Batman Inc. #4

[sherkahn]

I never did think Batman Inc was going to be awesome, or so richly involved in the world and lore of Batman.

Wow was I wrong. And I am happy to confess I am a convert (despite already having a love for Bruce). Trippy, cracky, icon making pics behind the cut.



Last time... Gaucho and Batman were left to smash each other's faces with charged gauntlets to the death, or sick, poor children of the barrio would die.

Meanwhile, the current Batwoman is tracking her own smugglers, and that nasty organization that we were slowly become aware of shows its ugly face. Coincidence? In the Bat-universe?
Hardly, but the Bat MAN and the Bat WOMAN converge on the history of Kathy Kane, the original Batwoman. Her life, her call to the shadow of the bat and the people behind her death unfold, retold and redrawn in various art styles.

I will let the impact of the story grab you, as I cannot do it justice, but in the meantime...
.. who cares?

CRACK! Well, okay, not really crack but some POWERFUL thing that has to be a narcotic somewhere.... this is definitely illegal, lethal for the untried and tested, but for sturdy "seasoned" *cough* corrupted *cough* individuals like us at scans_daily, right up our dark alley.



Oh Alfred.

Oh BRUCE!



So many panel, so many emotions....

Kathy "Webb"? Oh no...

Comments

[icon_uk]

How many artists are there on these pages?

Dick not liking Kathy I can accept (and I like the nod to the fact that in the first ever Bat-Woman story, it's Bruce who spots her use of circus slang, not Dick, which is ever referenced as being odd in the old Batman Encyclopaedia), and even Babs if he's in his "Girls are icky" stage, but Ace? He'd LOVE Ace... he's a dog in a mask!

[sherkahn]

He's just taking out his frustrations on the poor pooch.

[kamino_neko]

How many artists are there on these pages?

Just one (barring uncredited assistants), but he's all over the place, stylistically. To an extent, I think that's deliberate - there's a distinct difference between the flashbacks, Bruce and El Gaucho in the present, and Kate in the present - but...even within each of those groupings...well, you can see the range - but even there, most of it seems to be for effect (the sudden leap in cartooniness when Dick...walks in on Bruce and Kathy, or the sketchiness when she leaves). But not all of it. He's terribly inconsistent on eyes, for example.

[darkknightjrk]

I think the colorist had a lot to do with it--he actually talked about it on the CBR forum about this issue, and he mentioned trying to make each part have it's own, unique, color pallete as possible, barring the deadline. Like with the modern Kate stuff, he approached it as much like J.H. Williams approached it, down to her having the grey skin in cowl because that's how most fans of her would remember her best as.

Apparently Yanick is coming back for the next issue, but I would LOVE to see Burnham do more work on this--between this and his portion of B&R #16, it really shows how he can do disturbing and funny so well, sometimes at the same time. :D

[sherkahn]

I dont mind it. It shows that we are getting the same story from many different points of views.

[kamino_neko]

I'm not criticizing (except for the bit about the eyes...that was really distracting)...I like the Kathy, Kate, and Bruce/Santiago sections all having their own art style.

Like I said, most of it's clearly for effect, and that's perfectly fine.

[darkknightjrk]

The way I understand it, Chris Burnham did the entire issue.

As for Dick's sullenness over Ace I think has to do with his dislike for Kathy and Bette. Sometimes people crap on even the things they like when they're angry.

[greenmask]

I like her. She's in control.

[superfangirl1]

Motto and Ditto! :)

[sigmund_droid]

All I can think of is that scene from the Simpsons:

"Now you are with child"
"But how?"
"Such is the mystery of the dance"

[funbox]

DO WANT LINK (please?)!

[kenn_el]

I am in LOVE with this issue! Morrison made Kathy Kane work, and made her intriguing! I want more (and, apparently, will get it in future issues). Not only that, but now there's a clear legacy thing with the Batwomen, and I can't wait to see how Bette fits with Betty! Also, it was awesome to have Dick's commentary on the whole period!

[mrstatham]

Definitely this. Since Morrison stated that Kathy was still in continuity, I've been wondering exactly how that's supposed to work with the current Batwoman and the like, since Kate is quite clearly a reinterpretation of Kathy, to a degree. I'm just surprised it actually seems to work. I would like to know exactly what happened to Betty Kane, given Bette's supposedly a different person too, but all in good time, given Williams III seems interested in dealing with her working with Batwoman in her book.

[kenn_el]

I wonder if Bette will be revealed as having been THAT Bat-Girl? Given her age relative to Dick's, she might well have been. I liked that the Flamebird thing kept her in continuity, but felt that they relied too heavily on the Robin-crush part of her character and cut out what made her unique, which was that she was the only girl sidekick in existence with a female mentor (Wonder Girl was in fact her own mentor back in the early Teen Titans days).

[superfangirl1]

Oh dick you are so adorable being jealous. :)

[turtlefu]

I like the story, but I do NOT like the idea that Kate is not the first Batwoman (and they're both Kanes for some reason? But not related?).
It takes away a lot from her character, like having the courage to do new, exciting things that nobody has done before.

[icon_uk]

Think that's bad, just remember what Martha Wayne's maiden name was....

[darkblade]

Seriously?

[sadoeuphemist]

Eh, I don't think dressing up in a Batman variation is really a new exciting thing. And Kathy Kane is related to Martha Kane by marriage, and I'm not positive if Kate Kane is also part of the Martha Kane family, but c'mon, it's comics, she probably is.

[ebailey140]

like the story, but I do NOT like the idea that Kate is not the first Batwoman (and they're both Kanes for some reason? But not related?).
It takes away a lot from her character, like having the courage to do new, exciting things that nobody has done before.

They're related. Kate and Bette referred to "Aunt Kathy" during Rucka's Detective run.

[kamino_neko]

Bette was referring to Kate's stepmother (Cathy, with a C).

[sadoeuphemist]

That is the best way to break up with someone that I've ever seen. It's probably worth learning the tango del muerte just to use it exclusively for that.

[blackruzsa]

What.
What.
WHAT?
What is happening, what is happening, why are we happening, what are it?

And you know, everything Robin says seems to be bordering on... well, let's just say questionable.

[runespoor]

No. No, I'm pretty sure Bruce gets his heart broken every single time.

[featheredserpent]

Wait, "Webb"?

[sherkahn]

The comic insinuates that she is the daughter of a nazi war criminal. The logo on the card indicates Spiral, but it's actually a web with an eye in the middle. The eye being Dr. Dadelus himself.

[freddylloyd]

Since these panels are repeating some we saw back in "What the Butler Saw," here's a link for comparison.