Review: Batman Beyond #1 - Mobile Edition

DC Comics
Review: Batman Beyond #1
By Philip Schweier
November 1, 2016 - 10:07

DC Comics
Writer(s): Dan Jurgens
Penciller(s): Bernard Chang
Inker(s): Bernard Chang
Colourist(s): Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer(s): Travis Lanham
Cover Artist(s): uncredited

Batman Beyond is not off to an auspicious start. The first thing to catch my eye is at the top of page 1: “I don’t know the exact circumstances—butit can’t be god.” That’s an exact quote, kids, typos and all. No, I don’t think God has anything to do with it.

It wasn’t until reviewing the credits that I saw that no credit was given for the cover. I may be wrong, but it seems like that falls under the letterer’s job description. Or it could be an editorial oversight.

But such mistakes happen in the print business. I know I’ve made them myself. Here’s hoping they get fixed for the eventual trade paperback version. If not, then there’s a problem.

Other than that, the first issue wasn’t bad. It starts off mid-story. Again I don’t know why. It might be a hold-over from its previous series, or from Batman Beyond Rebirth. But the story starts with Batman (Terry McGuiness) buried under a pile of rubble in a section of the city known as Jokerz Town. Terry’s solution is nothing short of ingenious, but blind, stinking, doo-da luck (and a crafty writer) have as much to with Terry’s escape.

As the plot progresses, a few blanks are filled in for those who came in late (like me), so while there’s some initial confusion, it soon dissipates, leading to Terry’s next move.

I watched a handful of episodes of the cartoon series, and often regarded Terry McGuiness to be too inexperienced. It’s an easy trap for writers to fall into. A more mature character – for example, test pilot Hal Jordan – has no problem growing into the role of a Green Lantern. But when the younger Kyle Rayner takes over, it seemed as if much of the focus was on his inexperience. This led to numerous stories of Crisis => Flawed Solution => Failure => Better Solution => Victory.

But in this new series, McGuiness has been Batman for a while, and his biggest disadvantage is that he’s been out of action for six months. He’s lost his edge, but he recognizes that, and is prepared to compensate for it.

I love Bernard Chang’s artwork. I think it helps when an artist inks himself, because he has greater creative control over the visuals. In Chang’s case, he seems intent on provide not just a high quality of rendering, but also texture and atmosphere. Such intents might have slipped past another inker. I hope the schedule of the rebirth books does not prove too great a challenge Chang.