Batman Incorporated #11 – Ed Brisson, Writer; John Timms, Sergio Acuna, Nikola Cizmesija, Artists; Rex Lokus, Colorist
Ray – 7/10
Ray: This issue continues the high-intensity “Joker Incorporated” arc, as Joker has set up clown-themed supervillains around the world with bombs in their brains and an army of hostages, aiming to force Batman’s proteges to kill the villains and violate Batman’s code. Complicating this, certain Jokers have personal ties to the heroes—Raven Red’s nemesis was injured years ago by Red’s father and is out for revenge, while the Batman of Japan’s nemesis Alpaca is actually his sister. This and the France segment all largely devolve into fights and violence, with several Batmen getting almost uncharacteristically brutal with both the villains and their teammates. The art shift, with a different artist doing every segment, is a little surprising as well, but doesn’t distract from the story. However, this very much feels like a filler issue packed with fights before the eventual resolution.
The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #11 – Sholly Fisch, Writer; Erich Owen, Artist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: Before the final issue, this all-ages title does something a little different—a virtual adventure, with the Mystery Machine crew teaming up with Batman’s ally Oracle. This Oracle is a young Barbara Gordon moonlighting as a hacker, so not exactly a faithful adaptation, but to be expected. It’s fun to see her in this role, and it fits perfectly with this issue’s villain “The Ghost in the Machine.” A spectral hacker who takes over the new Waynetech AI, he hijacks the technology of the entire city and forces Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma to digitize themselves and enter the fray to stop him in his place of power. This is mostly Velma stopping him and Shaggy and Scooby discovering the power of virtual snacks, naturally. There isn’t much of a mystery here, with no traditional suspects, but it’s a lot of fun. The odd ending raises some disturbing questions about the nature of virtual duplicates, though!
WildCATS #10 – Matthew Rosenberg, Writer; Stephen Segovia, Tom Derenick, Artists; Elmer Santos, Colorist
Ray – 7/10
Ray: While the 1990s Wildstorm comics often had relatively little going on beyond action, this one seems determined to play as a highly ambitious spy comic. On one hand, that works to add a few more layers, but it also requires a lot more wordiness—something I’m not sure the comic can carry. This issue starts off on a promising note, with Spartan and Peacemaker facing off in an Eastern European nation to help a shady President fend off a coup, but in the present day the issue devolves into a combination of cloak-and-dagger scheming between power players, and a massive fight scene between Spartan (who isn’t what he appears to be) and the always-violent Maul. Batman, Black Canary, and Arsenal show up towards the end seeking answers, but they don’t get many. It is interesting that this is the first meeting between Black Canary and Zealot before the upcoming Birds of Prey series.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
