Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Chris Burnham
Colors by Nathan Fairbairn
No one ever said saving Gotham was going to be pretty. Bruce is out for blood as he goes after Damian’s killer personally, separating the Fatherless from Talia for a one-on-one beat down. At the same time, Nightwing and Red Robin have finally located Wingman, along with an apparent third force involved in the battle of Leviathan.
Morrison doesn’t hold back when it comes to the emotions this issue, whether they’re coming from Bruce, the Fatherless or even Knight. A merit to his style, you can feel the grief and anger, to the point I could almost begin to sympathize with Damian’s killer.
Issue 12 finally made me want to invest attention in the Fatherless. I think it’s interesting how the clone started to realize that he was being used, and how he wasn’t going to stand for it, not even from Talia. It was a very…Damian-esque thing, what he said as that fact dawned on him. However as soon as you begin to feel for the character, Talia cuts the feelings short, literally, proving that there’s no depths she won’t sink to in this fight against the Batman.
I can’t help but think, however, that this third army that is going to probably show up in the 13th issue is going to be a little rushed. I’m going to just assume that the woman we don’t see is Kathy Kane (who appeared in Inc. volume 1) and they will somehow be on Batman’s side. They’ve been lurking around since before Damian was killed with no explanation to what they’re doing, how are they going to be so important in the final issue of the series? And what, exactly, was the point of kidnapping Jason and leading Dick and Tim to find them?
Chris Burnham does a fantastic job, once again, with his art. Like I said before, protecting Gotham was never going to be pretty, and Burnham is more than willing to throw that ugliness in the reader’s face repeatedly. I found myself involuntarily looking away or grimacing throughout the pages, the worst being of the Fatherless’s severed head and missing eye, fantastically cringe-worthy.
Batman Inc. #12 was the last bit of set up, and this is it, guys. The final battle. Bruce versus Talia. Literally anything can happen from here.
4.5 out of 5 nerds
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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