It’s
a cover-to-cover battle, as Terry McGinnis goes up against Stalker, a former
big-game hunter with enhanced cybernetics. So now he hunts man. Apparently, he
and McGinnis have fought together before, sometimes on the same side. Stalker
has many weapons at his command, and McGinnis spends much of his time playing
defense.
Meanwhile,
Commissioner Gordon has another super-hero in town to address. A speedster,
female, but no other clues. Nevertheless, both Gordon and the blurry image on
her tablet appear to be quite interested in Terry’s safety. This enables the
fight narrative to be seen from multiple perspectives – the street cops,
Bruce in the Batcave, and Terry’s girlfriend Dana from a nearby rooftop.
Artwork is
by Phil Hester and Ande Parks, a team I’ve admired for many years. In the
pre-Crisis days, artists seem to be the star of the books, but writers have
come into their own. Very few artists of the past decade or two stand out to
me, and they are among them. They never disappoint.
One thing
about the Batman Beyond series is its vision of the future. Theoretically it’s
about 40 years from now, based on Bruce Wayne’s age. But the advancements are
extraordinary, which only reinforces the sense of compressed time in Comic
Book-land. Afterall, wasn’t World War II just a few decades ago?
Rating:
8/10 (schway)