbug]

I like the little super-embedded reference to James Bond in that first panel.

[icon_uk]

What one's that?

[ogrebear]

If they where going to incorporate a British character into Batman Inc I think I would have preferred them to recruit that British New Blood Lionheart esp as (as far as we know) he also has no powers but being intelligent and athletic. .

[whitesycamore]

Even when Morrison varies up the dialect, somehow it still feels like all his characters speak with the same voice.

They all feel like... like videogame NPC's with slightly dodgy voice actors to me. I can't get any sense of personhood from them.

It looks awesome though, and I really like the Hood's costume. Red's my favourite colour, and, like Colonel Kane said, it's much more muted in low light than blue is.

[arilou_skiff]

Nitpick: That's not the english St. George's cross. (That he has different designs on thecover doesen't help) that one is just a red cross on white with square arms. He's using a scandinavian St. George's cros which is... Weird.

Unless he's secretly a swedish freemason.

[icon_uk]

Unless he's secretly a swedish freemason.

With any other writer I'd say it was improbable, but this IS Grant Morrison.

[remial]

so...
seeing as Constentine is crossing over from Vertigo...

who else thinks he should be hired on to Batman Inc?

ok, yes, John would have problems with the whole "no killing" thing, but that isn't ALL his fault...

[darkblade]

His magic also doesn't sit well with the whole badass normal squad Bruce has going for him (which was a dumb move if you ask me, metas can be trained and equipped all the same).

[wonderwomanhero]

Does Batwoman still have long hair? I hated it short in her miniseries :(

[whitesycamore]

I think she's always had short hair, hasn't she? The long hair here is a wig that she wears as part of her Batwoman costume.

[janegray]

I can't comment on the story because I haven't read it yet, but damn the art is gorgeous! :D

[benicio127]

This story was actually the most annoying and incomprehensible.

[halloweenjack]

Man oh man, Kate looks fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.