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Review of Batman Beyond (2015) #1

So the NEW DC Universe Batman Beyond book is here. This takes Bat Beyond and puts him in the center of the DCU proper. I’m not sure how I feel about this at all. This will be a slightly SPOILER FILLED Review!

Batman Beyond 2015 #1 Cover 1

Everyone says … “learn to accept change” When I hear that my heals dig in, and I’m SO AGAINST ANY CHANGE, OR ANYTHING NEW. However in this case, as it is in most cases I have no control over the changes one of the biggest comic companies does. In 1999 Bruce Timm and his team gave us Batman Beyond. This hit animated series set the DC Animated Universe Batman IN THE FUTURE!!! At first we think it’ll be “Old Bruce” in the entire thing, but it goes a different way. We meet Terry McGinnis. A kid who is 1 step from being a really bad kid. Batman Beyond ran from 1999-2001, and it’s still one of my favorite cartoons to this day! Over the years DC has done many different Bat Beyond comics. The most recent arcs and way the DC Animated Universe comics were going started in 2012 with Adam Beechen and norm Breyfogle. That was the 10,000 Clowns, and Batgirl Beyond trades that we have reviewed inside THE PULL BAG Episode 99After that it shifted to becoming Batman Beyond 2.0 aka Batman Beyond Universe, which we also covered recently inside THE PULL BAG Eps 107 and 108! With DC essentially killing off or cancelling anything to do with the DC Animated Universe, they had to find a way to bring Batman Beyond into the DC Universe proper. They started down this path in the weekly year-long series New 52 Future’s End. This Future’s End Series started off with last year’s Free Comic Book Day issue #0. I read that issue, and all the way up to I think issue #4 of Future’s End. For my taste there wasn’t enough Terry story going on in issue #2-4. So I stopped reading the series. The bottom line is Terry McGinnis traveled back in time to save the world, and he died trying. now Tim Drake former RED ROBIN is the NEW Batman Beyond.

BatBeyond #1 Page 1

Writing: 

This would be my first time really reading anything written by Dan Jurgens. Sure as I said I read the first “five” issues of Future’s End, but this would be my first experience with his writing style full on. I have to say I’m very impressed with this first issue of the NEW Batman Beyond series. SURE it’s not what I’m used to, but it’s very intriguing. As the title of the story suggests “Brave New World” Part 1, well that’s exactly what it is. With Terry dead, and Tim Drake in the Bat Beyond suit, I’m expecting some interesting storylines with this series. Jurgens writes the characters to be very fresh, and as a new reader I kinda love that. We get caught up immediately, but there’s plenty here new to enjoy. Like Drake’s comment about Joker Cosplayers…. that was AWESOME!!!!!

BatBeyond #1 Page 2

“Well, well, well. Look what the Bat dragged in!”

The quote above while being just another line in the comic, it was kinda cool. I can tell with Jurgens style that the New 52… New 49…. the DC You… whatever the hell they are calling the CONVERGED Universe, that this book will still have that sarcastic wit from the DC Animated Universe. Within this first issue Jurgens introduces us to Matt McGinnis, who believes if he were there when Terry died… that the suit would have gone to him. I find that this would have been an interesting story if it was Matt instead of Tim Drake. But it is what it is. Two more major events happen in this first issue… Batman comes up against a weird-looking Spider like Superman, and we meet Maxine Gibson…. along with Barbara Gordon! Dan Jurgens really has kicked this first issue into a higher gear than I thought possible. As I already stated the writing is fresh, new, yet familiar.

BatBeyond #1 Page 3

Art:

Bernard Chang is the artist on this title, yet another name that is new to me. I mean I’ve heard the name before, but this is my first time really seeing his art style. And because this is NOT a Terry McGinnis Batman Beyond book…. I can look past all my feelings of… “OMG that’s NOT HOW IT’S SUPPOSED TO LOOK” So the art team here is Chang and Maiolo. Marcelo Maiolo’s colors are explosive, and also subdued at the same time. I mean they pop when they need to and then they get soft when the time calls for it. I think my favorite page from this issue was the title page, where the Jokerz realize that Batman is alive and kickin’ ass!!! That’s a great image right there.

BatBeyond #1 Page 4

Final Thoughts:

I’m not sure I can use my catchphrase here, when I used it in the DCAU Bat Beyond comics. For those that don’t know the phrase was, “Beyond All Expectations” The reason why I say I’m unsure if I’ll use it for this series, is because this is still fresh and new to me. I very much enjoyed it, and there is really nothing here that I dislike.

Batman Beyond 2015 #1 Cover 2

Review Overview

The Definitive DCU gets a Batman Beyond!

From RED ROBIN to BATMAN BEYOND!

In short this is going to be a fun ride for all of us Batman Beyond fans. Because I'm betting Jurgens, Chang, and the team are going to be throwing things at us that no Bat Beyond Fan would expect!

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TFG1Mike

TFG1Mike is a geek with many interests. He has been podcasting for over a decade, and sees no stopping point in sight. From Transformers, He-Man, Batman, Comics, movies, video games, cartoons, and so much more, Mike has a zeal for the things he loves, and he will bring the hammer down on the things that he has a disdain for. He's generally a postive person, but negativity can creep in there. Mike is all about the innuendos and innuendon'ts too. You'll hear him on many of The GCRN podcasts!

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