Batman Annual 2022 #1 – Ed Brisson, Writer; John Timms, Artist; Rex Lokus, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The next chapter of Batman Incorporated has been set up for a while, with Ed Brisson telling stories here and there dealing with Ghost-Maker, Clownhunter, and the rest of the crew including El Gaucho and Raven Red. We knew that Batman was planning to put his old frenemy in charge of his international team, but this oversized one-shot finally gives us the how and why. To no one’s surprise, it’s a bumpy ride – Ghost-Maker is not only arrogant and immediately sets out revamping the team and dismissing some major players back to local duty, it’s revealed that he’s been stalking the members and attacking them to test their skills in the months prior! Equally fraught – his relationship with Clownhunter, his official protege. If you thought Batman was harsh with his Robins, Ghost-Maker is even less suited to being a mentor. But somehow, this chaotic team holds together long enough to be thrown on their first mission.
That takes them to a central Asian nation where Lex Luthor visited before the Abyss storyline, seemingly doing experiments that have resulted in a mysterious sickness. As the team investigates, they come up against the masked vigilante of the area – a hulking warrior named Grey Wolf who is ready to crush anyone he feels is threatening his village. It’s not hard to tell that he’s not actually the villain of this piece, but the second half of the issue delivers non-stop action with some surprisingly strong dialogue. The biggest problem a potential spin-off for this team has is that most of the players still don’t get much characterization, but there’ll be time to fix that – the upcoming Batman Incorporated #1 coming in the fall has officially been announced! Overall, this issue nicely builds off what Brisson has been building, and I trust Ghost-Maker and Clownhunter in his hands in particular.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
