Review: Batman Incorporated #7

Overview: In Batman Incorporated #7, Professor Pyg is defeated by the team, but another villain lies beneath the surface.

Synopsis (spoilers ahead): Batman Incorporated #7 begins in Gotham, as Ghost-Maker and El Gaucho fight through Dollotrons and reach the freezer room where the villains are chained up (seen in the last issue). Ghost-Maker goes to the Riddler and asks how many lives the villains in the room have taken that were innocent—getting to the point of saying thousands. Mad Hatter yells “You can’t do this!” and is met with Ghost-Maker putting his sword to his belly but not stabbing him. He asks, if none of them walked out of there, how many lives would be saved in the future?

When El Gaucho tries to calm Ghost-Maker down he is told that he knows that he made that promise to Batman to not kill and now Batman isn’t there to stop him. El Gaucho then says that what he did was not easy, but he proved himself a good leader. El Gaucho even calls Ghost-Maker his friend. Nightwing, Batwoman, Robin, Batgirl, Signal, and Stephnie Brown all walk into the room, asking where the villains are.

Outside Ghost-Maker tells Nightwing that he could have ended the cat-and-mouse game that the Bat-Family plays, but he didn’t. That means any damage to the city in the future falls on the lap of the Bat-Family.

Meanwhile, Professor Pyg tries to kill the kids who stole “Mother,” and before he does, Red Raven kicks Pyg. Clownhunter grabs the kids and takes them outside while Jiro and Red Raven fight the Dollotrons. Then, Knight and Gray Wolf show up to help, and they run inside, fighting with Red Raven and Jiro.

Clownhunter then tells the boys to go back to Bludhaven, where people who care about them are. Clownhunter then goes inside to take down all of the Dollotrons. Professor Pyg gets the upper hand and grabs Clownhunter holding a knife to his throat. Then he orders the Dollotrons to get “Mother.” Red Raven grabs a chainsaw from the floor and threatens to cut “Mother,” and then Pyg surrenders and lets Clownhunter go.

Clownhunter, without his suit and mask, goes to the park in Bludhaven and meets Ava again, but she doesn’t recognize him. But he also sees the two boys are there and are staying out of trouble.

Later on Ghost-Makers ship, Ghost-Maker says that Clownhunter’s work helped lead the team to Professor Pyg and that it couldn’t have happened without him. When Clownhunter leaves, he closes the door, and we see news reports of crimes of the villains that the Bat-Family “put away for good.” Then Ghost-Maker takes off his mask, and we see the anger on his face as the reports are read.

Red Raven and his father talk about whether the mission was smooth. Red Raven said he won’t visit him for a while as he is traveling to Shanghai. His father says that he understands. When he hangs up, someone asks if his son (Red Raven) is coming, and before Man-of Bats responds, he gets shot up by Dusty Bronco.

Analysis: Batman Incorporated #7 this month felt shorter due to the number of pages that focused on Clownhunter. While it seems that this short two-issue arc was just a quick story moving forward a potential conflict between the Batman Inc team and the Bat-Family, there wasn’t much else that happened. It was good to see Ghost-Maker’s face and see the anger that he has for the Bat-Family, but I’m left wondering how long until the story threads get picked up.

Dusty Bronco is introduced, and I’m interested to see what they do with the character. It’s an odd way to start this conflict as the Red Raven stuff with his father has been focused on very little. But with the issue’s cliffhanger, it seems that it could be focused on more. Though the fact that Red Raven is supposed to be heading to Shangai puts a wrench into moving that story forward right away.

Finally, I am hoping to see more Ghost-Maker, and the issues he is having with the Bat-Family explored more. This was previously hinted at when he worked alongside Batman, but it seemed to be resolved with the no-killing rule. The fact that he is backsliding into believing that killing is a better option, means not only a conflict with the Bat-Family could be in the future, but whether or not some of his teammates will agree with his choices leads to more possible conflicts.

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.