Batman and Robin #16
Batman and Robin Vol. 1 #16 — titled 'Black Mass' — serves as the capstone of Grant Morrison's multi-year Batman saga, resolving the Doctor Hurt/Black Glove storyline that had wound through nearly five years of the writer's DC work and delivering the definitive in-continuity origin of that villain. More structurally significant, the issue's final pages show Bruce Wayne publicly announcing that he has been financing Batman and that the operation is now expanding globally — the first appearance of the Batman Incorporated concept in print, a status-quo shift that propelled the entire next phase of DC's Batman line. It stands as the bridge between the Dick Grayson–as-Batman era and Bruce Wayne's return, capturing the rare narrative moment when both men wore the cowl simultaneously.
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Morrison wrote the issue as the deliberate finale to their run on the series, a conclusion they had been planning since the opening arc; Morrison confirmed in a DC editorial blog post that the cover — the first to depict both Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne in the Batman costume together alongside Robin — was conceived at the very beginning of the run. Because series regular Frank Quitely was unavailable to close out the arc, the interior art was divided among three artists: Cameron Stewart, Chris Burnham, and Frazer Irving, each of whom had contributed to earlier arcs of the book. The issue was published on November 3, 2010, carrying a cover date of January 2011, and immediately preceded Morrison's move to Batman Incorporated.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Story title: 'Black Mass'; written by Grant Morrison; art by Cameron Stewart, Chris Burnham, and Frazer Irving; cover date January 2011, on-sale November 3, 2010 (DC Comics).
- First appearance/introduction of the Batman Incorporated concept: Bruce Wayne's press-conference announcement in the final pages establishes the Batman Incorporated franchise in continuity for the first time.
- Serves as Grant Morrison's final issue on Batman and Robin (Vol. 1), concluding a run that began with issue #1 in 2009 and spanned sixteen issues.
- Delivers the definitive origin of Doctor Hurt (Thomas Wayne/Simon Hurt) and his demonic pact with Barbatos in 1765, closing the long-running Black Glove storyline Morrison began in the main Batman title years earlier.
- The opening sequence is a deliberate callback to Peter Milligan's 1990 story 'Dark Knight, Dark City,' with dialogue lifted verbatim from that earlier tale.
- Cover designed from the beginning of the run; Morrison described it as the first cover to depict both Batman identities — Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne — in action together with Robin.
- Reprinted in the trade paperback Batman and Robin: Batman Must Die (Vol. 3 of the Morrison Batman and Robin collections) and in Batman by Grant Morrison Omnibus Vol. 2.
- The series was immediately handed off: Paul Cornell wrote a transitional arc beginning with issue #17, before Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason took the title into the New 52 relaunch.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Batman and Robin #[3] (2011), Batman #55 (2011), Batman #108 (2011), Batman and Robin #[3] (2012), Absolute Batman and Robin: Batman Reborn #[nn] (2013), Graphic Ink: The DC Comics Art of Frank Quitely #[nn] (2014), DC Comics - The Legend of Batman #25 (2018), Batman by Grant Morrison Omnibus #2 (2019)
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