Batman/Static: Beyond has hit its halfway point, which means it’s the perfect time to give the duo an upgrade. It’s a much-needed upgrade as well, since newly minted metahuman Shutdown is learning how powerful he truly is…and still carries a grudge against Static for creating the Q-Wave Generator. To even the odds, Static is forced to make a desperate move. Meanwhile, Terry McGinnis has to stop the terrorist cult of Kobra from infiltrating one of Bruce Wayne’s secret weapons caches without a Batsuit or help from his mentor, until a mysterious figure turns the tide.
This results in new suits for Terry and Virgil, and Miguel Mendoca makes them look amazing. Virgil’s suit, while comprised of nanites, ends up resembling his classic Milestone look though given a futuristic flair. Terry’s new Batsuit hews closer to a traditional Batman look, with a flowing cape and more armored sections. The moment where he fully dons the suit is literally picture perfect, to the point where readers might hear the Batman Beyond theme blaring in their heads.
Equally as impressive is Wil Quintana’s color art. Quintana is aiming to ensure that Dakota City and Gotham City feel like distinct cities. Dakota is the kind of shining vision of the future that rivals Metropolis, with most of the action taking place in the shining sun. Meanwhile, Gotham is covered in shadows, and you never know what’s lurking in the dark. Sometimes the sole element that stands out is the bright crimson of Terry’s Batman emblem, though even that feels less like a beacon of light and more like a warning to criminals.
DC
Where the issue once again falters is in how Virgil and Terry deal with their respective power loss. Virgil somehow managed to hold off Shutdown with relative ease, despite the previous issue highlighting that his powers were more or less on the fritz. Terry, meanwhile, keeps coming off as the new kid on the block, which is getting frustrating. He’s proven in previous stories that he doesn’t need bleeding-edge tech to be Batman, and while he’s not as skilled a detective as Bruce, he does have good intuition. As a fan of both characters, I hope the rest of the story is more balanced between them. It’s “Batman/Static: Beyond,” not “Static and Friends, Guest Starring Batman Beyond.”
A development in the final pages also escalates the series to cosmic levels, which feels out of place. While it ties into a plot point from the first issue, which featured Batman, Static and the Justice League working together to try and bring peace between Earth and the Collective, this element of the story feels less like a plot twist and more like a collection of conveniences. To Evan Narcisse’s credit, it lets him write the rest of the Justice League Beyond, particulary the family dynamic between Hawkgirl and Warhawk that we never got to see in Justice League Unlimited.
Batman/Static: Beyond #4 continues to offer striking visuals and surprise plot twists, though some work better than others. Now that the series is in its back half, let’s hope that the titular heroes can be a Dynamic Duo and not a Dynamic Dud.
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