Batman Incorporated #9 – Ed Brisson, Writer; John Timms, Artist; Rex Lokus, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: It was only natural—as Batman Incorporated forms, there needs to be a Joker Incorporated. Around the world, the home countries of the Batmen are being tormented by sadistic killers with tributes to the clowning history of the heroes’ homes. It’s a pretty clever use of the comic’s global roots—but no one is laughing when hostages start dying. Joker (or is it Joker? He seems a little too smooth and intelligent) has set up a twisted dilemma for the Batmen, forcing them to kill the Jokers to save the hostages. This is likely intended to turn them against each other, as Ghost-Maker wastes little time embracing this order and ordering his soldiers to follow suit. It’s not long before the Batmen are at each others’ throats and bodies start falling. This is a tense, entertaining issue, but there are so many characters that it often feels like we’re just spending a few pages with each of them.
The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #9 – Matthew Cody, Writer; Scott Jeralds, Artist; Carrie Strachan, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: Another new creative team, another fun all-ages mystery as the Mystery Inc. crew head to Crystal Cove to receive the key to the city. After a hilarious anecdote from Shaggy about why they fight crime, a surprise clown attack disrupts the ceremony and leads to Mystery Inc. being framed for the crime—which seems to involve mind control of random citizens. As they’re locked up, Batman and Batgirl investigate the surprisingly bizarre town as an old villain from Scooby Doo past is revealed as the culprit. This is a particularly fast-paced issue, with a more serious villain than the usual fare who wastes no time in exposing himself in his plan for revenge. The stakes are a little higher, but the ending has a great dose of karma for our evil clown mastermind. This feels like it could have been fleshed out to be a Scooby-Doo/Batman team-up movie—I wonder if DC plans to do more of those following the 2018 one.
WildCATS #8 – Matthew Rosenberg, Writer; Danny Kim, Michelle Bandini, Artists; Elmer Santos, Colorist
Ray – 7/10
Ray: This book continues to be a jumble of plotlines, some more interesting than the other. Grifter’s multiversal adventures, where he meets a very different version of Zealot with a reason for going rogue, is intriguing, although it falls into that problem where alternate versions of characters are highly disposable because we’ll likely never see them again. Meanwhile, on the main world, it feels like a lot of skullduggery as Voodoo enters the fray and the remaining team members jockey for control. This title has always been an odd mix of superhero action and Gotham cloak-and-dagger plots, and the reveal of the big villain this issue furthers that in a big way. There are some interesting threads here, but the problem is… the WildCATS just aren’t very interesting characters and don’t make great anchors for a book. Rosenberg isn’t telling a bad story here, but he’s struggling to create any connection with the main characters.
Multiversity: Harley Screws Up the DCU #4 – Frank Tieri, Writer; Logan Faerber, Artist
Ray – 7.5/10
Ray: Harley’s chaotic trip through time and space continues, as this time she has to prevent the erasure of more DC heroes—and usually winds up making things worse in the process. First up is Wonder Woman, and as soon as she arrives on Themyscira she winds up stepping on the still-clay Wonder Baby, destroying her, and proceeds to anger Hippolyta by referring to Diana as a “poop baby.” Yeah, the humor here isn’t exactly sharp, but Harley’s dalliance in Aquaman’s continuity is even wilder, as she accidentally prevents Arthur’s birth by casually sleeping with his father at the exact wrong time. All the while, Harley is pursued by Starro-possessed goons and advised by her older version. Overall, this comic has a pretty funny central concept, but that’s really all it is—a concept. It says what it is on the cover, and how much you enjoy it will be determined by just how many times you want to see Harley interfere with hero origins.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
