Bruce Wayne is dead and Gotham has been taken over by an AI hellbent on enforcing its own sense of balance in the world. It’s up to Terry McGinnis to continue the legacy of Batman and save his city from a silent menace.
Previous volumes of Batman Beyond have been unafraid to go to some dark places — after all, Dan Jurgens’ run launched out of the apocalyptic Future’s End event. But here, Terry McGinnis faces down a much more existential kind of battle. He’s beginning to realize that, in all of his time as Batman, he has been unable to effect any kind of real, lasting change in the city. This is even presented to him in cold numbers toward the end of the issue. The best Batman can ever hope for is to maintain a level status quo in his war against crime. But when things seem to be worse than ever, is that a status quo that’s even worth maintenance? When even Barbara Gordon is tired of fighting the good fight and is able to settle for “good enough,” then of what use are heroes?
Here, Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly waste no time in getting right to the heart of Terry McGinnis. Even after the death of his mentor, he needs that outlet of being able to talk to Bruce, which gives us the introduction to Terry’s new journal. While it’s almost impossible to imagine Terry having the time to sit down and write these days, this is a really clever framing device. It not only shows that Terry is using his brain and trying to go as analogue as possible when he’s not on the street, but it also allows fans who love the Bruce/Terry dynamic to get more of it, albeit in an altered form that makes sense for the story at hand.
And when it comes to rendering this brave new world for readers, Max Dunbar and Sebastian Cheng are a match made in futuristic Heaven. Each page is bathed in the neon glow of future architecture, which seems to have been built over the darker edges of the city. It’s like Gotham is ashamed of its past and is trying to sweep its problems under the rug. But in every corner, Dunbar has sprinkled bits of harsh reality amongst the high-flying socialites and partying youth (yes, there are some excellent callbacks to the Batman Beyond title sequence). This is a city rotting from the inside, only the people in power don’t even see it.
The action is splashy and exciting, with several panels depicting Terry in one tussle after another as he fights against ever-growing odds. By giving us one sample after another of the corruption he’s facing, we get a solid introduction to Neo Gotham. The issue occasionally veers into some heavy exposition (particularly during a conversation between Barbara and one of her officers), but the book does an overall solid job of catching new readers up and showing longtime Beyond fans some familiar and beloved faces. Now the only question is: Can Batman truly endure? This series aims to answer that question, and I’m excited to see where this team takes this iconic character.
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