Batman Inc #6

I love Grant Morrison's run on Batman. It's one of the best stories by a single author on a company owned property in a long time. And as much as I want to love every single issue of Batman Inc, the sixth issue feels like a holding pattern.

We just finished getting introduced to Dr. Daedalus, meeting our main cast and learning a bit about the new enemy, Leviathan in the last five issues. This feels like a bridge issue. A pause while the action starts up again in number seven.

Not that it is bad. The art is great, reminiscent of Frank Quitely's art on Batman and Robin. Cassie is back and in action in Hong Kong. Red Robin joins the Outsiders. And Batman starts assembling his master plan. The reader just doesn't get to know what the plan is. And again, in the overall scheme of things, that's okay. All of Morrison's reveals so far have been great. But it feels like a bridge issue.

If this were any other comic, I would have thought the Average Joes were a cute addition. I would have liked seeing Batman trolling people on an Internet message board. And those are nice touches, but not enough to carry a whole issue.

Morrison has sometimes been accused of writing "for the trade." Having issues that only seem great when you read the whole story line together. Batman Inc #6 suffers from a bit of this. It's still enjoyable, but probably the weakest issue so far of Batman Inc. If you have been following Batman Inc steadily, then by all means pick it up. If you're looking for a jumping on point though, this isn't it.