Title: Batman Inc vol. 1
Writer/Artist: Grant Morrison Chris Burnham

Rating:

Synopsis: Led by the Dark Knight and bankrolled by his civilian alter ego Bruce Wayne, Batman Incorporated has agents in every corner of the globe, fighting injustice no matter the geography. Now the war has come home to Gotham City–and the new Robin is caught in the crossfire.

Raised to rule the world by his mother Talia, the daughter of the villainous Ra’s al Ghul, young Damian Wayne rejected his tyrannical training and now battles evil alongside his father, the Batman. But her ever-growing cult, the global criminal conspiracy called LEVIATHAN, is on the verge of extinguishing the light of justice everywhere. And once she’s taken away everything the Batman cares about, she’ll take away his son too. Even if it means turning him into a monster.

Even if it means killing him.

And the price on the Boy Wonder’s head is nothing compared to what Batman will do to save his son.

I’m probably in the minority when it comes to this story line. I didn’t care for the art at all– it is very sketchy with harsh lines, the colors are washed out/water color tone, and the over all toning of the panels was very dark, at times making it really hard to see what was going on. At times it made distinguishing characters visually very difficult to do. The main story arc drops the reader into an all ready in motion story, so at times I felt a little lost, and I spent some time on wiki a) spoiling myself b) trying to figure out exactly what was going on.

That aside, there were some things that I did like about this volume, and it’s enough to get me to pick up the second one. Though I will be picking it up through the library and not collecting it, because I don’t care that much. I really loved the redemption of Jason Todd without the drama and redemption arc ‘on screen’. It’s no secret that I’m a Jason fan–but I really like how Batman Inc handled his coming back to the bat-family without dragging the reader through the mud and beating a dead horse. I did also like the glimmer of humor that was in the story as well. The Bat-cow/Bat-steak panel made me laugh, and it’s probably one of the more iconic scenes in the first volume. Damian really shines in this story but on the other hand Bruce is really off (again, tying into the beginning arc that this story picks up on.)

Overall: An interesting Batman story arc, but not something that I’ll actively read.