Mystery Inc. is out as Batman’s go-to team of teen sleuths, and the Wraith Wranglers are in. But why has Batman dumped Scooby and the gang? Find out in The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #8, written by Sholly Fisch, drawn and colored by Erich Owen and lettered by Saida Temofonte.
All roads lead to a final confrontation between Batman, Joker and the Suicide Squad, with the fate of Joker’s henchman, Straightman, hanging in the balance. Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Three #5 is written by Alan Burnett and Paul Dini, drawn by Ty Templeton, colored by Monica Kubina and lettered by Josh Reed.
Not to be outdone, it looks like Joker is going international, as the members of Ghost-Maker’s team run afoul of Joker Incorporated. Batman Incorporated #8 is written by Ed Brisson, drawn by John Timms, colored by Rex Locus and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
Will Nevin: Matt, we successfully avoided reading the latest Murphyverse installment. Hurray for us.
Matt Lazorwitz: Everything else is gravy from there. Even if the comics we’re reading are just OK, they can’t be worse than that.
Mystery Inc.: Exiles From Gotham
Matt: A couple issues ago, we had Mystery Inc. trying to avoid Batman because Riddler in a dress told them to. This month, we have Batman avoiding Mystery Inc. with a whole new group of teen mystery solvers. I don’t know if I have anything more to observe there, but it seems like a parallel I wanted to call out.
Will: Mystery Inc. has been replaced, Matt! The horror of it all. Duke. Sensei. Specs. Bongo and Ranger. Just terrible. I don’t think Duke even has a proper cravat.
Matt: But he has a British accent, so that has to count for something. We all knew that everything was going to work out in the end here, obviously. More than even regular superhero universe comics, things have to reset to the norm at the end of a Bat/Scoob. It’s about the journey. And as expected, the journey here is fun.
Will: What, you mean Batman wouldn’t actually get so mad at Scoob and the gang as to kick them out of Gotham? You’re right in that we knew something was up, but trying to figure out precisely what that was tweren’t easy. Did you have “Oh, those replacements are totes robots built and controlled by Oracle” down in your notes?
Matt: I did not! The robot gambit is very Silver Age; Superman had a whole fleet of lifelike robots that he would use to gaslight Lois into believing her deduction that he was Clark Kent was incorrect. Because Silver Age Superman was kind of a dick.
There is at least one World’s Finest story of Batman doing this to ol’ Supes; pretending he had another partner who was a robot in disguise to protect Clark from a Kryptonite-using baddie. If this was any other writer, I would 100% chalk that up to coincidence, but this is Sholly Fisch, so it might just be a reference. Either way? Not what you’d expect. Nor was the villain behind this whole thing.
Will: Yup, did not see Deathstroke coming. I was going to make a Deadshot joke there, but he’s in the next story. ALAS. But, yeah, as you said, this one was fun as usual — I especially enjoyed the page in which Fred reflects on all the times Mystery Inc. has tripped up (sometimes quite literally) Batman and Robin. Funny stuff. Only thing not to like in this issue? A return of the black Robin costume. Blech!
Matt: Deathstroke is the last villain you want near a team of teens. Yuck.
I also loved Fred going trap happy in this story and catching Batman in one of his traps. Not the most elaborate one he’s ever come up with, but sometimes classics are classics for a reason.
Erich Owen is the artist on this book whose art feels the most like animation stills from Scooby-Doo on page, and that is most clear in the panel of Batman screaming at Mystery Inc. to get out of Gotham. It felt like I had paused my TV and was looking at a moment from the cartoon frozen.
Will: We’ve talked about that before — how difficult it is to translate animation into comics even though it can be quite necessary in something like our next book. This series has finally been able to break out of the digital-first rigid layouts, and we’re getting some fun, creative stuff in return.
The End of Straightman?
Matt: This issue wraps up the Straightman arc (which I pronounce in my head like Goldman, just because I think it’s funnier). We get all the plots that have been percolating finally come together in a big Batman and family vs. Joker and a mind-controlled Suicide Squad for the fate of Straightman battle.
Will: Straightman continues to be a really interesting character — one I hope gets picked up in main continuity. I can’t believe I just said that about a new character. What’s happening to me?
Matt: Hey, sometimes a character just works. The pathos helps, and the fact that he got a slow build; he’s popped up in Seasons 1 and 2, slowly making him part of the world, as opposed to being shoved down our throats.
Will: *cough* Ghost-Maker *cough*
Matt: And as you mentioned above, we’re working in a style that is specific, but getting some new character designs. I don’t think we’ve talked about it before, but King Shark in this style is fascinating. It’s trying to find some middle ground between the comics’ more realistic version (or as realistic as a man-shark can be) and the more broad and cartoony one of the Harley Quinn animated series.
Will: Our second week in a row to see some King Shark. Shark watch!
Matt: And a more modern Harley. I like the outfit Harley wears in this issue. As much as I love the original jester costume, it is so tied to Joker and her time with him that I think it’s good they put her in something different.
Will: It’s evocative of the original costume without that same male gaze-iness to it. We’re really making some strides in getting away from both that and the “Daddy’s Little Monster” movie look.
Matt: Thank God. I also want to credit Ty Templeton for some great background moments. Both Harley picking her cuffs with a chopstick from her hair and King Shark in a wheelchair are great little details.
Will: Speaking of little details and nods and whatnot, the advanced suit, as we’ve discussed, is clearly the Batman Beyond prototype. But my question to you: Is Tim’s line about “holidays coming” a specific reference to something?
Matt: I don’t think so. I think Tim is just angling for a supersuit under the tree this year.
Will: Who wouldn’t want a supersuit for Christmas?
Joker Inc. Rises
Matt: This is our first issue of Batman Inc. for this column, and that was mostly to avoid more White Knight, right?
Will: Yes, and I thought Joker Inc. might be an interesting concept. … I’m only a little miffed it took 20 pages to get to it.
Matt: It is a natural progression. Joker is a big believer in The Chicago Way; I’m surprised it’s taken him this long to decide it’s time to challenge Batman Inc.
Will: Escalation is the natural order of things, Matt. And while we don’t see much of the cadre he’s assembled, I gotta say, they don’t seem all that creative or interesting. More like goons he’d keep around for fodder rather than lieutenants he’d trust to cause localized chaos. But maybe that’s the point, eh? Joker wouldn’t want anyone who could pull focus.
Matt: That’s exactly what I was thinking. Batman is looking for competent agents. Joker is looking for second (or third) bananas. His narcissism is showing, which gets Joker right. Now, they might get a bit more interesting as we get to know them, but I kind of doubt it. We’re eight issues in, plus a Batman arc and an annual, and only now are Batman Inc. really starting to come into their own.
I liked that we did get some down time with some of the team. This book has been wall-to-wall action from jump, and I could have used a little more quiet time before jumping into this challenge. As I have been reading from issue #1, it might be that the buildup to Joker Inc. in this issue struck a better note for me; I’ve been waiting for some more out-of-costume bits.
Will: This was my first time picking up the book, and I went in cold aside from the stuff from the run-up to launch we read. I think if I, like you, had been reading all along this would have hit better. I’m sure it doesn’t hurt to have a better familiarity with these characters generally. I mean, I only know Ghost-Maker, and my thoughts on him are … well established.
Matt: There were some revelations in here, still, with the identity of Wingman being revealed and leaving me scratching my head a bit, unless I missed something earlier, but the scene between Knight and Grey Wolf, the probably two best fleshed out characters to begin with, was a breath of fresh air. And I never expected Brisson to use the comedic British hero Beefeater in this book. That’s a deep cut!
Will: This ain’t Brisson’s first rodeo — I was just thinking this morning about his Image series The Violent, which was a really good, gritty crime book. Once again, I lament the fact there’s not a grounded Bat book.
Matt: Oh, you want some disturbingly grounded Brisson, check out Sheltered; it’s Lord of the Flies with a bunch of survivalist kids after they kill the grown-ups to make sure they have enough supplies.
The most interesting thing this arc sets up for me is Joker vs. Ghost-Maker. Reading this book, we have seen Ghost-Maker tempted to go back on his word to Batman and kill, but he’s resisted until now. But put him up against Joker, who is both Batman’s greatest nemesis and an unrepentant serial killer who will absolutely kill again? It plays to both Ghost-Maker’s ego and his frustration in a way that will really test that vow.
Will: In a battle of two teams against one another, let’s hope there’s a few moments for the team captains to square up.
Matt: It strikes me as a very Injustice scenario: Even if Joker pushes Ghost-Maker far enough to kill him, he still wins, because he broke him. Joker always plays the game where he can’t lose.
Bat-miscellany
- Just in time for Mother’s Day, the podcast looks at three stories of the maternal figure in Batman’s life, Dr. Leslie Thompkins.
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of 5. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the podcasts BatChat with Matt & Will and The ComicsXF Interview Podcast.
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
