Batman Incorporated #2 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Yanick Paquette (penciller), Michel Lacombe (inker), Nathan Fairbairn (colorist)

The Story: Lord Death Man rises again, and this time he’s ready to bring senseless crime back into fashion for the great nation of Nihon.  With Mr. Unknown out of the picture, it’s up to Batman to make sure Shiny Happy Aquazon doesn’t become L.D. Man’s next superheroic victim.

The Review: The only way to convince anybody that Batman is needed anywhere other than Gotham is to show just what kind of twisted fiends can pop up in other corners of the world.  In this issue, Grant Morrison’s updated take on Japan’s Lord Death Man makes the villain a worthy candidate for a Dark Knight’s rogue gallery—even if it’s not Bruce Wayne under the helm.

Morrison does two things in this issue: sow the seeds for Japan’s own urban legends (which can be returned to later, if we’re lucky enough), and offer strong evidence to support the need for Batman Incorporated.  He accomplishes both of these things by portraying Lord Death Man as the Eastern nation’s Joker, a man bent on creating chaos for the heck of it.  Make no mistake, however—this guy is no Joker imitation.  His mission statement may involve the same kind of gross atrocities (and incessant creepy laughter—“Heehee!”), but for a very different, more profound, even culturally appropriate philosophy: “You placed the first charge on the disabled kids’ bus like I told you?  Super-sweet.  Life is cruel, death the reward.”

Equally as impressive as Lord Death Man’s buildup into a formidable psychopath is Jiro Osamu’s path toward earning his chops as a vigilante.  In the previous issue, he demonstrates he has the necessary skills to be a crime-fighter, but by now everyone knows Batman is more than the sum of his physical and intellectual parts.  To be Batman requires the drive to face off against seemingly impossible odds and still manage enforce justice.  Jiro gets the opportunity to do just that in the final scenes, where he literally stares into the face of Death and takes him down, upholding Batman’s standards of vigilantism as he does.