Review: Batman Incorporated #3

Overview: In Batman Incorporated #3, Phantom-One’s connection to Ghost-Maker is revealed, and Clownhunter has a choice to make.

Synopsis (spoilers ahead): Batman Incorporated #3 begins after Skyspider is heavily hurt (which happened at the end of the last issue) and Ghost-Maker brings her to a house. We are introduced to Dr. Leonard Wu who is tasked with trying to save her. A minute later, Bat-Man of China sees the situation, and Ghost-Maker tells him to help the doctor save Skyspider.

Meanwhile, Clownhunter is in the car with Phantom-One, Ghost-Maker’s previous side-kick. Phantom-One starts with his parents and how they were wannabe supervillains. The parents’ names were Mr. and Mrs. Menace, and they planned to rob everyone at a party. One person refused to give up their watch and decided to fight, leading to Mr. Menance shooting him and deciding to kill everyone there. But before they can, Ghost-Maker jumps in through a window and stabs both of them with his sword. With her dying breath, Mrs. Menace mentions her son. 

With Ghost-Maker feeling bad about having made the kid an orphan, he adopts the boy. He has trainers, tutors, and teachers all come to train him to be a hero like Ghost-Maker. This was around the time Jason Todd died at the hands of the Joker. Phantom-One thought that Ghost-Maker wanted him to be a better Robin. Although Ghost-Maker had little to no faith in Phantom-One, he was eventually let alongside Ghost-Maker and fought with him for three years. They fought a villain known as Palladium, which led to a chase with Phantom-One getting trapped in rubble after a building blows up. Ghost-Maker said that he was a failed experiment and left him to die.

Back in the present day, Phantom-One wants to kill Ghost-Maker and the murderers that trained him.

In British Columbia, Canada, we see El Gaucho thrown out the window of the house, falling off the hill, as Red Raven follows and fights with the same purple and black batman look-alike from the last issue. Although this antagonist insists that he’s not here to fight.

At the Suriname Nature Preserve, we see Hollow saying that the Batman Inc. team is protecting murderers. Hollow came from his country called Zandia, where Lex Luthor offered him powers to maintain the corrupt power and stop it from happening. The Batman of Japan tries to justify why they were protecting him.

In Russia, we see the Fallen atop Avery and blames her for killing her family. Avery says that she hasn’t killed anyone, but the Fallen says that she had sold defense codes at an auction, which led to her family’s deaths. The Knight backs her up and says that they should hand her over to the authorities.

Back in Dublin, Ireland we see Dark Ranger debating whether he should confront Ghost-Maker or tell Batman. Black Mist says that they should have the Batman Inc. team there and confront Ghost-Maker.

Then in Shanghai, we see Ghost-Maker trying to find Clownhunter. When he asks his artificial intelligence, Icon, to assist, he is shown footage of the various teachers who were killed. 

As the issue wraps, Phantom-One is ready to let Clownhunter return to his team. Before leaving he offers him a chance to take down Ghost-Maker. 

Analysis: Batman Incorporated #3 did a great job of establishing the character of Phantom-One. While we are only three issues in the new series, it is the right time to establish the motives of the threat to Ghost-Maker. While the character, in a lot of ways, is a version of Robin who has gone bad, it doesn’t detract from the new character once established. 

Throughout the recap of Phantom-One’s origin, we see Clownhunter showing signs of doubt which leads to the cliffhanger at the end. Will Clownhunter join Phantom-One? It seems early for someone to be switching sides, but the issue sets it up that the entire team could turn on their leader as the team is being manipulated against Ghost-Maker. With members of the team questioning everything, does the entire team fall apart or does Clownhunter return as a double agent? Either way, it will be exciting to see how it turns out over the next few issues.

The last thing of note is that while the issue focused heavily on the origin of Phantom-One, some of the members of the titular team are not getting as much focus. Certain characters are not getting as much focus as others, which is understandable as it is difficult to juggle so many characters in each issue. Hopefully, each member will get more focus now that the exposition of the threat has been revealed. 

Editor’s Note: DC Comics provided TBU with a copy of this comic for review purposes. You can find this comic and help support TBU in the process by purchasing this issue digitally on Comixology through Amazon or a physical copy of the title through Things From Another World.