Batman Beyond #8 The Story of Inque

After my resent submergence into the new 52 comics, I decided to read some none 52 books from my waiting stack. What I came across was a gem of an issue in Batman Beyond #8, this is a self contained issue focusing on the origin of Inque.

As with most of the characters in the Batman Beyond comic Inque was introduced during the original animated series run, from what I remember we were given very little of her back story. This issue fills in these gaps and paints Inque as a sympathetic character, and a victim of circumstances that were out of her control.

The issue starts off with a battle between Inque, GPD (Gotham Police Department) and Batman, as she attempts to steal a trigger system for an unknown device. During the battle Inque uses all her skills; including controlling one of the police men from the inside to make her getaway (alcohol controls me the same way on week-ends) It is after these opening scenes are over that we start to see the back story of what led Inque to the life she now has, and why she is so motivated and single minded to complete the jobs she takes on.

We see a young ink (name unknown) as a refugee in a war torn country, both her parents are killed in the early part of the story leaving her alone and vulnerable.

Trying to escape to a better world she falls into the hands of a gang of sex traders and finds herself been shipped over to Gotham in a cargo consignment. On arrival in Gotham she manages to escape but finds herself pregnant and alone in a strange land, desperate for money she enlists in a drug trial which unfortunately for her is not as above board as she thinks it is. This drug trial is what gives her the abilities that make her Inque, after the birth of her daughter we see Inque living in a charity ward as she struggles to feed herself and her daughter. As the effects of the experiments kick in and believing she is dieing Inque leaves her daughter on the steps of a church, and it is a testament to the writing and artwork that these scenes do make you feel for her. Realising that she was not dieing and in fact mutating Inque learns to control her new abilities, and realises that she now has a way of giving her daughter the life she had always wanted too, although it would be from afar.

Over the years Inque closely follows her daughter’s life from before making herself know to her when she hits her teenage years (a teenage girls years are never good in any circumstances), it’s not a meeting that goes well and again you have to feel for her as her daughters rejection hits her hard.

We also learn that Inque is dying due to her own unique genetic abilities, and has taken on the job of stealing the trigger device to gain a temporary cure for her illness.

The closing panel’s shows the other reason Inque was desperate to get herself cured, a ending I will not spoil for anyone on this blog.

The writer is Adam  Beechen who pens a brilliant story that gives depth to someone who was for me a very one dimensional character, pencils by Chris Batista, Inker Rich Perrotta and Colourist David Baron who's colours fit the story completely. 
The whole book has a different look from the cartoon style the book usually has.

I was delighted to read that a new Batman Beyond title is starting in 2012, this issue has me excited for the start of that book.