So, this is Batman Beyond issue 1. The cover looks decent, and captures the whole DCAU (DC Animated Universe) Batman Beyond universe feel. For those who don't know what Batman Beyond is, it's basically a retired Bruce Wayne and new comer, Terry McGinnis fighting crime in the year 2039 in Neo-Gotham. Terry takes on the role of Batman, while Bruce acts as his mentor and guides Terry during missons.This min-series is supposed to take place in between the end of the show, and before the Justice League Unlimited episode, "Epilogue".
Review
Writing
Adam Beechen, who wrote Countdown to Adventure, Batgirl mini-series, and co-wrote Countdown, also wrote this! While I'm not really sure how well he writes (since this is the only thing by him that I read) I managed to like this a lot! The story was well planned and nicely integrated the DCAU and the DCU together, which was pretty neat. Some parts of the issue referenced certain episodes of the TV show, but I think that the story goes more deep into the DC Universe. Probably due to the main antagonist though. Throughout the issue many old foes of the original Batman are referenced and some are seen. It's interesting to note that none of them appeared or mentioned (I think) in the TV show. Also, there is a special appearance made by Micron! Who's that you might ask? Well, that's the future Atom, which I believe never made an appearance on the TV show. Their importance isn't all that great at first, but when they all begin to get murdered/targeted, Bruce's brain power starts to kick in. Beechen manages to portray the elderly Bruce as faithfully as he can to the original animated one. Bruce is shown to be strict, grumpy, and a no nonsense kind of guy. Beechen also shows that despite taking place after the TV show, Bruce still wants to be left alone. This is clearly shown when Batman Beyond declines Micron's offer for him to join the Justice League. When Terry tells Bruce about this, Bruce goes on to verbally trash the Justice League and explains why he hates it so much. Such a team player isn't he? No? Well, whatever. Terry aka the new Batman, is just as I remembered him. He's somewhat cocky, arrogant, and talks a lot when it comes to fighting. There are some parts of the story when Terry says some lame, cheesy joke, which in a way killed the mood for me. Also, the main antagonist, Hush, is nicely introduced at the end with a good pun that basically tells you who it is.
Basically, the story is well written and manages to capture the essence of the TV show, while integrating the DC Universe. Hush's inclusion in the story is a great change of linear TV comic books, if I don't say so myself. Hush is purely DC Universe and fans of only the TV show might not know him. That's quite a challenge too, trying to introduce an "old" and very important character to people who are unfamiliar with him. But, so far, Beechen is doing a great job at portraying him in a TV only world. However, there are some parts that sound cheesy and ruin the mood. Thankfully however, I think that is only two to three lines.
Art
The art was great and captured the essence of the entire Batman Beyond universe. The only problem i had was how Batman was drawn. If you look at the cover, Terry looks 50 and over weight. Also, I didn't like how they drew Terry's face, as Batman and as himself. At times, Batman looks constipated, and Terry's nose is like the size of Mount Rushmore! Aside from those aforementioned oddities, Batman Beyond is well drawn, and there are times when he looks very epic. Bruce looks pretty decent with only minor oddities, but that's probably due to his lack of face time. Micron's design was simple and plain, but I managed to somewhat like him. The Justice League made a small cameo as well. They looked exactly the same as they did in the TV show. The ones shown were Superman, Wonder Woman (I think), Aqua Girl, the bald Green Lantern Kid, and the Steel Hawk Guy. Despite only being heads, they were nicely drawn. The main antagonist, Hush, though barely seen in this issue, looks exactly the same as he did years ago.
Generally, the art is well done and Batman looks very badass in certain pages. However, Terry's oddly shaped nose and Batman looking like he needs to go to the toilet kind of ruins the mood, but at that same time provides some humor (unintentionally) to a rather serious story.
The Good
Basically, the writing and overall plot was impressive. The first issue usually sets the whole series up, if the first issue has poor reviews and sales, you know that the series is doomed for. In this case however, I think that this issue just sold me the entire series. The art was decent and captured the whole Batman Beyond theme (Yes, I know I said that about 100 times now) Hush's inclusion surprised me a lot since I really didn't see it coming. Being a fan of the TV show, I can say that I'm impressed.
The Bad
As with anything good, there has to be something bad to it. The story could have lived without the cheesy jokes, but again, this doesn't really hinder the experience.The monstrous sized nose of Terry (Okay, it's not that bad) and the weird looking Batman kind of ruins the mood, however it's not really something you should heavily contemplate if you're not sure if you want to pick this up.
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
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