Batman Incorporated #2

Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham's Batman Incorporated hits its second New 52 issue with a cover that makes an immediate impression: a massive, leering red demon head — all yellow eyes, green tongue, and serpentine tentacles — dominates the composition, its writhing coils ensnaring a restrained Batman in the upper right while a white-robed woman holding a syringe stands defiantly to the left. Below them, a gathered team of Batman Inc. operatives — including Robin, a masked figure in a winged cowl, and several others — stand ready at the bottom of the frame. Burnham's linework is precise and energetic, packing genuine menace and a sprawling cast into one visually dense image that makes "Eye of the Gorgon" feel like exactly the kind of globe-spanning, mythology-soaked adventure this series promises.