Pitch a Direction: Batman Inc

[Timothy Hunter]

Grant Morrison work on Batman did for the Caped Crusader what O'Neil and Adam's did for Batman in the 70s and what Frank Miller did for Batman in the eighties. His run on the character redefined him for the twenty first century. Without Grant Morrison there would not have been Scott Snyder nor Tom King. And what I consider to be the proudest achievement of Morrison take on the Dark Knight was...

Batman Incorporated

Shame it lasted so briefly...

Which begs the question, how would you ressurect Batman Inc. (Creative Teams very much appreciated)

[Kingcrimsonprog]

I would love to see it ressurected, but have no talent and couldn't tell you how.

My best guess, is to just do another Batman Eternal / Batman and Robin Eternal... hell, even call it Batman Incorporated Eternal.

Have it as a nice one off thing to set it up, then just have people like shadowrunner etc. pop up in cameos in all the other books for a while.

[bob.schoonover]

I think I'd go with something like the Seven Soldiers format from Morrison's run. Have an intro (maybe two issues) that focus on Batman and family, then some number of minis focusing on various Inc characters that slowly unwrap the mystery of who they're facing and what they want, then close with a 2-4 issue "everyone comes together" finale. Each mini would have one main bat-family member and one or two of the Inc members (e.g. Tim joins Beryl and Cyril in England; Duke Thomas is in Japan with Jiro; let the format and story dictate, so maybe Nightrunner gets a solo, but Spoiler, Cassandra Cain, and Lark all work with the Super Young Team - I'm not really tied to any specific pairings so much as just want to give enough space for everyone to shine). Work the minis out so it's functionally a weekly series and put good art teams on it and I think it'd pop

[Superfly Frankenstein]

With Bruce firmly entrenched in Gotham, he gives Dick the moniker of “international “ Batman. This brings Dick into a “Grayson “ type lane and takes him around the world in a Batman meets JAMES Bond angle. He brings Duke as his sidekick/assistant as they deal with building a new international team of heroes as well as dealing with various issues around the globe.

[K. Jones]

Bear with me I want to get weird. I know Batman, Inc. is referring to the global Batmen concept introduced by Grant Morrison of course. God knows. I own the Absolutes. I still scrutinize that jam. But I have this weird notion of calling a book Batman, Inc. so it has Batman in the title but you know ... it's not really a Batman book.

It's just a weird, low-key book about the every day office world of Wayne Enterprises, akin to Better Off Ted. Punctuated by reflecting all the big moments in Batman comics when anything "Wayne Enterprises" is ever affected. And the only time you ever see Bruce Wayne is like, press releases, instructional videos in annoying staff meetings, sleeping in the boardroom and occasionally when somebody has to go to his office ... and he's kind of a terror of a boss. Like if you, the employees are constant f***-ups and he's like ... well, as a boss, he's like Batman is to cowardly, superstitious criminals.

It's also not meant to be comedic. More like Gotham Central, frankly.

I realize nobody would read it, but I want it.

[oasis1313]

Why not farm out Dick, Jason, and Damian--DC's three unwanted Robins or ex-Robins--into a Batman Inc situation where they each have their own city in a different country? Like Dick in London, Damian in Paris, and Jason in Munich?

[lemonpeace]

Why not farm out Dick, Jason, and Damian--DC's three unwanted Robins or ex-Robins--into a Batman Inc situation where they each have their own city in a different country? Like Dick in London, Damian in Paris, and Jason in Munich?

Wouldn't it make more sense to have Damian go to somewhere in the Middle-East given his Arab/Asian heritage? I mean, Batman Inc was supposed to be an international operation, not just Europe...

[oasis1313]

Wouldn't it make more sense to have Damian go to somewhere in the Middle-East given his Arab/Asian heritage? I mean, Batman Inc was supposed to be an international operation, not just Europe...

I was just tossing out some "for instance" examples that didn't mean anything. Damian would do fine in Kandahar.

[jetengine]

Anthology book focusing on different nations Batmen.

[dropkickjake]

I should apologize in advance for the Dick Grayson fanboy ideas that are about to happen, but I do think this would be a good use of Batman Inc.

Batman Inc., Spyral, and Leviathan all came from Morrison's run and were all used in conjunction with each other. Spyral was used for Grayson, which I think was one of the best Bat books of the past decade. Basically, I'd bring Dick back into Spyral as something more than an agent (but maybe less than a director). Then I'd have him recruit members of Batman Inc into his "arm" of Spyral. Makes sense for him to have agents he can trust.

[oasis1313]

You shouldn't apologize for "fanboy" ideas: The only difference between us and the "creators" is that they get paid for their ideas. Most of the time, ours are better.

[TheNewFiftyForum]

You shouldn't apologize for "fanboy" ideas: The only difference between us and the "creators" is that they get paid for their ideas. Most of the time, ours are better.

They, really, really aren't. If I'd have a penny for every bad take, suggested direction, film pitch or fan fiction that has passed my eyes...

Anyways, my bad pitch for Batman Inc. is that it should be a vessel to have Dick Grayson as Batman having international adventures in the trippy, 60's meets David Lynch-style of Morrison's first run and the Grayson book, which would free up the Nightwing role for propping up one of the currently languishing Bat side-characters (Tim Drake, maybe?) Three birds with one stone!