All is well in Neo Gotham City, well until a vid surfaces showing Batman killing a guard and steal some pretty specific tech. Bad news comes in spades as Old Man Brice and Matt are attacked leaving Bruce suffering a heart attack. It’s up to a guest starring Wonder Woman and an on the run Terry to solve the crime and catch the culprit, with only a splash of water as their only clue.
Dan Jurgens is a veteran DC creator; he has established a high level of consistency with the writing for this series. Jurgens may have a a bit of a focus on the past, bringing back Doomsday in his last Superman run or Cyborg Superman on Green Lanterns. It is that sort of focus that can add texture to Batman Beyond, where the past is almost as important as the futuristic present. Thankfully Jurgens utilises a “classic” Beyond villain to see out this series. As for the cast, Jurgens has moved the relationships between them all quite nicely.
Sean Chen provides the art for the book. Chen’s style could be seen as a tad formulaic in places, matching a house style of sorts. However, the action scenes are well paced with lots of movement through the panels. Also, Chen’s Wonder Woman is a bit of a revelation; she looks great, on point and most of all consistent, which is a feat that is somewhat lacking in her own book at times. With Beyond ending, I would like to have seen Chen take on the Wonder Woman gig, but the Future State slate may have other ideas. Sean Parsons add inks to proceedings and gives a stability to the figure work whilst having fun with ink of a different kind. Chris Sotomayor has quietly been doing an excellent colour work on a number of DC books. Here he continues to deliver a scheme that fits the mood and visual of Neo Gotham. Finally, Travis Lanham supplies a font that allows the story to flow, without detract from the thrust of the art.
I have been a big Beyond fan ever since the Batman of the Future; it got renamed for UK audiences, cartoon aired and I have a number of the previous series. Under his watch, Jurgens has given this oft used universe a sense of its own continuity, it’s own weight so to speak. Granted, Jurgens had a choice with this book; would he be bold or not? Rightly or wrongly, he went the Picard route which allows others to play in this part of the DC Universe without having too carry over too many aspects from this successfully consistent series.
Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 4.5 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars
Overall – 4 Stars
Written by; Dan Jurgens
Art by; Sean Chen
Inks by; Sean Parsons
Colors by; Chris Sotomayor
Letters by; Travis Lanham
Published by; DC Comics
Author Profile
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I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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