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[Punchy]

After a delay due to the Aurora Shootings (and I must admit, nothing in this issue seemed particularly reminiscent of those events to me, but I’m not very sensitive to this sort of thing, it would need to have been directly in a cinema for me to have a problem with it, but probably better to be safe than sorry), it’s great to have Batman Inc back, and this issue was just a lot of fun. After #2 detailed Talia’s back-story, this one picks up where #1 left off. Robin has faked his death, and Batman is investigating Leviathan, but not as himself, but as Matches Malone. I must admit I’ve always found Matches a problematic concept, but Morrison had a lot of fun with it here, and it made for a different kind of issue, and demonstrated the many different ways in which Batman’s war on crime operates, the character is a lot more flexible than many writers allow for. This issue was full of the weird little moments and characters that Morrison does best, like the villain Small Fry, or the ending sequence which was really freaking scary. Chris Burnham continues to improve with every single issue, he’s the 2nd coming of Frank Quitely! The pages where Damian, as Redbird attacks the Leviathan Compound were very stylishly done, you barely even see Damian, just his lethal efficiency. Add to that the triumphant return of Batcow, and this was just damn good comics, and really, the best tribute of all to the Aurora Victims is that Batman is still out there, fighting the good fight.