Absolute Batman Incorporated Hardcover – January 13, 2015

Absolute Batman Incorporated is essential for those of us who grew up with the Talia Al Ghul/Batman romance! Talia has been around since 1971; the Daughter of the Demon; and has always been portrayed as the woman who Batman could never love because of her heritage and allegiances. Grant Morrison looked at the Lazarus Pit used by her genocidal father R'as Al Ghul, her own propensity for unprovoked violence, and her deep affection for Batman despite their irreconcilably profound differences, and he came to a very provocative conclusion: Talia Al Ghul is one insane monstrously bad mother! Talia was portrayed as an evil seductress in Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, yes, but Morrison digs much deeper than that, here, with greater dividends. The conversation between Bruce Wayne and James Gordon about Talia Al Ghul is as honest as those two men have ever been with each other! Talia is just wrong, she has always been wrong, and now that Batman sees how wrong he about her, all of Gotham might burn because of his mistake. Talia was never the girl who got away from Batman, she was just the girl who tried to get away with murder, and crime never pays with Batman! A great, essential Absolute edition from Grant Morrison!

This is by far the coolest way to read this. I like to think of these beautiful absolute/omnibus books as the comic book equivalent of imax, or at least blu-ray.I collected this run as it was released and I'm so glad to see DC let Chris Burnham redraw and Nathan Fairbairn recolor some of the pages that were rushed or filled in the first time around. The pages are thick and glossy but not shiny, the slipcase is nice and sturdy, and all the original and variant covers are reprinted which is awesome and should be standard procedure on all collections.The only major gripe I have is that there aren't a whole lot of bonus materials. There are some notes and sketches from Morrison about the characters and the cover process but no intro or afterword. The trade paperback even got an afterword so I feel like it's kinda bs that they didn't at least reuse that here. Other than that this totally qualifies for shelf porn. Now if DC will just release the first part of Morrison's Bat saga in absolute format the world will be a much better place.

I won't really delve into the story - I'm assuming that if you're about to drop all this money for this Absolute Edition you're pretty familiar with Morrison's amazing work on Batman (career-defining!). I don't know that I can add much to what others have said - it's a beautiful artifact. The slipcase and cover are pretty stunning. The large oversized pages make it a pleasure to read and the binding is top-notch. It's definitely a hefty tome but not unwieldy. Others have mentioned that there's scant new extras but I'd have to say that having the artist Chris Burham go back and redraw some pages previously drawn by fill-in artists should count as a real treat (I believe Yanick Paquette also re-drew a couple of pages). It's a shame that there's isn't an essay by Morrison but I suppose he's letting this huge tome do all the talking. I'm ranking this Absolute Edition up there with the All-Star Superman Absolute Edition and the Batman and Robin: Batman Reborn Absolute Edition.

Make no mistake: this is a glorious book, complete as you can get, with special adjusted pages from the original series artists to boot. Only one thing drags it down, and it's worth noting: absolutely no new written contributions from Grant Morrison. I've purchased a few of these Absolute Editions in the past, and while they cost a pretty penny, I have been pleased with each of them. The one thing the previous volumes contain that this one does not is new written material such as an introduction, afterword, commentary, etc. With all the symbolism and subtext Morrison is notorious for using, any new light he can shed on his work would undoubtedly be a welcome addition.There are bonus features, don't get me wrong. All of the cover/character sketches from previously released volumes are here, along with previously unpublished sketch work from the title's New 52 run (something tells me DC knew this volume was coming when they produced those hardcovers). However, the amount of new bonus material is extremely minimal. At least a spotlight on action figures created from the series would have been nice, as several previous Absolute volumes have done.At the end of the day, these are petty nitpicks. If you love "Batman Incorporated", and enjoy the Absolute format, there is no reason not to go for this. Easily the most enjoyable reading experience you are likely to have with this series. The paper is thick and smooth, and DC did a remarkable job with the binding, especially for such a thick volume (clocks in at nearly 700 pages)--at no point do you have to force the book wide open just to see the entire page. When investing this much in a product, these are important factors to consider, but DC seems to be well aware of this.

Because the run is well known and praised by comic fans, I'm going to focus on the physical aspects of the book as opposed to the content. The binding is done well, little to no content is lost in the crevice between pages despite being such a large omnibus. The sleeve it comes with will easily keep the book in great condition. It also comes with a bookmark ribbon, which is a nice touch. The cover is also very fun and colorful, displaying many of the different Batmen featured. Overall, this is a great way to read this run if you have not yet, and looks fantastic for display if you have.

The entirety of batman incorporated can be summed up in one word. Amazing. Morrison's writing is stellar and the artwork gets a A+.

Excellent product and service!!! *****Thank you!

A fantastic story in the large format it deserves!!!

This was a good buy. I've already read Batman's Inc a few times before buying this. But reading this in absolute form was a who new experience.

Collects all of Batman Inc. Burnham's art in particular is amazing in absolute format

Confusing